Surabaya, 14 November 2022. As a country whose geological location is in the region ring of fire which is very disaster prone, Indonesia is seen as not yet maximizing collective memory and local knowledge as a form of disaster risk reduction. Unwritten knowledge becomes the local wisdom of the community, just a legend, story of mouth, local poetry, song/song, dll.
On this basis, Scale Indonesia with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Disaster Preparedness (Alert), plans to continue the disaster mitigation research mission named Java Dwipa Expedition to the East Java region, after carrying out similar activities in Palu, Central Sulawesi and parts of Banten province.
"For BNPB this expedition is very important, because literacy about the history of disasters in Indonesia is spread in various regions, both in the form of oral and written traditions, through ancient texts. And there is still very little information about the history of disasters in Indonesia, which is traced through oral traditions and also written traditions through various existing ancient texts.” Thus the Director of Risk Mapping and Evaluation, Dr. And. Udrekh, S.E, M.Si. It is hoped that the results of this Expedition will later become findings that can be published and become a reference for compiling various teaching materials for the general public, as well as at the local level.
Photo 1: Press conference scene, Mr. Kalaksa BPBD East Java is having a casual discussion with journalists discussing the threat of disaster in East Java
Person in charge of the JawaDwipa Expedition Team for the East Java Segment, Trinirmala Ningrum, explained his team's reason for conducting the research was to generate knowledge of the local wisdom of the community, regarding awareness for disaster mitigation that has been recorded and even that which has been hidden for centuries, in addition to extracting historical values from past disasters originating from the community's collective memory, artifacts and ancient texts.
East Java was chosen as the initial trip, because based on historical records, East Java has also experienced an earthquake, tsunamis in the past, the south coast of East Java, believed to also have local wisdom values which are also embraced by the local community as an effort to mitigate disasters that have been passed down from generation to generation.
“Of course the results of this research will be given to the local government, as part and reference to build community awareness in the region, Said Udrekh. It must be admitted that so far our approach has been based on developing technology. We forget the most important thing is how to increase literacy in society, especially for efforts to minimize the loss of life caused by the earthquake and tsunami,Udrekh shot back.
Photo 2: Mr. Amien Widodo as a geologist discussed the geological threats in East Java
Need to know, The JawaDwipa Expedition for the East Java Segment will be run by 2 team that will be interested in conducting research. Number of researchers 13 people with a history background, Archaeology, Sociology, Anthropology and Geology. Later the research team will conduct research in the southern region and some in the northern part of East Java, like Blitar, Malang, Banyuwangi, Pacitan. Meanwhile, for the northern region of East Java, it starts from Tuban to Mojokerto, Surabaya to Bondowoso. This research will be carried out throughout the months of November to December 2022.
Whereas, output from the expedition, that is, to make a book, popular article, short videos and documentaries. Which one, This will also be followed by a series of public discussions on disaster knowledge and threats.
"We will later advocate the results of this expedition to the government so that it can be used as a consideration in its policy,he concluded. (RN)
Photo 3 : Nugrah Aryatama as the Head of the JawaDwipa Expedition team for the East Java segment explained the itinerary for the JawaDwipa expedition team
Photo 4 : The atmosphere of the JawaDwipa Expedition Press Conference
Photo 5 : Photo with the Jawadwipa Expedition Team with Mr. Amien Widodo, Mr. Budi Santoso Kalak BPBD East Java, Mr. Sriono Head of Emergency and Logistics BPBD East Java
