Universitas Gadjah Mada’s Centre for Asia Pacific Studies in cooperation with the local chiefs of Wonokerto in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta province, hosted a discussion themed Participatory and Sustainable Village on Tuesday (12/4)in Wonokerto as part of the community service programme of UGM.
Three resource persons were invited to the discussion, namely Tomon Haryo Wirosobo (Wonokerto’s chief), Ir. Joko Supriyadi, M.Cs. (Faculty of Forestry UGM), and Totok Dwi Diantoro, S.H., M.A., L.L.M (Faculty of Law UGM). The event was led by moderator Ratih Pratiwi Anwar, SE., M.Si, the Centre’s researcher, and opened by UGM anthropologist, Prof. PM. Laksono, MA.
Regent of Sleman, Drs. H. Sri Purnomo, M.Si, in his remarks expected the discussion to become a learning forum for other villages similar to Wonokerto. This is expected to open opportunities for cooperation for both parties.
"For the Wonokerto village, the discussion serves as a forum or input from stakeholders to become a Participatory, Resilient and Sustainable Village. It is a strategy set out by the Wonokerto chiefs in strengthening the internal capacity of village development in line with the paradigm of Village Building,” said the Regent.
He added the possible cooperation with shareholders would be key to the development of the village as it has special characteristics, potential as well as disaster risks, etc. Presently, despite being disaster-prone, Wonokerto has yet to receive government programme. Therefore, they took the initiative to manage disaster risks by activating the local community to be capable in doing disaster early detection, prevention, emergency response and post-disaster reconstruction.
"Resources management is one important thing to do as natural resources, such as sand, have not been done by society. It is important, therefore, to encourage people’s participation to prevent from resources drain," the Regent said.
Prof. PM. Laksono, MA, said prior to the ASEAN Economic Community, Wonokerto had facilitated human resource mobility. Many local residents had decided to work in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam as migrant workers. “By improving the participation and resilience of the people in disaster risk management and local resources, it is expected that this can put the sustainable development of Wonokerto village into practice,” said PM. Laksono.