By : Lutfiah Nur Rohmah Salaamah
Friday, June 14th 2024
BANDUNG, meteo.itb.ac.id – In commemoration of World Environment Day and Jakarta BERJAGA, the Jakarta Environmental Service (DLH) held the Ideathon 2024 competition. One of the teams that succeeded in winning attention and awards was ITB meteorology students whose team was named BERITA: Breathable Jakarta. The BERITA team consists of five people, namely Ridha Fatony Iswahyudi (12820038), I Putu Ferry Wistika (12820001), Phia Oktaviani (12820004), Lutfiah Nur Rohmah Salaamah 12819045), and Suci Rosyidatunnajah (12820024), who successfully won 2nd place with their innovative project called JaKerthi.
JaKerthi, which is an abbreviation of Jakarta Kerthi, is a community-based program that aims to improve air quality in Jakarta with a holistic approach involving five main elements: land, water, air, energy and people. Through this project, the BERITA team seeks to create a prosperous environment, where people can breathe clean and healthy air, and the government is able to control air quality effectively.
The problem of air quality in Jakarta is the BERITA team’s main concern. They realize that to achieve clean and healthy air, active participation from various elements of society and the use of information technology are needed. The JaKerthi program starts on a small scale, namely the Rukun Warga (RW) level, with practical steps that can be taken by the community. Some of the proposed activities include planting mother-in-law’s tongue, which is known to be effective in absorbing air pollutants; managing waste well to reduce pollution; and avoiding burning waste through education about its negative impact on air quality.
JaKerthi has four main points in implementing its program: preparation and survey, which involves data collection and analysis of initial air quality conditions in the target environment; education and training, which provides knowledge and skills to the community regarding ways to improve air quality; action and implementation, which involves carrying out real activities such as planting plants, managing waste, and other activities that support improving air quality; and evaluation and improvement, which evaluates the results of activities that have been carried out and looks for ways to increase program effectiveness.
The main advantage of JaKerthi lies in its interactive educational approach that utilizes information technology. With a special website or application, this program not only conveys information, but also monitors and measures air quality progress in real-time. This allows for rapid response to changing field conditions and needs.
By winning 2nd place in the 2024 Ideathon, the BERITA team hopes that the JaKerthi project can be implemented more widely and receive support from various parties, including the government and the community. They believe that with good collaboration, air quality in Jakarta can be improved, making this city healthier and more comfortable to live in. With a comprehensive and participatory approach, it is hoped that this program can become a model for other cities in overcoming air quality problems.