🔴LIVE | Lokalatih Santri Ecosocpreneur

Summary

The event introduced the Eco-Pesantren and Santri Ecosocpreneur movement, which aims to help Islamic boarding schools become cleaner, healthier, more self-reliant, and environmentally sustainable. Its central message is to treat waste not only as something to discard, but as a resource that can be managed responsibly and, where suitable, turned into useful products or economic value. Environmental care is also framed as part of religious responsibility and good character.

Main ideas

• Pesantrens can lead local environmental change. They manage food, water, energy, sanitation, health, and economic activity every day, often within large communities. Their routines and example can influence nearby residents.
• Start with practical habits, not expensive facilities. Reduce and separate waste, keep shared spaces clean, conserve water and energy, care for plants, and involve students, staff, and leaders.
• Build capability as well as infrastructure. The program seeks to strengthen students’ knowledge, creativity, research skills, resilience, collaboration, and entrepreneurial initiative.
• Make environmental programs fit each pesantren. The speakers emphasize mapping local conditions and choosing solutions suited to each school’s size, land, budget, waste streams, and existing resources.
• Use partnerships. Government agencies, research institutions, universities, community groups, businesses, waste banks, and pesantrens are expected to collaborate rather than work separately.
• Connect environmental work with Islamic values. Caring for the earth, avoiding waste, and using resources wisely are presented as expressions of stewardship and worship.

Eight directions for Eco-Pesantren work

The opening presentation identified these priorities:

1. Manage waste in an integrated way.
2. Process organic waste into useful products.
3. Establish waste-sorting habits.
4. Reduce operational costs.
5. Improve students’ practical skills.
6. Strengthen pesantren economic independence.
7. Conserve resources.
8. Make pesantrens replicable examples of environmental management.

Proposed methodology and practical steps

1. Assess the pesantren before selecting technology

• Conduct a waste audit to identify where waste comes from, how much is generated, and what it consists of.
• Examine sources such as kitchens, dining areas, dormitories, classrooms, mosques, gardens, and staff housing.
• Use the audit to estimate future waste volumes, including potential growth in the student population.
• Match the management plan and technology to the measured waste stream and available land, staffing, and budget.

2. Organize and educate

• Form a team with assigned responsibilities for collection, processing, and monitoring.
• Explain the reasons for sorting and reducing waste to students and staff.
• Provide separate containers or collection points for organic, inorganic, and hazardous waste. The speaker advised using available materials where possible rather than waiting for ideal equipment.
• Keep hazardous waste separate and arrange appropriate handling rather than mixing it with ordinary waste.

3. Begin with simple waste handling

• Separate waste at its source, particularly in kitchens, dormitories, and dining areas.
• Start with a manageable organic-waste treatment method, such as composting. Consider more advanced equipment only after the waste quantity and needs are understood.
• Potential approaches discussed include composting, Black Soldier Fly larvae for suitable organic material, vermicomposting, biogas, and channels for recyclable materials.
• The presenter stressed that methods have different requirements and processing times, and that food waste should not automatically be treated as interchangeable with all other organic waste.

4. Develop planting and resource recovery

• Use finished compost and other appropriate outputs to support gardens or food production.
• Consider mixed, layered planting rather than relying only on a single crop. The presenter argued that diversified planting can provide harvests at different times and reduce the risk of all production being affected by the same pests or conditions.
• Where land is limited, consider options such as containers, raised beds, or wall-based planting. The suitable method depends on local conditions.
• Integrate production with pesantren needs where feasible, while planning how to use, store, or sell surplus harvests.

5. Follow a 90-day action cycle

• Days 1–30: Socialize the program, form the team, audit and sort waste, and begin simple composting.
• Days 31–60: Use the initial data to choose and set up suitable processing facilities; prepare planting media and begin cultivation where appropriate.
• Days 61–90: Assess results and begin harvesting where feasible. Review costs, production, logistics, and problems, then adjust the system.

The presenter emphasized that the 90-day sequence should be adapted to each pesantren rather than treated as a one-size-fits-all plan. Evaluation should continue after the initial cycle.

Program development and institutional support

• The Director of Islamic Boarding School Empowerment described Rise Clubs—Research and Innovation Clubs—as spaces for students to observe local problems, conduct simple research, test ideas, document results, and share solutions.
• The program proposed building on an initial network of 50 pesantrens and 100 student pioneers, with each club encouraged to visit nearby pesantrens. The stated ambition was to extend learning through a larger network of visits and capacity-building.
• The Ministry of Forestry speaker highlighted forest rehabilitation, access to seedlings through nursery centers, and water conservation, including rainwater harvesting. He encouraged cooperation with pesantrens on planting and water-related initiatives.
• The Ministry of Environment speaker discussed reducing disposable plastic, sorting and recycling, waste banks, the possible use of organic waste for energy, and connecting pesantrens with recycling partners and support such as CSR. He cited a national target of having all waste managed by 2029.
• The BRIN representative stressed that waste planning should be research-based, starting with measurement and then selecting technologies appropriate to the waste’s quantity and characteristics.

Training presentation and discussion

The main trainer, Dr. Josep F. William, urged participants to change their mindset from viewing waste as a burden to seeing it as potential raw material. He described a behavior-change sequence of understanding, caring, and acting, with small actions repeated until they become habits.

In discussion, participants asked how to motivate pesantren communities, access seedlings, and adapt plans to different school settings. Nisa Wargadipura, a representative of the At-Thariq ecological pesantren, noted that pesantrens differ in land, layout, and type, and argued that environmental work should extend beyond waste management. She also suggested that agroecology may better describe diverse, connected landscapes than the trainer’s use of “agroforestry” in some examples. The trainer agreed that approaches should be adapted and that further research and collaboration would be useful.

The event closed with a call for continued collaboration and for pesantrens to move from discussion to practical, locally appropriate action.

Speakers and sources featured

• Opening narration — An unidentified voice presenting the Eco-Pesantren vision and its waste-management priorities.
• Aura Salsabila — Master of ceremonies.
• Miftahul Huda — Led the opening prayer.
• Dr. Yusi Damayanti — Director of Islamic Boarding School Empowerment, Ministry of Religious Affairs.
• Dr. Muhammad Zainal Arifin — Secretary of the Directorate General of Watershed Management and Forest Rehabilitation, Ministry of Forestry.
• Agus Rusli — Director of Waste Reduction and Circular Economy Development, Ministry of Environment.
• Dr. Sri Wahyono — Represented the environmental research center and spoke on waste research and technology.
• Yanti Sri Yulianti — Moderator and founder of the Sigap Kerlip Indonesia Foundation.
• Dr. Josep F. William — Main training presenter on waste management, resource recovery, planting, and action planning.
• Andika Muhammad — Participant who asked about motivating pesantren communities.
• Ustaz Muhammad — Participant who raised questions about equipment, seedlings, and research support.
• Nisa Wargadipura — Participant from the At-Thariq ecological pesantren who commented on agroecology and differences among pesantren settings.