Association of UGM Graduate Students have done a workshop on urban farming in the kampong of Mrican, Yogyakarta, on Sunday (19/8) to develop the potential as a city green zone.
“Mrican area has been selected by the association as part of the higher learning mission in education, research, and community service,” said association chairman, Zaidan Zikri Malem.
Zaidan explained the team has conducted events in Mrican, such as character building for children, empowerment of women, and making Mrican as a research development area.
The students team has explored the potential of the area for development and also the problems that exist. The position of Mrican in the city of Yogyakarta, he said, made it not free from both positive and negative impacts of urban progress.
“The team has analysed that Mrican can be developed into an urban green zone with the Gajah Wong River as one area that can be developed further,” he said.
Zaidan said this made Mrican potential for conservation efforts. There is also the potential for green tourism destination or even the city’s green park.
Seeing the potential, the students through the workshop asked the local residents to also observe this matter. The event invited a resource person, Puji Heru Sulistiyono, innovator of worm reactor technology who has received the government’s environmental award, Kalpataru.
“The workshop is initiated by the student’s team for Health and Environment who have explored the potential of Mrican area,” said the Geography student.
Presentation is given on the theme of Welfare Improvement of Mrican to Welcome SDGs Era, followed by discussion related to environmental potential, and training on waste management. “To motivate the local residents, we have provided a number of plant seeds contained in plastic waste polybags to reduce plastic waste, as well as compost from the worm reactor technology,” said Zaidan.