In November 2016, WRI Indonesia received a group of students from the University of Indonesia as part of the university’s Ecoproject program. During the one-month program at WRI Indonesia, the International Relations students learned about environmental issues in Indonesia, starting from sustainable land use, forest and landscape restoration, illegal logging to renewable energy. WRI Indonesia staff served as mentors for the students and assisted them in conducting various research-related task to enhance their research skill in the professional setting.

A student, for instance, was assigned to develop an essay on how innovative technologies to track timber can be used to combat illegal logging in Indonesia. Others did research on, among others, incentive mechanism for energy conservation and efficiency, financial incentives for forests and landscape restoration and Indonesia’s climate policy and participation in the Paris Agreement.

At the end of the program, two WRI Indonesia staff, Arief Wijaya and Hanny Chrysolite, delivered a presentation on the Science and Politics of Climate Change, followed by a sharing session between the students and the mentors. The students shared about how serious they were in conducting the research knowing that it will be used to solve real environmental issues in Indonesia. We hope that the program and the interaction with the staff have encouraged these students to spread the spirit to protect the environment and fight for a sustainable development in the future.

data WRI Indonesia staff with the students from the University of Indonesia