River Communities in Jakarta: Pedagogies in Environmental Stewardship

Indonesian water resource and river management legislation has complicated the management of rivers over the past decades. Limited financial resources and lack of coordination across national, province and municipal boundaries has led to Community-based organisations taking a key role in environmental education, advocacy and action. More recently, a number of key legislative shifts have been critical to the progression of integrated water resources management in the country, and led to governments partnering with these same Community-based organisations as a result of their successes. The paper addresses the important role of communities as advocates of a river. It builds off personal experiences travelling down and working along the Ciliwung River, and research collaborations with local Community-led action groups such as Komunitas Peduli Ciliwung. The paper shares reflections of how local Community-led action groups rally around the challenges of the river to foster a stronger relationship with the natural environment amidst governmental decision-making processes and multi-scalar landscape transformations.