Universitas Brawijaya has a high commitment to accelerating the achievement of SDGs targets in Indonesia, both through internal education policies on campus and externally related to research and best practices through community service.
The statement was delivered by the Chancellor of Universitas Brawijaya, Prof. Widodo, S.Si., M.Si., Ph.D.Med.Sc while giving a presentation entitled Sukolilo Edu Green Job at the final event of Indonesia’s SDGs Action Awards (SAA) 2024 organized by Seknas SDGs Ministry of PPN/Bappenas RI.
“In the future, we will continue to be committed to strengthening and developing SDGs,” said Prof. Widodo in front of the jury, at the Double Tree-Hilton Hotel, Bintaro, South Tangerang, Banten, Monday (26/8).
SDGs UB received an invitation from the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas RI to give a presentation as a finalist of SAA 2024. The material presented was related to UB’s commitment to policies that support SDGs, and best practices in the form of implementing commitments in the form of community service. In addition to UB, finalists from IPB, ITS, and Telkom University were also present.
During the presentation, UB Chancellor Prof. Widodo was accompanied by the Head of UB’s SDGs Center, Dr. Moh. Muzakki, M.Si, along with members Dano Purba, S.Sos, M.Si. In this SAA, UB proposed one best practice, namely Sukolilo Edu Green Job. The selection of Sukolilo Village as UB’s SDGs village was because it is located in a national strategic area, the Eastern ring access to Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS). This village is considered successful in developing education, green jobs, and environmentally friendly industries.
Many positive impacts have been felt by the community after this program was implemented. There are the education of farmers, increased work culture, and expanded marketing access through various types of social media convergence. In short, the people of Sukolilo are increasingly creative and innovative. They only work in their villages, even in their respective homes. The work they create themselves is also labor-intensive, and environmentally friendly. Many residents who were previously Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) outside the island and abroad have returned to their villages for the past two years to build their villages, to the point that millennial farmers have emerged. All of these are positive indicators of the escalation of edu green jobs.
According to Muzakki, the good practice of Edu Green Job in Sukolilo Village is very much in line with the theme of SAA 2024, namely Innovation towards Golden Indonesia: The Linkage of Quality Education, Employment, and Green Industry in Indonesia’s SDGs Action Awards (SAA) 2024. “This theme strengthens the goals of SDGs 4, 8, and 9. In order to realize Golden Indonesia 2045, we need to create golden villages. One of them is Sukolilo Village,” he said.
In practice, Sukolilo Edu Green Job involves the expertise of lecturers and student skills, as well as practicum assistants through practicum courses such as MRT, Social Innovation Design, and Community Empowerment in the undergraduate program, then the Community Development course in the master’s program, and the Community and Social Innovation course in the doctoral program of UB Department of Sociology. This program also produces a number of research schemes, and community service through a number of works, including doctoral service, and student KKN practices for village services.
Through the collaboration between SDGs UB and the government and community of Sukolilo Village, the marketing of garden grass continues to experience significant development. In addition to serving the greening of garden grass at the presidential palace of the IKN in East Kalimantan, Sukolilo farmers also handle greening at Dhoho Airport area of Kediri, East Java.
Currently they are also handling the greening of garden grass in the Borobudur Temple area, Magelang, Central Java. Previously, Sukolilo Village farmers worked on the greening of garden grass in Mandalika circuit area, West Nusa Tenggara. In addition, they also serve the greening of garden grass in Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Bali. The garden grass in the field in front of UB Rectorate Building also comes from Sukolilo Village.
In addition to producing garden grass that has been exported to Malaysia, Sukolilo Village is also known as a producer of brown sugar, samiler, gerit, and krupuk rambakan exported to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. The various potentials of Sukolilo Village are developing rapidly through environmentally friendly industries, both in the form of factories and home industries such as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Various products of the village’s MSMEs are then marketed in an integrated manner through the Wisata Gentong Mas (WGM) gallery, as well as various types of massive social media convergence. (team/ UB PR/ Trans. Iir)
