The term “four pillars of national and state life” used by the People’s Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (MPR RI) is said to be confusing because in terms of the language structure and logic Pancasila, 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (UUD 1945), the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia; NKRI) and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Trans: Unity in Diversity) have different positions and functions so these four things cannot be aligned. Apart from being semantically problematic, the use of the term “four pillars” as a political language for the name of the training program is suspected to have caused debate in the community and obscured the true meaning of the language and symbols of the meaning and essence of Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, NKRI and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. This was stated by doctoral student of the Faculty of Philosophy UGM Hastangka, S. Fil., M.Phil., during his presentation of his dissertation research on the open examination at the Faculty of Philosophy UGM on Thursday (24/1).

In his dissertation entitled “The Four Pillars of National and State Life from the Perspective of the Philosophy of Language and Theoretical Implications of the Understanding of Pancasila”, Hastangka said that MPR RI chose the term “four pillars of national and state life” in order to reintroduce Pancasila, UUD 1945, NKRI and Bhineka Tunggal Ika. However, the relationship structure established by the MPR RI, according to Hastangka, cannot be accounted for in the context of historical, juridical and philosophical relations.

“The term four pillars has confused and delegitimized the relationship between the essence and meaning of the terms Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, the Republic of Indonesia and Unity in Diversity in the life of the nation and the state,” he said.

He added, the use of the term “four pillars” considering the structure and logic of language has categorical and logical errors that cause confusion and misunderstanding by changing and deviating the meanings.

“The politicization of language has caused issues on the legitimacy of the meaning of language which is potentially misleading,” he said.

The failure of the political elites to formulate language in the process of creating reality, meaning and symbols will result in failure in defining and understanding the meaning of language itself.

He concluded that the current problem of political elites is that they tend to be inconsistent in using and interpreting language without considering the philosophical basis of the language. This potentially would mislead people’s understanding of the meaning and philosophy of the country.

The four pillars of nation and state were used by the MPR RI for the training program in the era of Taufiq Kiemas’ leadership as Chairman of the MPR RI for the 2009-2014 period. Furthermore, this term is legitimized through statutory regulations, namely Law No. 2 of 2011. Until now, training on the four pillars of nationality is still being implemented by the MPR RI.

Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/17606-sosialisasi-empat-pilar-mpr-ri-dinilai-mengacaukan-pemahaman-hakikat-dan-makna-pancasila

Minister for Energy and Energy Resources, Ignasius Jonan, launched electric rickshaw (becak) produced by engineering students and lecturers of UGM at Balairung UGM on Friday (18/1).

Minister Jonan appreciates UGM for developing the electric rickshaw because this innovation can humanize the driver more and reduce pollution.

“I am thankful for PLN (State Electricity Company) and UGM Engineering Faculty that have initiated the electric rickshaw. This is more humane as the driver doesn’t have to paddle it while pollution can be reduced,” he said.

Minister Jonan said he supported this development and hoped that UGM in the future can collaborate with the industry to mass produce it.

“It’s also Yogyakarta governor’s hope to issue regulations on the use of electric rickshaw for tourism,” he added.

In the event the Minister tried to drive the rickshaw which was ridden by Rector of UGM, Prof. Panut Mulyono.

Panut Mulyono expected the electric rickshaw would improve the productivity of the driver. “The productivity will get bigger because the manual work is replaced by electricity which can cover up to 30 kilometers,” he said. He asserted the electric rickshaw is more environmentally friendly than motorized rickshaw.

Meanwhile, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof.Nizam, said through the Innovation Center for Automotive (ICA) they modified the rickshaw by converting it into electric ones. Components were added consisting of electric motor of 1,500 Watts 48V and VRLA 48V batteries with a capacity of 12Ah. This can power the vehicle to roam a distance of 30 kilometers for each battery charge.

“The distance can be extended by changing the batteries to 24Ah which can cover 50-60 km per charge,” he added.

Currently, as many as 15 rickshaw prototypes have been developed by the faculty and have been distributed to rickshaw drivers in the Bulaksumur UGM area.

Prior to the launching, Minister Jonan had given a guest lecture in Senate Hall UGM on the theme of “The Role of Higher Education in the Development of New and Renewable Energy. An agreement on cooperation was also signed between UGM and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on research and development of new and renewable energy and energy conversion. The signing was done by the Rector and Head of Research and Development, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/17580-menteri-jonan-luncurkan-becak-listrik-ugm#:~:text=Menteri%20Energi%20dan%20Sumber%20Daya,yang%20telah%20mengembangkan%20becak%20listrik.

UGM researchers turned crab and shrimp shells into environmentally friendly nanochitosan to minimize pests.

At the hands of Pharmacy lecturer, the waste is also made into food preservatives. Dr.rer.nat. Ronny Martien, said the development of nanochitosan called Dewaruci comes from his concern over high use of pesticides to tackle pests in fruit and vegetable farms in Ngablak village, Kopeng, in Central Java.

“Pesticide use by farmers can reduce the pest in the farms, but this is still hazardous,” he told journalists in a press conference on Friday (11/1) at UGM.

Ronny said Indonesia’s tropical climate makes it vulnerable to pests, especially fungi and bacteria as they can grow easily in the climate that has high humidity.

Ronny was inspired to find a solution to it by making a technology that can protect the plants from the pests. Being a nanotechnology researcher, he came up with the idea to make nanochitosan to protect the plants. He utilized shrimp and crab shells waste that contain chitin compounds to turn them into liquid nanoparticles.

“The nanochitosan is sprayed as a coating that protects the plant,” he said.

The nanochitosan formula he developed was antimicrobial so it can inhibit bacteria and fungi growth. It is also non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible. Chitosan is a biopolymer which is environmentally friendly. The formula can fertilize the soil as it binds together soil nutrients, thus increasing plant productivity. In addition, the nanochitosan can serve as organic food preservatives. The use of the nanochitosan will not change the taste, color, and texture, and it is natural and safe.

Ronny hoped this would minimize the use of pesticides. The formula has been applied in several areas in the country such as Kopeng, Tawangmangu, Kediri, and West Lombok by farmers and agricultural industries. Sahdi, a farmer, said he had enjoyed the benefit of the nanochitosan being applied to the rice in his farms. Rice plants can grow better with lots of leaves and are greener and denser compared to rice plants that are not given nanocitosan. He added that yields had also increased. Previously, 1 hectare of land only produced 7 tons, but with the application of nanocitosan it yielded a harvest of 13 tons.

Source: https://ugm.ac.id/en/news/17568-ugm-researcher-turns-crab-shells-into-environmentally-friendly-pest-control

The Department of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology (DTPB FTP) UGM introduced biodigester technology to the community in Laksana Village, Karangkobar District, Banjarnegara in December 2018.

The project was a community service project under grants in Education for Sustainable Development (EfSD) from UGM Center for Disaster Studies.  The team consisted of Dr. Ngadisih and Dr. Joko Nugroho as well as Dr. Hatma Suryatmojo and M. Chrisna Satriagasa, M.Sc from Faculty of Forestry,

The team explained to the residents the operations and maintenance of the digester to support the sustainability of the project.

Ngadisih said they had installed one biogas unit in Laksana village. The fiber digester has the volume capacity of 4 m3. They chose fiber to minimize the damage potential due to slope movement or landslides because the location of the village is prone landslides.

 “The installation of the biogas serves as a model and is used for one household that has 3 cows,” she said.

The biodigester technology is applied to generate methane gas that is used by the residents as a source of energy for cooking in a household scale. The use of biodigester will also create better sanitation and reduce odor pollution.

Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/17555-ugm-kenalkan-teknologi-biodigester-skala-rumah-tangga-pada-masyarakat-banjarnegara

Since 2015, the Faculty of Animal Sciences UGM has established cooperation with industry developers of grass seeds and legume, the Cropmark Seed Company New Zealand.

Initially, Fapet conducted trials on more than 30 types of grass and legumes from Cropmark New Zealand to evaluate their potential development in Indonesia. The results of the preliminary trial studies showed that Fapet found 3 types that were very potential and adaptive to Indonesia’s agroecological conditions. One of them is the Chicory forbs plant.

After conducting trials on more than 30 types of grass and legumes from Cropmark New Zealand, the Faculty has selected 3 potential types that are adaptive to Indonesia’s agroecological conditions. One of them is forbs Chicory.

Chicory is a type of forbs, herbaceous feed that is often found in grazing pastures. The plant is important to increase the productivity of pastures. The research done by the faculty found that Chicory Intybus was potential in Indonesia as the production may reach 2 to 3 times higher than in its origin country.

“Our research found that Chicory could adapt well here with high crude protein content (25,5% BK) and low crude fiber (26.0% BK). Compared to other legumes normally grown in Indonesia, the nutrient content is far better,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Dr. Ir. Ali Agus, DAA., DEA., IPU, when contacted on Tuesday (8/12).

Ali Agus added Chicory planted by UGM would produce up to 55 tons/hectare with a water content of around 18%.

“If harvest is done each month, the production in the dry season may reach 330 tons/hectares/year or 60 tons of dry grain product/hectare/year,” he said.

According to Ali Agus, the production here is much higher than that in New Zealand which is 8 – 19% of dry grain product, 20 – 26% of crude protein and 20 – 30% of crude fiber. In New Zealand, the dry grain product reaches 8-16 tons/hectare/year.

“This means that the production may reach 3- 4 times higher than in the origin country. The fertile soil of Java is one of the supporting factors for high production,” he said.

Similar views were shared by researchers Ir. Nafiatul Umami, S.Pt., M.P., Ph.D., IPM., Dr. Ir. Bambang Suhartanto, DEA, Slamet Widodo, S.Pt, and Dr. Tim Cookson and Brian Thorrington, representatives from Cropmark Seed Company New Zealand. They said that Chicory was suitable to be grown in Indonesia and believed that it would contribute to livestock feed development in the country.

Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/17553-fapet-ugm-kembangkan-tanaman-pakan-chicory

SEA Talk is a monthly discussion forum that discusses historical, social, political, economic, cultural, technological and human rights issues in Southeast Asia. In each discussion, this forum brought in academics who had been doing research in Southeast Asia. Some academics who have come to present their research at SEA Talk include communication experts Hermin Indah Wahyuni and economist Rimawan Pradityo from Gadjah Mada University, to political and government experts Ronnie Hatley from Washington State University and anthropologist Judith Schlehe from Freiburg Universität.

The variety of topics discussed in SEA Talk is a manifestation of our goal to distribute knowledge to the general public. Therefore, a monthly discussion forum at SEA Talk is held free of charge. With the free discussion forum that has various topics and scientific perspectives, we hope that the general public can be better prepared to face the complexity of life in the future, especially those related to the existence of Indonesia as a community of Southeast Asian countries.

Some of the discussion that have held around 2018 – 2019 are:

1. [SEA Talk # 19] Waste, Worldview, and Morality: An Inclusive Approach
2. [SEA Talk #20] Community Resilience on Maritime Disaster in Indonesia
3. [SEA Talk #21] Corporate Power and Global Governance: Australian Miners in Indonesia
4. [SEA Talk #22] Community & Communication: A New Perspective
5. [SEA Talk #23] Communicating Disaster Risk in Enhancing Community Resilience: Lesson Learned from Simeulue Island, Aceh
6. [SEA Talk #24] What Can Be Learned from Jathilan? An Outsider’s Perspective on A Popular Folk Dance
7. [SEA Talk #25] Futures Studies and Social Sciences: The Future We Want
8. [SEA Talk #26] Indonesia-Austria Bilateral Relation

Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) was established on December 19, 1949 as a national university. Today, the university consists of 18 faculties, one postgraduate school, one vocational school, 263 study programs, 108 joint degrees/double degrees, and 21 research centers. The academic activities of Universitas Gadjah Mada are expressed in the form of the cornerstones of Tri Dharma higher educational values, which are Education and Teaching, Research, and Community Service.

As one of the oldest universities in Indonesia, UGM is known as a populist university due to its commitment in serving the society. Since 1951, UGM has deployed its students on the basis of conducting a Community Service Program. Within a decade, no less than 1218 students had been commissioned, resulting in 109 newly established high schools in areas outside Java Island (the most populated island of Indonesia). In 1971, based on the recommendation of UGM’s law expert, Prof. Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri, the program became a compulsory course for UGM undergraduate students. As a populist university, UGM has a moral obligation to maintain the sustainability of SCS program. In 1999, a thematic SCS program emerged as an alternative solution towards Indonesian monetary crisis of the preceding year. Since 2006, UGM shifted the program’s paradigm from community development into research-empowerment as a response towards the continuous globalization pressure on the Indonesian community. Thus, the program’s name changed into Student Community Services – Community Empowerment Learning (SCS-CEL). 

Since then, UGM has deployed its students to nearly all the 34 provinces of Indonesia. The program now includes both Indonesian and international students, with a total of 32 universities from 15 countries also participating, including Norway, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, etc. In 2016, SCS-CEL program was implemented in 33 provinces, 108 districts, 179 sub-districts, and 276 villages. Since its inception, UGM has dispatched more than 200,000 students to all provinces in Indonesia.  

SCS-CEL program was developed to solve real problems faced by the community (thematic) through an inter-discipline or multi-discipline approach and local community empowerment. Therefore, this program sees the students working together with the local community and government. In a program created for problem solving, the students act as motivators, innovators, and facilitators for the assisted community. SCS-CEL program has to be developed based on the alignment of three pillars of sustainability, which comprises of economic, social, and environmental sustainability, and it will have a strategical meaning for the actualization of sustainable development by an academic community.

Based on UGM’s priority and research areas, the scope of SCS-CEL program is divided into several themes as follows:

1. Socio-cultural development based on local wisdom and nationalism
2. Community empowerment through education
3. Women and vulnerable community empowerment
4. Rural governance and administration
5. Enhancement of law and political awareness
6. Small and medium enterprises development
7. Sustainable agricultural, fisheries, farming, and forestry production
8. Natural resources development
9. Environmental management
10. Enhancement of community’s health
11. Regional infrastructure development
12. Renewable energy
13. Information technology for sustainable development
14. Disaster early warning system and mitigation
15. Enhancement of national defense and security
16. Eradication of illiteracy

SCS-CEL Program is held twice a year, one term held in between semesters and another term during the semester. The students are divided into teams consisting of a minimum of 20 people and a maximum of 30 people with 1 field lecturer assigned to each team. In order to solve real problems, each team has to consist of students from four clusters, which are Science-Technology, Social-Humanitarian, Medicine, and Agriculture. Those clusters covers all 18 faculties in UGM. During the implementation, the students are required to attend 72 hours of preparation courses, stay in the implemented location for two months, and fulfill 288 effective hours in order to complete their programs. For funding, SCS-CEL program is suported by involving stakeholders coming from communites, the government, industries, enterprises, and so forth. The partnership can be in the form of funding, service, and providing facilities. Before being deployed, UGM holds preparation courses regarding the history and philosophy of SCS-CEL, educating the students in sustainable development, administration, ethics, community empowerment, as well as occupational health and safety. Then, their comprehension is evaluated through a General Test (GT) that takes place after the course.

Source:

Utami, S. U., Budiarto, R., Prayitno, B., & Salis, F. R. (2019). Creating a sustainable well-being through UGM’s multi-discipline courses. Proceeding of the 5th International Workshop on UI Greenmetric.

Since 2019, Universitas Gadjah Mada initiates to implement a large scope of multidiscipline collaborative courses by involving six faculties which can cover three aspects of sustainable development (economics, social, and environment), those are Faculty of Engineering (Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology), Faculty of Economics and Business, Faculty of Social Science and Political Science, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Biology, and Faculty of Forestry. These collaborative courses aim to encourage energy transition in the academic environment (higher education) through collaborative multidiscipline in the form of cross-faculty courses. A comprehensive approach is required to encourage energy transition. In addition, qualified human resources who have comprehension in various cross-field issues related to energy transition demands are also important. Therefore, the detailed plan regarding comprehensive study in each faculty is formulated based on these following considerations:   

1. The study includes challenges on multidimentional energy system
2. Energy is defined as fuel and electricity
3. Courses in the Faculty of Engineering emphasize on the technology, requirements of sustainability, reliability, techno-economics, lesson learned, readiness of technology, research and development, national sustainable energy industries (renewable and nuclear energy)
4. Courses in the Faculty of Forestry include forest conservation related to opened coal mining, consequences of land conversion for palm oil industry, bio-energy management, biodiversity aspects
5. Courses in Faculty of Biology discuss challenges on biodiversity regarding coal and palm oil, bio-energy technologies
6. Courses in the Faculty of Social Science and Political Science include social-political impacts stemming from the current energy system (including coal and palm oil), acceptability of renewable energy systems (nuclear and renewable energy technologies), establishing energy system community and managerial institution, inclusive energy system, and geopolitical aspects in energy system transition
7. Courses in the Faculty of Law emphasize on regulation as a potential obstruction for energy transition, study on regulation making which encourages the acceleration of energy system transition, and international cooperation aspects.
8. Courses in the Faculty of Economics and Business discuss macro-financial framework in energy system, financial solution for energy system transition, as well as sustainable energy (renewable and nuclear energy) business and industrial development.     

These cross-faculty collaborative courses are developed to become compulsory and optional courses. The lecture materials are designed to include economic, social, and environmental aspects. However, each faculty has a different emphasis corresponding to the faculty’s field of expertise. Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics has Sustainable Energy System course, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology conducts Renewable Energy Integration in Electricity Power System course, Faculty of Economics and Business has Energy Economics course, Faculty of Social Science and Political Science conducts Energy Sociology course,while Faculty of Biology, Faculty of Law, as well as Faculty of Forestry play a role in strengthening those cross-faculty courses. Through the cross-faculty collaborative courses, the students are taught by lecturers from other faculties, thus they can gain skills and knowledge regarding economics, environment, and social.

Source:

Utami, S. U., Budiarto, R., Prayitno, B., & Salis, F. R. (2019). Creating a sustainable well-being through UGM’s multi-discipline courses. Proceeding of the 5th International Workshop on UI Greenmetric.