2025 – Citizenship Workshop Magelang
November 25-29, 2025, Van Deventer-Maas Indonesia held a Citizenship Workshop at Rumah Boedi, Borobudur, Central Java. Twenty participants from all over Indonesia took part in this event with the theme “Culture, Nature, and Future.” The workshop engaged participants in mindfulness, critical discussions on Indonesia’s challenges, essay writing, child safety awareness, and field explorations of local heritage sites. Each day, participants attended a Mindfulness session to focus and truly understand their presence in the workshop.
“Who is Indonesia” opened the first day’s session with Marsen Sinaga. Participants were asked to contribute ideas and discuss in groups issues such as the rich-poor gap, exploitation of the people, unfair policies, and solutions such as collective action. They were asked to understand Indonesia as a whole, both its positive and negative aspects, as a basis for proposing solutions, even on the smallest scale. This was followed by a session on “How to be a Professional Leader” by Henri Muhardiyanto. The material presented included: professional leadership competencies (integrity, empathy, decision-making), styles (democratic, transformational), and contrasting ‘nice’ vs. “good” leaders. The first day concluded with an introduction to local exposure by Mr. Mura (cultural observer) on the history of Magelang, Borobudur, and local wisdom.
Day two with Zaki Habibi, who shared his experiences in filmmaking and essay writing, encouraged participants to read references for interesting writing styles (explanatory, dialogue, illustration). Participants were asked to identify their background, language, and personal objects as sources of writing, plus prepare for field research (tools, sensory interviews, building trust). Group mind mapping exercises discussed issues such as work difficulties and unofficial parking fees. Before the session ended, participants were given the task of writing an opening sentence for an essay and reading it aloud one by one.
Annisa Taqwa revealed the dangers of OCSEA (online child sexual exploitation): patterns of vulnerable children (sharing personal information at night), perpetrators (pretending, building trust, threatening), plus issues of gaming addiction and cyberbullying on the third day. Participants also shared their experiences regarding OCSEA incidents occurring around them, whether at home or on campus. This is crucial so that everyone affected by OCSEA can understand how to report it and receive protection. Next, Anggoro Mukti discussed the topic “START” as the key to sustainable community engagement through a growth cycle, business board game experiments (managing cash flow), and the challenge of selling food to the community within 30 minutes to overcome the “Fog of War” (initial anxiety).
The fourth day is the highlight of the Citizenship Workshop because each group (consisting of 5 people) will go into the field and collect data according to the theme “Culture, Nature and Future”. Places to visit: [1] Jenang Krasikan Culture, [2] Samberan Site, [3] Pawon Temple and Sendang Site, and [4] Sambeng’s Progo River traditions. Previously, participants had prepared for observation, including a list of questions, informant contacts, and a focus on Culture, Nature, and Future. Each group was given 4 hours to visit each location, followed by immediate mind mapping and presentation preparation.
On the last day, each group presented the results of their observations on their respective topics. Group 1 (Pawon-Sendang: sacred sites, tourism economy); Group 2 (Peradaban Air Sambeng: njolo tradition, larung sesaji, Progo tourism potential); Group 3 (Samberan: Hindu-Buddhist tolerance, agro-tourism); Group 4 (Jenang Krasikan: traditional recipes, future branding). Zaki Habibi’s evaluation: encourage curiosity as a motivator, add storytelling illustrations. The series of activities concluded with an Art Performance night featuring cultural performances from each region (Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi, and Nusa Tenggara) in the form of traditional songs, dances, and poetry. See you at next year’s event.
