Sustainability Education and Capacity Building in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

Hokkaido University started its first sustainable education program in 2005 in collaboration with five Japanese universities. In 2009, this collaboration was expanded to include several foreign universities, including two Indonesian Universities. We started using an internet remote lecturing system, to develop a “global classroom”, which merged several classrooms around the world into one. In these comprehensive birds-eye view education programs, diversity is probably the important keyword. New professionals – in science and technology especially – could learn about the three pillars of sustainability (environment, economy and society), while sharing diversified interests, values and opinions. This method afforded them the ability to work with other field personnel in the environmental, social and economic sectors to come up for holistic strategies for sustainable development. We also conducted field tours in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, in collaboration with the University of Parangka Raya. Our Project also facilitated capacity-building between Japanese and Indonesian NPO’s.