Seoul, June 26, 2025 — As the urgency of the climate crisis continues to intensify, the global community faces a growing obstacle: the spread of misinformation and disinformation that hampers public understanding and concrete climate action. At the prestigious 9th Climate Energy Summit held in Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Novi Kurnia, a lecturer in the Department of Communication Science at FISIPOL UGM and lead researcher at the Centre for Digital Society (CfDS) UGM, delivered a keynote address offering a critical perspective from the Global South on the rampant spread of climate-related falsehoods.
SDGs 13: Climate Action
Yogyakarta, June 19th 2025 – Bulaksumur Roundtable Forum (BRF) was held again through The Clinics series which this year focused on the theme “Opportunities for Zakat, Infaq, Sadaqah, and Waqf (ZISWAF) to Build Participative Climate Finance in Indonesia”. Located at the 4th Floor Auditorium of FISIPOL UGM, this forum became a forum for cross-sector discussions to explore the potential of social funds as an instrument of inclusive and sustainable climate crisis financing. The forum presented a variety of speakers from philanthropic institutions, Islamic finance, to government agencies. Some of them were Syamsul Ardiansyah (Senior Officer of Strategic Alliance Dompet Dhuafa), Dede Haris Sumarno (Commissioner of Supervision and Governance of the Indonesian Waqf Board), and Nur Fadilah (ESG Operation and Communication Head of Bank Syariah Indonesia). In addition, the forum also involved academics and climate policy experts to enrich perspectives.
Yogyakarta, June 13th 2025—In an ever-changing world faced with many social, environmental, and economic challenges, a big question arises: What if businesses are not just profit-oriented, but also think about the impact? This question became a very intriguing introduction in the opening webinar for the 9th Batch of the C-Hub Talent Pitching, a yearly program which pushes the spirit of social entrepreneurship among youths. Bringing the theme of “Future-Fit”, this program is back again with new spirits in placing inclusivity and sustainability as the main foundation for building a brighter future. In the webinar titled “Future-Driven Entrepreneurship for a Sustainable Tomorrow”, Fisipol UGM’s Creative Hub presented two inspirational speakers, none other than Satya Dewastra B. W., founder of Ailesh, and Rika Novayanti, expert strategic communication on environment, as well as the Co-founder of Mosaic.
Yogyakarta, 18 May 2025–GAMAPI FISIPOL UGM held an Environmental Action (Aksi Lingkungan/ Angklung) work program at Pandansari Beach, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta. This activity was designed by the Social Society division (Sosmas) of GAMAPI as a means of realizing positive contributions and responsibilities towards the environment.
“As students, we want to invite and provide a forum for other students and non-students to have a real impact on the environment as an effort to care for and increase awareness of our shared environment,” said Farrel.
Regarding the issue of inclusivity, there are a lot of issues and problems that are not yet accommodated and given a concrete solution. Starting from the physical aspect, in regards to infrastructure, there are many cases of misuse, like the sidewalk for example. With that in mind, this makes sidewalks in Yogyakarta less pedestrian-friendly, especially for people with disabilities . Furthermore, indigenous faith groups have not been fully involved in the process of development.
Next, regarding the issue of employment, there are still many vulnerable workers that do not prosper in Yogyakarta. While it is stated that Yogyakarta has the second highest level of Human Development Index (HDI) nationally, it is clear that the wages here are still low and there are many workers from the informal sector who do not receive proper safety nets from the government. People with disabilities have also not been given proper opportunities to engage in the labor sector as a whole
It doesn’t end there, as some residents have also stated their aspirations regarding the environmental crisis and the issue of proper housing. It starts from improper waste management, which does not focus on intervening on the upstream level, especially for industries and corporations that produce the most waste. Next, the access to housing which has gotten even more costly has made it even harder for residents to own a house. Not only that, there are still many slums in Yogyakarta facing sanitation problems.
Yogyakarta, 21st of March, 2025—UGM’s Faculty of Social and Political Science supports the government efforts at carrying out a nation-wide energy transition scheme towards clean energy. Through intense cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia and the British Embassy in Jakarta, the MENTARI Initiation was organized on Friday (21/3) at Fisipol UGM.
Indonesia has strengthened its commitment towards Zero Emission by updating its National Energy Policy. It is stated that in 2023, as much as 23 percent of the total primary energy supply comes from sustainable energy.In the year 2050, it is targeted to be as high as 31 percent. Unfortunately, the progress towards the development of clean energy for Indonesia’s primary energy supply is stagnant, stuck at somewhere around 12 percent. This urgency requires various parties to collaborate with each other and create breakthrough innovations, so that it can endorse the utilization of clean renewable energy that is both stable and capable to accommodate the energy needs of the people.
Nurhadi, S.Sos., M.Si., Ph.D., as Vice Dean of Finance, Asset, and Human Resources Affairs of Fisipol UGM, mentioned that climate change has become one of the research umbrella for the faculty that oversees various important agendas. “Everywhere we go we can feel clean rooms, or clean air. However, where does it all come from? As a country, our energy still relies on coal. Fulfilling clean energy becomes a challenge towards resource exploitation to be controlled,” Nurhadi mentioned.
“Through the roadshow, we want to “kulanuwun”, greeting friends from various university in Indonesia and introducing the Ajisaka Festival as a collaborative space for creative folks in expressing their care and concern towards the issue that we have raised,” Adelia Christi mentioned in the interview, as the Leader of Ajisaka Festival .
The Ajisaka Roadshow started on the 20th of February at Universitas Teknologi Yogyakarta and UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. The roadshow program is planned to be organized frequently until the 24th of March. The roadshow agenda is done offline in campuses at Yogyakarta and Solo, while it will be done online at the other campuses. The roadshow consists of information sharing in regards to the competition categories, janamejaya video screening, and icebreaking activities.
Yogyakarta, March 1st 2025─Festival Ajisaka, an annual event initiated by the Department of Communication Science students, is back with a theme that carries the spirit of sustainability. This year, the Festival Ajisaka raises the issue of green economy with the title “Gaman Kamulyan: Echoing the Hope of Sustainability”. This theme was chosen as a form of concern for the importance of environmentally sound economic development, especially in the midst of an increasingly worrying environmental crisis.
Yogyakarta, February 25th 2025─The Department of the Public Policy and Management held a Studium Generale entitled “Integrated Hydro – Irrigation – Restoration Systems”. This theme is a response to overcome various challenges, especially in water resources.
The event presented Prof. Edward P. Weber, professor of Public Policy of the Oregon State University, USA. He saw that problems regarding the management of our food, water and energy are still seen as partial problems. This perspective makes food, water and energy management inefficient and unsustainable.
Yogyakarta, 25 February 2025–DPP Fisipol UGM held a seminar entitled “The Politics of Energy Transition: Coal Phase-Out and the Future of Renewable Energy Financing” to encourage an equitable energy transition. The seminar looked at the challenges and strategies of renewable energy holistically, from economic to infrastructure development planning. The discussion was enriched from various perspectives, namely Nanang Indra Kurniawan (Lecturer of DPP UGM), Rezki Syahrir (Co-Founder of Non-Governmental Organization Indonesian Initiative for Sustainable Mining/IISM), and moderated by Primi Suharmadhi Putri (PhD Candidate Oulu University).