UGM delivers projects to record and preserve intangible cultural heritage at local, national, and regional levels through research, mapping, and scholarly events. These activities often involve collaboration with local communities, government agencies, and international organizations to ensure the safeguarding of cultural practices, including those of displaced communities.
To highlight the diverse scales and contexts in which cultural practices, traditions, and knowledge systems are preserved and recognized, the university’s projects and activities can be categorized into:
Local or regional cultural heritage
UGM held a webinar on the cultural heritage of the Medang Kingdom, which once stood in what is now Klaten Regency, and left behind numerous historical findings. This area has potential to become a medical wellness tourism destination, particularly its Umbul Brintik which is used as a spot for traditional medicine known as hydrotherapy. The webinar discussed how cultural enhancement at Umbul Brintik can be carried out by utilizing cultural advancement objects, particularly traditional knowledge. This approach is considered promising due to its connection with the Bumi Rempah (Spice Homeland) initiative currently being promoted by the Indonesian government.
National cultural heritage
Across the country, UGM researchers collaborated with the Regional Disaster Management Agency of Meranti Islands Regency to map social and cultural values/norms in Kutai Kartanegara Regency, which has become part of Indonesia’s new capital city (Ibu Kota Nusantara or IKN). This research is a concrete step in preserving cultural assets in a region currently under intense development by conducting an inventory of the region’s original and potential cultural heritage.
Heritage of displaced communities
UGM experts assisted the Governor of North Kalimantan in submitting a geological diversity mapping of Tanjung Palas District, Bulungan Regency, to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources for designation as a National Geological Heritage site and to utilize the geological diversity of Bulungan Regency to develop it into a geopark.
Source: Geological diversity mapping of Bulungan Regency
The geological heritage initiative in North Kalimantan can be meaningfully connected to the heritage of displaced communities, particularly because many geopark and geological heritage areas in Indonesia intersect with regions inhabited by Indigenous groups or communities experiencing ecological, economic, or political displacement. The process of identifying, documenting, and designating geological heritage sites—such as those in Tanjung Palas, Bulungan, Malinau, and Tana Tidung—often uncovers not only natural features but also the cultural memories, land-use histories, and traditional knowledge systems of communities who have lived in or been displaced from these landscapes.
Local wisdom and sustainability knowledge
Source: Conference on Locality, Ontology, and Environmental History
The Faculty of Cultural Sciences at UGM is the university’s hub for paradigms and understandings of culture, integrating disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology, tourism, history, language, literature, and intercultural relations. The Faculty embeds sustainability in all research and knowledge. For instance, they held the “Conference on Locality, Ontology, and Environmental History” featuring six thematic discussion panels covering issues such as climate change, water and land management, power and the environment, local knowledge, urban social movements, and historical reflections on the Cretaceous and Anthropocene eras. This international conference aims to bridge the gap between scientific research and local practices while deepening understanding of environmental sustainability.
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