SIGAP Village Academy is Back in 2022

East Kalimantan province hosts the second SIGAP Village Academy (AKS). "A total of 26 villages participated in AKS #2, we hope that an ecosystem of mutual learning between villages will emerge," said the Regent of Berau Sri Juniarsih at the opening ceremony of the SIGAP Village Academy in Tanjung Redeb, Berau, East Kalimantan, on Wednesday, March 23 2022. It is hoped that this academy will be able to accelerate village independence with the capacity of existing human resources.

The SIGAP Village Academy is a collaborative activity between the Berau Regency Community and Village Empowerment Service (DPMK), Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN), and the Village Innovation Studio Foundation (YSID) from Panggungharjo Village, Yogyakarta. The SIGAP Village Academy was born from a combination of learning from Panggungharjo Village which was awarded as the "Center of Excellence" Village from the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (Kemendes PDTT) and the Community Inspiring Action for Change (SIGAP) developed by YKAN. The SIGAP Village Academy is also a model for implementing the village innovation center of excellence in East Kalimantan.

In 2021, the first SIGAP Academy was attended by 20 villages from Berau Regency, one village from East Kutai Regency, and one village from Kutai Kartanegara Regency. This year, the number of participants increased to 24 villages from Berau Regency and two villages from East Kutai Regency. The three issues that will be raised in this training are governance, management of Village Owned Enterprises (BUMKam), and strengthening the village self-reliance ecosystem.

Interesting issues from the 2021 SIGAP Academy includes strengthening the capacity of village leaders. The chairman of the Village Innovation Studio Foundation, Ryan Sugiarto, said that there are three pillars of village independence, namely politics, economy and data. From the political aspect, the village is the arena of local democracy as a form of political sovereignty. "Village leaders in Berau and East Kutai need to strengthen their political, leadership and bureaucratic capacities," he said. The goal is transparent and accountable governance. This transparency effort was then strengthened by training on integrated village information systems. These materials became training materials for village officials on governance.

On the theme of BUMKam management, the output to be achieved for the participants is the ability of village officials to plan, manage, and develop BUMKam as an entrepreneurial asset. From the theme of the village independence ecosystem, capacity building was carried out to open the participants' insight about innovative strategic issues of village sovereignty.

"Moreover, three models of village schools will be opened in Berau," said the Manager of Government Relations for Berau, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara, Gunawan Wibisono. There are three BUMKam representing the three regions in Berau that will serve as models for village schools. They are BUMKam Talisayan from Talisayan District, which represents the coastal area, BUMKam Surya Jaya Abadi from Labanan Makarti Village which represents the middle region, and BUMKam Lebo ASIK from Kampung Merabu which represents the upstream region.

The three regions above represent various village typologies. The coastal area with its marine wealth, the middle area which is dominated by the lowlands, and the upstream area which is in the highlands. "The variety of village typologies in Indonesia is a strength because it presents a stretch of knowledge that can be replicated or adapted by other villages," Gunawan added. The commitment and consistency of all parties are also the basic capital in the manifestation of the vision to build Indonesia from the village. This program is one of YKAN's support for the district government program to implement the bupati's vision and mission in strengthening villages.

Post training, the 26 villages will receive direct assistance from YSID, either by distance method or field visits. The main assistance will be focused on the village government, BUMKam managers, and village information system managers.