Forum Kajian Desa Partners Continue to Engage with Government Agencies

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As reported in the December 2016 Update (link), a number of KSI partners have established a Forum Kajian Desa (FKD, Village Research Forum) to improve the quality of research on village development and encourage interaction between policy makers and knowledge producers. In January, the Forum continued a series of knowledge sharing events. 

The Sajogyo Institute (SAINS) organised on a focus group discussion on its study on inter-village and rural development (pembangunan kawasan perdesaan). It was held on 4-5 January 2017 in Bayah village in Lebak, Banten Province. The study aims to identify and propose a comprehensive framework to address socio-ecological degradation in tourist areas. The discussion was attended by community members and local government representatives concerned about the socio-ecological problems in Lebak. Lebak is exposed to extractive industries, but is also a tourist destination renowned for its traditional villages. Community members were given an opportunity to convey their concerns to policy makers. The discussions went well, with the local Bappeda office committing to follow up with more dialogue with communities and jointly find possible solutions for the problems. SAINS is documenting and analysing similar developments in Lumajang (East Java).

The Yogyakarta-based Institute of Research and Empowerment (IRE) is leading the process of synthesising research on village democratisation. Through a ‘call for paper’ mechanism, IRE selected the nine best papers on various themes of village democratisation that were presented and contested in a mini-symposium on 12-13 January 2017 in Yogyakarta. The event attracted many participants, mostly researchers and civil society activists, as well as policy makers from Kemenko PMK and Kemendesa, who had an opportunity to discuss some recent cutting-edge research. Using feedback from the participants, the nine presenters will improve their papers so they can be published later by IRE.

KSI also supported a focus group discussion for the Forum Kajian Desa with Kemenko PMK on developing initial ideas for monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of Law No. 6/2014 on Villages. The first focus group discussion was held on 26-27 January in Bogor with eight forum members and policy makers from Kemenko PMK, Kemendagri, Kemendesa and Bappenas actively engaged in discussions and knowledge exchange. Partners emphasised that any instrument for monitoring and evaluation of the use of village grants should not be a burden to villages, as they have been overwhelmed by administrative burdens from sub-national and national governments on specific data required by line ministries and local governments. A new instrument should be able to be a common reference for all national ministries and local governments using the same data sources, rather than having a large array of tools as there are currently.