Faculty of Public Health (FPH) Universitas Indonesia (UI) student Ulfi Hida Zainita, from the Master in Health Promotion Program, won the Best Student Presentation title at the 19th Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health International Conference (PBC Conference) 2022. The conference, themed “Environmental Exposure in a Changing Climate”, was organized by the International Environmental Research Institute (IERI) and the Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology (GIST).
This year is the 19th time the event has been held, with the same goal of promoting human and environmental health through education and practice in toxicology, engineering, and sanitation, and a focus on prioritizing environmental health issues in the host country. A total of 250 participants from various countries in the Pacific Basin region attended the PBC Conference at Maison Glad Jeju Hotel, South Korea, for 4 days (August 29-September 1, 2022). The conference was attended by participants from Japan, Cambodia, Korea, and India on a hybrid basis.
In this competency, Ulfi was mentored by two FPH UI lecturers, Prof. dr. Dra. Evi Martha, M.Kes., and Dr. Besral, S.K.M., M.Sc., by making a systematic review entitled “Indonesian Adolescents’ Well-Being and Knowledge of Climate change”.
Ulfi’s topic in the competition stemmed from her concerns with her supervisor about the importance of recognizing the knowledge of Indonesian youth about climate change, as a key to protecting their basic rights and well-being. Climate change is creating disruptions to human well-being, particularly among adolescents who are the most vulnerable population to the impacts of climate change.
Ulfi conveyed some interesting findings from her paper that knowledge related to climate change among Indonesian adolescents, both in urban and rural areas, is still very limited. In addition, it was also found that the welfare of adolescents is greatly affected by climate change, ranging from the lack of fulfillment of the right to education, the right to a decent life, to the right to healthy and nutritious food.
This paper also reveals how people’s knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes related to climate change have a significant effect on adolescents’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions. To address this, the recommendation given to the Indonesian government is to commit to providing formal and non-formal climate change education that can reach adolescents, in order to maintain their welfare.
Before getting the chance to qualify as a participant, Ulfi had gone through a series of processes. First, she was asked to prepare an abstract and paper to be submitted to the committee. The abstract managed to amaze the organizers, so Ulfi and the team managed to get a grant to attend a series of conferences directly in South Korea and make a presentation which then led Ulfi to win the Best Student Presentation.
She hopes that her achievement will be a trigger for FPH UI students to work and innovate, both nationally and internationally. The research she has conducted is also expected to provide the maximum and widest possible benefits for the scientific treasures of public health and environmental health. “Cooperation is needed from the academic sector, NGOs, the community, mass media, and private companies to support government policies in order to protect the basic rights and welfare of adolescents from climate change,” said Ulfi.
