UNS – Research Group (RG) Applied Geography Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a disaster mitigation workshop in Karanganyar, Saturday (17/6/2023). This activity has the title “Peningkatan Kapasitas Masyarakat dalam Pengurangan Risiko Bencana Longsor Lahan di Desa Sepanjang, Kecamatan Tawangmangu, Kabupaten Karanganyar Tahun 2023” (Increasing Community Capacity in Reducing the Risk of Landslide Disasters in Sepanjang Village, Tawangmangu District, Karanganyar Regency 2023). The team consisted of academics from the Geography Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) UNS.
This activity is part of the Community Service Program (PKM) Research Group Grant (HGR). The event started with a speech by Dr. Pipit Wijayanti, S.Si., M.Sc. as the Head of the Applied Geography Research Group. She said that disaster risks can be reduced through community capacity building.
“Increasing community capacity is one of the keys to reducing disaster risk,” Dr. Pippin Wijayanti said.
The following agenda included remarks and opening by Taryono as the Secretary of the Sepanjang Village. He expressed his hope that the collaboration between Sepanjang Village and UNS, especially Geography Education, could continue. Currently, the workshop involves the people of Sepanjang Village with diverse livelihood backgrounds.
“Our village is frequently hit by landslides, especially in Ngledok, Sendang and Genengan areas. It is hoped that this activity will make our village community resilient when facing landslides,” Taryono said.
The workshop began with the presentation by Setya Nugraha, S.Si., M.Sc. The material presented was about “Peningkatan Kapasitas Masyarakat dalam Pengurangan Risiko Bencana Longsor Lahan” (Increasing Community Capacity in Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction). He explained the factors that cause landslides, namely topography/slope, soil/rock conditions, water, vibration/earthquake frequency, land use, and human activities.
He underlined that Sepanjang Village only has four factors: topography/slope, water, land use, and human activity. He also said that the construction of canals that cut through the slopes greatly increased the formation of slip planes, so that over time this would result in landslides. In addition, land use is one way to reduce the risk of landslides.
Furthermore, Participatory Mapping (PM) is carried out by the community. This activity was guided by Rahning Utomowati, S.Si., M.Sc., and Gentur Adi Tjahjono, S.Si. M.Pd. Participatory Mapping (PM) is a mapping activity carried out by the community, where the documentation process is obtained through the spatial knowledge of a community group based on the philosophy and basic principles of participatory mapping.
The community was asked to indicate areas that frequently experience ground motion. After that the activity was carried out by making a simple Early Warning System (EWS) guided by Gentur Adi Tjahjono, S.Si. M.Pd and Lintang Ronggowulan, S.Pd, M.Pd. The event was then closed by installing EWS in areas that have a high risk of landslides as a result of PM.
Humas UNS
Reporter: Rangga Pangestu Adji
Editor: Dwi Hastuti