DEPUTY MAYOR OF DEPOK INAUGURATED DOC, AN OBSERVER GROUP ON WASTE ISSUES INITIATED BY SKSG UI AND DEPOK GOVERNMENT
Waste is still a very crucial problem in Indonesia until now. One country that can be emulated in terms of success in managing waste is Japan. From an early age, children in Japan are taught to maintain cleanliness and dispose of garbage in the trashcan.
By adopting that behavior, Japanese Regional Studies (KWJ), School of Strategic and Global Studies, Universitas Indonesia (SKSG UI) conducted community service through outreach on waste awareness and clean living for students at SDN 03 Cinangka, Depok, West Java, in November. The head of the community service team who is also a lecturer at KWJ SKSG UI, Dr. Kurniawaty Iskandar, M.A., said that the academic world is expected to make a real contribution to the social environment of society. Students must also play an active role in understanding real problems in the field, she said.
This outreach activity was carried out by delivering material to students about waste sorting and the efforts that must be made to reduce waste and its management. Students were very enthusiastic in listening to explanations about the types of waste that were distinguished from their decomposition process, i.e. those that are easily decomposed (organic) and those that are not (inorganic). “Then why do we need to do waste sorting, what are the consequences of unsorted waste piles, and what is our role as humans in dealing with waste problems in the future,” said Dr. Kurniawaty Iskandar.
KWJ UI community service activities were continued with the Inauguration of Depok Osoji Club (DOC) by the Deputy Mayor of Depok. DOC is an observer group on waste issues in Depok, where the members are joint students from the School of Strategic and Global Studies and the School of Environmental Sciences UI, in collaboration with Depok Government. This activity is part of the Three Pillars of Higher Education which includes education, research, and community service activities. Then the activities were resumed with mini research from the KWJ UI Team about how the patterns of waste management that have been implemented by Depok people, which is the initial data for identification of community groups that are active and can be invited to work together in overcoming the waste problem in Depok.
Representing the principal, Andrey Pramudia, S.Pd.I., who is a teacher at SDN 03 Cinangka, Depok, expressed his appreciation for the activities of the KWJ SKSG UI community service. “Alhamdulillah, this activity is great for us at school because studies related to health or the environment, especially the environment at school, are very rare,” said Andrey.
This KWJ UI community service activity was initiated by Dr. Kurniawaty Iskandar, M.A. as UI community service lecturer, together with KWJ UI master’s students, which were Rifqaiza Pravangesta (field team leader), Beby Fitri Xaveria Gunawan (treasurer-alumna of KWJ UI), and the implementation team consisting of seven students from the first to the fourth semester, which were Yuwesti Intan Crisna, Nidar Lutfiyah, Amar Saktiawan, Frichicilia Grace Stahlumb, Sabrina Nur Raudha, Febia Rani Rizcha Perwita Noorasani Syawali, and Jeremy Ivander.
Previously, KWJ SKSG UI had also held community services in Depok, West Java, in 2019-2020; Indramayu, West Java in 2021; and Banyuwangi in 2022 with outreach activities regarding environmental hygiene for students and realizing the rights of migrant workers in Japan. The KWJ SKSG UI community service this time synergized with the master’s program in Urban Development Studies, SKSG UI, and the Master’s Program in Environmental Science, School of Environmental Sciences (SIL) UI which has also held activities on the big theme of waste management from upstream to downstream, on November 5, 2020.
The Director of SKSG UI Athor Subroto, Ph.D. supports every community service activity carried out by lecturers and students. He said that community service is part of the Three Pillars of Higher Education which mutually supports the learning process as well as student research.
