4 Indonesian Universities To Lead Rainforest Protection-Themed Education Projects

Bringing the stories closer to home and engaging the people that share the passion for environmental-specific rainforest issues is an important goal of the Pulitzer Center. Through the Impact Seed Funding (ISF), we hope to create a space where academics and students interact creatively with the stories of Rainforest Journalism Fund (RJF) grantees and the Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) Fellows. Educational communities play such an important role in teaching the next generations about preservation of forests and the biodiversity that they contain. Through the initiative, we are supporting the activities that will create a strong and lasting impact to protect the future of rainforests in Southeast Asia.

Using the strength of environmental journalism and stories in our network, four Indonesian universities will lead a range of powerful projects from the establishment of an academic program on environmental journalism to the production of teaching materials in an massive open online course (MOOC). We are bringing the urgencies of rainforest issues in a creative, meaningful, and accessible way for all.

These projects represent our vision to preserve nature through the means of education and student engagement.

Development of the Study Programme of Environmental Journalism in five Indonesian Universities (Aditya Wardhana, Universitas Multimedia Nusantara)

The project will lead a collaboration with five Indonesian universities to establish a course program on Environmental Journalism, which will integrate RJF and RIN stories.

The Journalists and Education Community Collaborative Project on Sustainability Communication (Gregoria Arum, Universitas Atma Jaya) 

A student press group will receive a series of workshops about investigative journalism. The story of the failure of the Indonesian food estates government's program by an RIN Fellow will also be researched. The findings will be published in an international scientific journal.

The Education of the Community Involvement in Rainforest Issues using MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) (Jeni Jasfin, Universitas Airlangga)

RJF/RIN stories will be used as teaching materials by 3 law schools in East Java as well as be leveraged in MOOC that will be accessible to public

Research and publications: how food systems have changed due to climate change in the hunter-gatherer Indigenous community Punan Batu in Borneo (Pradiptajati Kusuma, Universitas Pelita Harapan)

This research was inspired by one of RJF's stories about the collapse of Dayak's food barns due to deforestation and climate change.

Through these projects, we foresee a strong impact that brings the urgencies of rainforest issues to light while contributing to the education system and scientific endeavors.

Contact: Grenti Paramitha, Southeast Asia Education Coordinator