Indonesia
English
On Friday, 4 December 2020, at the Sir Michael Uren Learning Centre of the International Animal Rescue (IAR) Office in Ketapang, Politeknik Negeri Ketapang (Ketapang State Polytechnic) and IAR presented an institutional partnership plan in support of the "Politap Builds Vocational Education from Villages" program. This activity was a follow-up to the meetings on 2 October 2020 at Politap and 16 October 2020 at the IAR office. The purpose of this event was to discuss strategic partnership plans between Politap and IAR for the next five years. International Animal Rescue (IAR) is an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 2008. The organization continues to grow as an institution working in the welfare, protection, and conservation of wildlife in Indonesia based on 3R and M efforts: Rescue, Rehabilitation, Release & Monitoring.
The Politap delegation was welcomed by Executive Director Dr. Karmele Llano Sanchez and the IAR management team. Politap and IAR presented various partnership programs. The first presentation was delivered on behalf of Politeknik Negeri Ketapang by Dian Fitriani (Lecturer in Plantation Product Technology), who highlighted Politap's resources for collaborating with IAR, particularly in conducting research on specific species in accordance with IAR's information map. The second presentation was delivered by M.Razy (Informatics Engineering Lecturer) regarding collaboration in information systems development utilizing IAR data, while the third presentation was delivered by Irfan Chalid (Lecturer in Agroindustry) regarding the implementation of appropriate technology to develop the economic potential of rural communities fostered by IAR.
Meanwhile, IAR presented five speakers. The first speaker, Maria from community development, highlighted the importance of technological innovation interventions to develop community-based livelihoods; the second speaker, Muhadi from the orangutan protection team, emphasized the importance of an Information System for reporting human-orangutan conflict; the third speaker, Toni Kaswari, highlighted the importance of a web-based Geographic Information System or GIS. The fourth speaker, Andi Aria Fajar from the biodiversity team, conveyed that biodiversity potential opens up broad opportunities to conduct applied research beneficial to the community, while the fifth speaker, Abe from the education and awareness program, highlighted the importance of social media to strengthen program outreach to the community.
Following the event, Endang Kusmana, Director of Politap, warmly welcomed the details of the collaborative activities between Politap and IAR. Endang stated that the collaboration between IAR and Politap would yield broad and measurable impacts for the community. For example, in education, Politap will implement Kampus Merdeka for students ready to become volunteers for IAR programs, alongside scholarship partnerships for underprivileged communities around areas assisted by IAR. In research, joint research will be conducted to study specific biodiversity species in IAR-assisted areas, and Politap will design a WebGIS supported by data contributions from hundreds of IAR volunteers spread across Ketapang Regency, North Kayong Regency, and Melawi Regency. In community service, initiatives will involve the implementation of appropriate technology to foster local economic groups, public education and awareness, and the development of tourist villages.