UNAIR NEWS – A lecturer of the Faculty of Law (FH) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) has recently achieved a remarkable feat on the international stage. Jani Purnawanty SH SS LLM has received the 2023 Pulitzer Center’s Impact Seed Funding (ISF) grant. She spearheaded a project titled “Increasing Awareness of the Impact of Climate Change on Workers’ Health Through Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Teaching Methods.” The project ran for six months from October 2023 to February 2024.
The ISF is a micro-grant program aimed at researchers and academics in universities worldwide. Its objective is to enrich the perspectives of academic communities on critical global issues related to rainforests, climate change, and labor rights. Recipients of the grant are required to utilize inspiring journalistic works supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Developing diverse innovative program
Jani explained that within this project, she designed several programs. Firstly, a problem-based learning (PBL) module. She developed the program due to the abundance of modules utilizing fictional cases, making it easier to adapt to learning themes and the complexity of topics for discussion. The ISF PBL program utilized real-life events documented in seven journalistic reports by two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.
“The factual cases about the climate change impact as observed in India, Qatar, and the United States used in this PBL module further open the eyes of students to current issues and realities in the field. Hopefully, by using real cases, students can formulate problem-solving proposals more concretely and effectively,” Jani explained.
“We have produced six videos uploaded to our media partners, YouTube Kalinga Daya Yustisia and YouTube Kampus UMAHA Sidoarjo. The overall output of this activity is expected to serve as an alternative or additional teaching material at UNAIR’s Faculty of Law, UMAHA Sidoarjo’s Faculty of Law, and the Health Economics postgraduate program at UNAIR,” she added.
In addition to the PBL module, Jani also devised two other programs: community-based learning (CBL) and webinar. The CBL program was conducted at the Universitas Ma’arif Hasyim Latif (UMAHA) campus in Sidoarjo. Through this activity, participants gained a more comprehensive understanding of climate change, as well as societal and governmental attitudes.
Furthermore, she organized a national webinar comprising two sessions. This webinar invited two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists: Aryn Baker, Senior International Climate and Environment Correspondent at TIME Magazine, and Bhasker Tripathi, Climate Correspondent at Thomson Reuters Foundation. The webinar drew a successful attendance of more than 180 participants hailing from various parts of Indonesia.
Involving mass media and government
Moreover, Jani expressed her commitment to amplifying the results of the ISF program by involving mass media and communicating with the East Java Provincial Manpower and Transmigration Office (Disnakertrans). In this regard, she successfully conducted an audience with Disnakertrans East Java at the end of February, which proved to be smooth and effective.
“The UNAIR research team successfully communicated the issue of climate change and its impact on workers. The Disnakertrans team also provided valuable insights and a picture of the on-ground conditions regarding efforts to protect workers affected by climate change,” said the lecturer of International Trade Law.
Furthermore, the success of the ISF program led her to be a speaker at the Climate and Labor Dialogue: Bridging Ideas, Crafting Collaborations conference. The conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 22-23, 2024, and organized by the Pulitzer Center.
“Academics still have room to maximize their role in educating the public about climate change issues and their complexities. The 2023 Pulitzer Center ISF program is highly strategic in supporting campus communities to maximize their role in society in mitigating the impact of climate change in Indonesia,” she concluded.
Author: Rafli Noer Khairam
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
