Promoting the Environmental Preservation and Disaster Preparedness in Primary Schools, IDEP Held Workshop for Teachers in Bali

On February 23, 2019, IDEP held a workshop for teacher representatives from 22 Elementary Schools in nine regencies/cities in Bali. The workshop is part of Friends for the Universe program (TUNAS). The program, which often called as Learnscape, aims to increase the awareness and capacity of school community to create a sustainable and low-risk environment.

Sayu Komang is presenting the environment preservation through permaculture (Photo: Fitra Nisa)

During the workshop, facilitators from IDEP presented material on disaster preparedness and environmental preservation through the permaculture method. The disaster preparedness session was facilitated by Ade Andreawan who has experiences in disaster. Ade, as he is familiarly called, emphasized the importance of disaster education in schools. According to him, it can be started by recognizing the disaster risk in school environment and then socializing it through the School Alert Map. Furthermore, Ade also mentioned that if disaster education implemented in schools, then it would be in line with the Bali Provincial government's development agenda, namely Bali Tangguh 2021.

During the discussion session, several questions arose from the teacher regarding the evacuation system of students, especially in schools where the building have more than one floor. In response, Ade reiterated the importance of preparedness. For example, by setting priorities, evacuation plans, and conducting periodic evacuation drills. By applying the principles of preparedness in schools, he explained, both teachers and students can reduce the risks before, during and after a disaster.

The second session about environmental preservation through the permaculture method was facilitated by Sayu Komang who has number of experiences related to the application of permaculture in many communities in Indonesia. As the term permaculture is not yet popular enough, Sayu connected permaculture with the principle of Tri Hita Karana adopted by Balinese people in their culture. Similar to Tri Hita Karana, permaculture also adheres to three ethics, namely caring for the earth, caring for humans and sharing fairly. As for the school level, permaculture will begin to be implemented through the management of school gardens.

In the workshop, each teacher also got a Learnscape guidebook compiled and published by IDEP. The book covers the composition and learning competencies related to permaculture and disaster preparedness. That way, the teachers do not need to rearrange the teaching material but can directly integrate it with the teaching material that has been previously owned. Moreover, the guide has also been compiled as a support for the K-13 curriculum, which has been a reference for the preparation of teaching materials in schools.

As one of the follow-up of the workshop, IDEP will organise a Saturday-Sunday Camping (PERSAMI) involving student representatives from the same schools as the workshop participants. The activity will take place on 9-10 March 2019 at Pondok Jaka, Sangeh. There, IDEP in collaboration with Scout Care will invite the students to learn about permaculture-based environmental preservation and disaster preparedness in schools. The students targeted were students in grades 4-5 (Siaga and Penggalang). They are prepared to be a group that will be trusted to spread knowledge about permaculture and disaster preparedness to other students in their schools and their respective environments. (Fit / Ed)