UNS — The Student Executive Board (BEM) of the Faculty of Agriculture (FP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a series of Community Development Summit (COMDES). The program includes an online class on “Real Changes through Student Community Service Program) on Saturday (24/7/2021). The class is the closing event for the series held through the Zoom Meeting application with 76 participants.
BEM FP invited Heru Edi Kurniawan, M.Pd., supervising faculty member for National Mathematics and Natural Sciences Competition (KNMIPA) UNS, as speaker. Heru explained that the community service program has three components: community empowerment, community empowerment, and collaboration with local people.
The first component, services for the community, is often held by a firm by taking several roles in the society, such as by building public facilities, improving education quality, and religious facilities. “Thus, if a company has an activity in the community, they should provide services for the community in return,” Heru added.
The second component in community empowerment. He explained that this component is related to the interrelated programs and provides better access for the community to support their independence. Thus, this component focuses on community independence instead of their benefit. The last component is maintaining a good relationship with the community, especially with the local government, to open new relationships and collaboration.
Heru provided a further discussion on community empowerment through enabling, empowering, and protecting stage. Enabling stage is creating a supportive climate for the community to develop through needs and potential analysis on the village community or the natural resources. This step is followed by empowering by strengthening village potential or resources and followed by protecting to prevent unfair competition and exploitation of the weak by the strong. Empowerment can be implemented by involving the community, expand opportunities, and expanding social protection
Student community service programs can be implemented through several methods: skill training, technical assistance, capacity building, socialization or counseling, and business development. There are several additional options for students to conduct community services during the pandemic, such as potential and issues analysis, field survey under strict health protocol, digital-based research optimization, firm collaboration permit, and equal and structured division of roles.
Concluding the discussion, Heru emphasized the importance of collaboration in creating an innovation system at the local and regional levels. The big project of creating a national innovation system needs cooperation both at the national and local levels. “The key is strong local capacity as a foundation for the people in facing competition in the 21st century,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti