Faculty of Geography UGM organised the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Resources Management in Global Region (ICERM) on Thursday (14/11), inviting over 100 researchers.
Themed Community Resilience and Climate Change: Interactions, Opportunities, Risks, and Challenges, the conference raises contemporary issues related to geography, including climate change.
“Like it or not, currently we have faced climate change phenomena. It’s important for us to learn what we can do to prevent more damages 100 years from now,” said Dean of Faculty of Geography UGM, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Muh. Aris Marfa'i, M.Sc.
Topics to be discussed in the keynote speech and presentation include land conversion, natural and human resources, environmental management, disaster and early warning system, food security, population mobilisation, as well as environmental health.
Prof. Ben White, researcher from International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, highlighted agricultural issues particularly on the lack of interest among the young generation to make rural developments.
“The problem among the young people from rural areas is that they no longer want to be a farmer but office or company workers,” he said.
Agriculture, he said, was no longer an interesting subject because it is seen as not as profitable as non-agricultural jobs. He viewed that government ought to pay attention to this matter to ensure the sustainability of agriculture and the farmers to thrive.
“The government needs to see them not as a developmental instrument but the subject or actor,” said Ben.
Based on the research he conducted into Indonesian villages, agricultural sector can still be an interesting subject, if there are land availability, production market, and support from other non-agricultural resources. He said various creative investments were needed to make the village attractive to young people.
Other speakers in the conference include Dr. Nining Wahyuningrum (BPPTP DAS Solo – KLHK) who described permanent vegetation distribution as an indicator of success of land management in water basin; Prof. Lee Boon Thong (University of Malaya) describing issues in urban and regional spatial construction in South East Asia; and Aulia Mulki Oemar, B.Sc., M.Sc. (PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia, Tbk), describing approach models to community resilience.