by: Anna Dreier and Florian Kopf (Master's students at Technical University of Munich)
Aktuelles
Intercultural exchange between SEED Center TUM and ITB
In winter term 2023/2024, the TUM Master’s students Anna Dreier and Florian Kopf had the opportunity to study abroad in Indonesia at the Institut Teknologi in Bandung. While the degree program of Anna Dreier is Consumer Science, Florian Kopf's major is Sustainable Management & Technology. What especially connects those two students is their interest in the environment and engagement toward a more sustainable future. The scholarship program of TUM SEED Center enabled them to contribute to this personal interest during their time in Indonesia.
This is why, in mid-August 2023, Anna and Florian sat in the lecture hall at the School of Business Management at ITB instead of the Technical University of Munich. Characterized by group work, discussions, and presentations, the university environment lets them experience a different learning system and intercultural exchange between same-minded students. Living in the bustling city of Bandung for a few months reveals not only advantages but also concerns about a sustainable future in the minds of Anna and Florian. Many challenges need to be overcome, like waste systems or modes of transportation, to ensure a viable future. In addition, climate change is already noticeable in Indonesia. While the rainy season used to start in October, it has tended to shift to a later month. Both students of TUM wanted to become active. Luckily, the TUM SEED Center and ITB cooperate to run a living lab in a rural area in Garut, near Bandung, which focuses on establishing sustainable developments. During their semester at ITB, Anna and Florian had the opportunity to be involved in the activities at the local SEED Center.
One exciting highlight during the stay in Indonesia was a visit to the Living Lab in Garut in companionship with the two project coordinators, Dr.rer.pol. A. Fajar Hendarman (Business and Management), and Dr. Fathin Saifur Rahman (Electrical Engineering), Defrina Dwifani (Student Initiative Founder at SEED Center ITB) and Veren Sonia (Assistant SEED Center ITB) as well as the members of this initiative. Here, Anna and Florian experienced how sustainable projects can become a reality in a community setting. The Living Lab area is on private ground on which a boarding school and Muslim premises are established. There are three core activities in this Living Lab: power generation through a solar system, sustainable vegetable cultivation, and water purification. The activities within this social project visibly make a positive impact on the people living there.
Since 2020, photovoltaic panels have been established on the ground of the Living Lab. Moreover, there is a battery storage system to use the sun's energy even more effectively. With this, the generated power is sufficient to supply the school day and night. For sure, this provides impact on the school as there are cost savings. In addition, this example shows how a green alternative can be adequate and reliable compared to the more traditional way of power generation in Indonesia by coal.
Lastly, the Living Lab Initiative strives to establish a water purification system that allows the community to clear water for its own usage but also for commercialization. In Indonesia, one has to distinguish between drinking water and clean water. While the purification of drinking water is difficult to achieve, the project is already able to produce clean water. At the time of the visit, there were some issues with filtering a specific bacterium, which is why there is no resale of the water at the moment. Nevertheless, there are plans to utilize these installments as soon as the required filter has been acquired. This project has a high potential to support the area with local water and will provide a sustainable source of income for the community.
After the visit to the Living Lab, there were lively discussions with the students of the ITB SEED Student Initiative. It was especially interesting to talk about environmental challenges and see differences in the challenges encountered in Germany. Taking different perspectives enlarges the viewpoint and stimulates reflection. The achievements of the Living Lab so far have been very impressive for us exchange students. At the same time, looking to the future and the will to shape the future sustainably by further developing the facilities are important aspects. The student initiative is motivated to make a change. A follow-up sustainability talk tackles the topic of waste segregation, which is a major problem in Indonesia. Both Anna and Florian are positively excited about how the project will further develop in the future. At this point, they want to thank Fajar, Fathin, Defrina, and Veren, who made this special exchange and visit to the Living Lab possible. All the best!
