Gempera Receives Visit from Prof. Birgitte Wegerland and Opens Opportunities for Cooperation

Gempera management received a visit from Prof. Birgitte Wegerland, a lecturer from Agdar University, Norway on Tuesday at 12.30 PM. In this meeting, Birgitte was immediately met and entertained by the Director of Gempera and several staff members. After introducing the vision and focus of Gempera organization which is not only in the field of community development but also in the field of peacebuilding, Birgitte immediately asked about the communities assisted by Gempera so far. Birgitte suggested making schools as working partners because schools are a source of knowledge.

Birgitte did not forget to express her gratitude for being invited to Gempera and prepared lunch. Birgitte also explained her position as a lecturer at Agdar University, Norway in the faculty of education. Her research is related to community development in education. She just started to choose Indonesia as a research object, previously she took a lot of data from Cambodia. He also asked about the level of knowledge of Lombok students and communities about climate change and what is being done to anticipate its impact. Fathul Rakhman, one of the researchers at Rinjani Geopark and also the deputy director of Gempera in the field of research, advocacy, and training explained that the Sasak people have local wisdom about weather changes for their irrigation and agricultural needs. However, this discourse is only limited to that, not yet in the realm of developing academic discourse.

Prof. Erni Budiwanti also gave her perspective on Sasak culture which is still less aware of the importance of protecting the environment. This Gempera advisor criticized the habit of residents who still dispose of waste in the river which pollutes sea water, and the failure of the government in managing waste. Birgitte was surprised by the lack of widespread development of strengthening climate change issues, which according to her should be voiced in the community including in schools. Birgitte also emphasized the need for knowledge capital and skills in the 21st century including creativity, mindset development, critical thinking, and collaboration.

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While discussing, the Director of Gempera had also prepared lunch for the guests as well as the 15 Gempera staff present. Eating while chatting made the atmosphere very melting. After almost an hour of discussion, the Gempera management then took a group photo.

The Director of Gempera saw that this meeting was very impressive because Gempera was building a network. Sharing knowledge and information became an extraordinary added value in this meeting. As a fellow researcher, Birgitte also felt helped by the information and perspectives from academics. There will be a follow-up meeting in the future.