Through Thematic Games, FMIPA UI Community Service Team Encourages Teenagers to Become Agents of Change in Overcoming Environmental Problems

The FMIPA UI Team, chaired by Dr. Dewi Susiloningtyas, a lecturer from the Department of Geography, held a UI Action Program for the Nation with the theme "Application of Spatial Knowledge for Teenagers Through Environmentally Thematic Space Game Products", Sunday (13/10/2019) in the Setu Pengasinan area, Depok.

Dr. Dewi Susiloningtyas, a woman who is familiarly called Tyas, explained that Setu Pengasinan functions as a source of agricultural business for the surrounding population and is also a tourist attraction that is crowded with visitors.

Conditions like this, continued Tyas, have caused Setu Pengasinan to experience quite serious environmental challenges, namely waste, while actions and efforts to reduce waste are still not being carried out effectively.

Another problem in the Setu Pengasinan area is the large number of teenagers who drop out of school, most of whom do not complete high school. So this program activity also aims to provide education, socialization, skills, and commitment to them in preserving the cleanliness and conservation of the Setu environment.

"We encourage young people in Setu to be agents of change to address environmental issues and solve problems," said Tyas.

With this background, Tyas and her team, namely Ratri Candra, M. Sos., and Fika Afriyani, M. Si. created a thematic room game product by utilizing the Setu area as the game location.

In this thematic game, the FMIPA UI Community Service team involved 15 participants aged 12-14 years who live in the Setu Pengasinan area.

The activity consists of three stages, starting with ice breaking and sing songs with environmental themes. The next stage, to get to know the real and overall conditions of the setu, participants are divided into three groups.

Each group was invited to walk around the lake accompanied by FMIPA UI Geography students as facilitators. This stage is called tour de setu.

The third stage is a play activity in Saung Nusantara which is located next to the lake. Here participants are invited to observe and describe the location of the game according to the original space.

This game, which adopts the traditional monopoly game, has a thematic product with three important things, namely action, ideas and obligations related to environmental management (funds).

Action, requires participants to make movements that can reduce waste, especially inorganic waste. Idea, requires participants to provide opinions and solutions related to conservation matters in the Setu environment. Next is the cleaning fund which requires participants to contribute to the cleanliness of the Setu area.

At the end of the activity, the participants expressed their opinions regarding the game activities, and they began to realize the need to commit to protecting the environment around their homes, namely Setu Pengasinan.

Baday, for example. This 13-year-old participant admitted that he was happy and enthusiastic about participating in this game, from this game I gained new knowledge, that there are 2 types of waste based on their nature, namely organic and inorganic.

"It was fun and exciting to play, I learned that there is organic and inorganic waste," said Baday (13 years old),

There is also Nayla (12 years old). She remembers the words her father once said.

"My father said that the lake was not as dirty as it is now. It was still clean and there were lots of birds," said Nayla (12 years old).

News source: https://sci.ui.ac.id/