Tag Archives: DesignAction

Kalau Sudah Punya Perda, Terus Gimana? (2)

*sambungan dari bagian sebelumnya

Maka, begitu perda ini disahkan, harus segera diturunkan menjadi perwal yang akan mendetailkan secara teknis hal-hal tersebut. Misalkan, persyaratan menjadi personel Komite Ekraf, tata kelola Pusat Kreasi, dan sebagainya. Dalam kesempatan workshop ini, para peserta pun menyampaikan aspirasinya, dalam rangka mengantisipasi berbagai hal yang mungkin terjadi dengan adanya perda tersebut. Berikut ini beberapa hal yang menarik untuk dicatat dari rangkuman hasil workshop:

  1. Pelaku Ekonomi KreatifHarapannya, pelaku ekraf dapat lebih sadar terhadap peraturan yang ada demi peningkatan peran/kontribusinya bagi kota; terjadi multi-perspektif lintas bidang usaha dan keahlian terkait (financemarketing, desain, dll.); akademisi hendaknya membantu litbang pelaku ekraf. Tantangannya, masih terasanya hirarki (senior/junior) di antara pelaku ekraf; pertemuan antara karakter ekraf sebagai ekosistem yang cair dengan birokrasi yang rendering rigid/kaku; anggapan “sebelah mata” terhadap profesi ekraf; lambatnya proses legalisasi dan akses teknologi; pelaku ekraf yang rentan sebagai pekerja, umumnya karena tidak memiliki sertifikat/hukum yang melindungi agar tidak bersifat eksplotatif. Solusinya, hendaknya terdapat forum atau platform komunikasi intensif; perkuat sinergi antara pemerintah dengan asosiasi profesi dan akademisi; penentuan standar remunerasi para pekerja ekraf; komite ekraf diisi oleh orang-orang yang ditunjuk oleh asosiasi masing-masing bidang; tersedianya support system yang mengefisiensi operational cost di awal usaha (mis. konsultasi akunting, pemasaran, SDM, dsb., di luar produk & proses kreatif), agar ekraf bisa mengarahkan energi dan fokusnya ke ide-ide baru.  
  2. Penataan Ekonomi KreatifHarapannya, memudahkan akses terhadap urusan legal dan administrasi seperti perizinan; meningkatnya pemahaman mengenai HKI; elemen & pekerjaan di pemerintahan agar dipercayakan pada pelaku ekraf di bidangnya (mis. pembuatan buku oleh desainer grafis); tersedianya sistem daring yang baik. Tantangannya, proses perlindungan HKI bagi pelaku ekraf; pendanaan dari APBD untuk boosting pengusaha ekraf perintis; gentrification sebagai resiko “kawasan ekraf”; perlu prosedur sinkronisasi data antara pelaku (asosiasi/komunitas) dengan pemerintah; sistem online pemerintah yang sering berubah dan kurang user friendlySolusinya, adanya galeri Bandung Kota Desain yang dikelola oleh komunitas; upgrade kanal online; kelonggaran impor untuk mempercepat akses ke teknologi baru; adanya layanan chat 24/7 yang suportif dan jam buka yang fleksibel (hingga di luar hari/jam kerja).
  3. Pengembangan Ekonomi KreatifHarapannya, adanya edukasi HKI yang mendasar sejak pendidikan dini melalui apresiasi karya, sebelum masuk ke teknis; keterlibatan pelaku ekraf dalam pengembangan sektor dan disiplin ilmu selain ekraf untuk dapat saling bersinergi; adanya pusat riset bidang ekraf terbesar di Indonesia; peningkatan kepekaan terhadap perubahan sosial budaya melalui ruang diskusi antar stakeholders; adanya ekosistem yang mendukung serendipity co-creation dan co-learningTantangannya, keterbatasan akses untuk pengembangan kreativitas di masa pandemi; keterbatasan pendidikan & pengembangan pemrograman di platform tertentu yang sulit diakses; belum adanya hub/simpul yang merepresentasikan 16 sub-sektor; masih banyak sektor yang belum paham peran pelaku ekraf dalam pengembangan sektornya; regenerasi talent sebagai komoditi ekraf; eksekusi program yang belum selalu berkelanjutan; komunikasi lintas sub-sektor. Solusinya, kurikulum terkait HKI sejak SD, SMP, SMA hingga kuliah; harus ada pihak penengah (intermediary) yang menjaga ekosistem dan sebagai penghubung antar stakeholders; adanya FGD lintas (sub)sektor untuk saling update perkembangan masing-masing, juga untuk membuka mindset dan memicu kolaborasi; adanya wadah untuk pembelajiran pemrograman (Stackoverflow Bahasa Indonesia); adanya indikator yang jelas dalam mendata dan mengukur kinerja kontribusi ekraf terhadap ekonomi.
  4. Pusat Kreasi dan Kota KreatifHarapannya, akses yang terbuka namun disertai konsep yang jelas dan terukur; adanya pusat layanan HKI yang melakukan pendekatan “jemput bola” ke pelaku ekraf; BCH yang berfungsi penuh dan terbuka/akomodatif bagi seluruh sub-sektor. Tantangannya, BCH yang belum nyaman sebagai ruang kreasi; pembangunan infrastruktur yg belum tepat guna; sulitnya akses sumber informasi market/trend; perawatan (pra)sarana oleh para pelakunya sendiri. Solusinya, FGD lintas sub-sektor untuk mendefinisikan tujuan dan “why factor” sebuah pusat kreasi sekaligus mengevaluasi sistem dan bentuk akomodasi BCH; inkubasi ekraf dan kewirausahaan bagi seluruh warga secara inklusif.
  5. Komite Penataan dan Pengembangan Ekonomi KreatifHarapannya, melibatkan asosiasi profesi; dikelola secara profesional 7 hari/minggu; komite berkelas dunia; terbukanya kolaborasi dengan seluruh sub-sektor untuk memperluas peluang; kolaborasi penta helix yang inklusif dan berkapasitas mendorong co-creation, bukan memaksakan agenda masing-masing; program berbasis permasalahan nyata, bottom-upTantangannya, berjejaring lintas bidang; komite harus mampu menemukan ribuan “ekraf hidden gems” di Bandung; regenerasi; ego; legalisasi yang lebih lambat dari perkembangan & penerapan teknologi baru. Solusinya, perlu simpul interdisiplin; filter kandidat dan regenerasi “rising star” setiap tahun; adanya lembaga/komite ekraf yang lebih cair untuk akses pendanaan; adanya kebebasan akses jaringan rekomendasi bagi para akademisi untuk pengembangan ekraf; berjejaring dengan institusi internasional; tim penta helix yang difasilitasi oleh kemampuan co-create service design profesional. 
  6. PendanaanHarapannya, adanya bantuan dalam bentuk sarana dan prasarana untuk regenerasi dan inkubasi pendukung ekosistem ekraf; adanya informasi mengenai pendanaan yang dapat diakses dengan mudah; penyaluran pendanaan yang lebih terarah; kerja sama dengan BUMN/swasta terkait peluang pendanaan dan peluang kerja sama yang transparan. Tantangannya, informasi terkait akses penggunaan APBD dan sumber pendanaan lain untuk ekraf. Solusinya, pemanfaatan aset negara (BUMN, pemda, swasta) yang idle, yang dapat dioptimalkan sebagai sarana pendukung ekraf; adanya lembaga yang mengelola dana khusus ekraf; mekanisme transparansi pengelolaan dana; pembentukan konsortium dana CSR khusus untuk ekraf; kolaborasi dengan KBRI dan berbagai institusi budaya asing, yang dapat menjadi sumber informasi terkait peluang pendanaan (grantfunding, dsb.) dari luar negeri.
  7. Sistem Informasi Ekonomi KreatifHarapannya, adanya sosialisasi yang lebih friendly sejak awal/ sekelum menetapkan rencana tahunan, dengan mengajak perwakilan pelaku ekraf, sehingga dapat diverifikasi di akhir tahun; adanya sosialisasi mengenai sistem informasi secara lebih menyeluruh, dengan interface yang lebih terfokus pada pengenalan platform Patrakomala dan manfaatnya; data dibuat lebih transparan dan accessible, baik bagi asosiasi maupun non asosiasi. Tantangannya, belum seluruh stakeholders mengetahui informasi ini; informasi dari pemda yang cenderung kaku/bersifat satu arah; website yang operasionalnya belum ramah pengguna. Solusinya, sosialisasi sekaligus user testing berhadiah bagi target users melalui undangan personal; website-nya harus keren; ada tips & tricks dari KOL/ content creator pelaku yang reliable, sesuai bidangnya. 
  8. Pengawasan dan PengendalianHarapannya, pemerataan fasilitasi/bantuan ke seluruh sub-sektor, dan adanya akses database yang mudah dan responsif. Tantangannya, kecenderungan penyaluran fasilitasi/bantuan karena adanya kedekatan; kurangnya transparansi performa ekraf di Kota Bandung. Solusinya, pengawasan oleh tim gabungan lintas sub-sektor; adanya portal informasi yang memuat dinamika ekraf di Bandung dan tersedianya database yang terukur.  

Tentu saja masukan yang diperoleh dari 2x workshop lebih dari yang tertulis di sini, tapi semoga dapat memberikan gambaran mengenai tanggapan para pelaku terhadap adanya perda ekraf. Awareness awal di kalangan masyarakat pelaku terhadap adanya perda ini diperlukan, bahkan harus terus menerus disosialisasikan, agar Perda Ekraf tidak hanya disahkan, tapi menjadi alat yang ‘hidup’ dan benar-benar dapat dimanfaatkan oleh para pelaku ekraf, terutama di Kota Bandung.

Kalau Sudah Punya Perda, Terus Gimana? (1)

Sejak disusunnya Naskah Akademik (NA) sebagai landasan drafting Ranperda Ekraf, berulang kali berbagai skenario diujikan pada pasal-pasal yang dirancang, satu demi satu, untuk mengantisipasi implikasinya bagi seluruh pemangku kepentingan yang menjadi obyek utama perda tersebut. Setelah terdapat draft versi final pun, sesi “pengujian” terakhir diselenggarakan sebagai bagian dari kegiatan Helarfest 2020, yaitu pre-event DesignAction.bdg (DA.bdg) dan saat berlangsungnya DA.bdg, dengan tema CureYourCity. 

Saat itu, mumpung ranperda ini sedang dalam masa menunggu proses sinkronisasi dengan pemprov, BCCF membuat upaya sosialisasinya. Pertama, tentu saja agar para pelaku – dan siapa pun yang akan terkena konsekuensi penerapan pasal-pasal dalam perda tersebut – mengetahui adanya peraturan daerah bagi kepentingan mereka. Kedua, agar para pelaku mengetahui hal-hal apa saja yang akan diatur dalam perda ini, serta cara menyikapinya. Sehingga (pre)event DA.bdg pun menampung harapan, potensi masalah, dan juga solusi yang ditawarkan. 

Nah, sebelum membahas risalah hasil workshop, sebaiknya kita runut dulu beberapa pointers dalam ranperda tersebut.  

Pertama, judul rancangan perda ini mengandung kata “Penataan” (“Penataan dan Pengembangan Ekonomi Kreatif”), dengan pengertian bahwa sumber daya dan potensi ekraf di Kota Bandung sudah cukup melimpah, namun masih memerlukan penataan agar secara kolektif dapat dikelola secara berkelanjutan, dengan dampak yang terukur.

Kedua, terdapat 8 hal utama yang diatur dalam Perda Ekraf ini, yaitu: 

  1. Pelaku Ekonomi Kreatif. Perda ini mengatur pelaku kreasi (SDM kreatif) dan pengelola kekayaan intelektual dari karya kreatif. Tercantum juga hak pelaku untuk, antara lain, memperoleh kesempatan yang sama, dan mendapatkan perlindungan hukum. Pengelola wajib memberikan laporan berkala, melakukan bantuan pembinaan, dan mengalokasikan dana CSR untuk kegiatan ekraf. Juga, disebutkan bahwa wali kota berperan menjamin hak & kewajiban, serta memberikan fasilitas sesuai Peraturan Perundang-undangan (PUU). 
  2. Penataan Ekonomi Kreatif. Terbagi menjadi Perencanaan (1, 5, dan 10 tahun) dan pelibatan Komite Ekraf, serta Pelaksanaan di mana termasuk di dalamnya penataan wilayah dengan tema tertentu dan pembentukan kawasan “Creative Belt”.    
  3. Pengembangan Ekonomi Kreatif. Pengembangan 17 sub-sektor ekraf dan dapat ditambahkan sesuai PUU, serta pengembangan ekraf dari aspek ekosistemnya (penelitian, pendanaan, infrastruktur, dsb.). 
  4. Pusat Kreasi dan Kota Kreatif. Mengatur tentang keberadaan dan manfaat pusat kreasi di berbagai tingkat kewilayahan, pemenuhan indeks kota kreatif, serta dukungan pada para pelaku di setiap sub-sektor. 
  5. Komite Penataan & Pengembangan Ekonomi Kreatif. Mengatur komite yang akan terdiri dari Penta Helix stakeholders, menetapkan fungsi komite (perencanaan, pelaksanaan, pengawasan evaluasi), dsb.  
  6. Pendanaan. Pendanaan sektor ekraf dapat berasal dari APBD Kota maupun sumber lain yang sah, dan Penganggarannya pun termasuk dalam APBD, namun dapat juga terjadi perluasan sumber pendanaan.  
  7. Sistem Informasi Ekonomi Kreatif. Mengatur adanya sistem informasi yang terintegrasi, keharusan pelaku ekraf untuk menyampaikan informasi, serta pemberian insentif bagi pelaku yang aktif berpartisipasi. 
  8. Pengawasan dan Pengendalian. Mengatur hal-hal seputar pengawasan pelaksanaan program, perlindungan dari tindakan diskriminasi, penyalahgunaan dokumen, dll. 

*bersambung ke bagian berikutnya

City, Design, Sustainability

When I was asked to deliver a talk that concerns city, design, and sustainability, I right away browsed the various materials that I have in stock for such subjects, while thinking of a way to integrate them into a legible statement. Most of the audiences, I was told, were (design) students and young delegates from ASEAN countries, so I would have to take into account that not everybody is familiar with Bandung and all its characteristics. All presentation materials, of course, have to do with programs of Bandung Creative City Forum (BCCF), its programs and strategy to create a “creative city”. Here goes.

City - Design - Sustainability

CITY – DESIGN – SUSTAINABILITY

Bandung in Brief

As the capital city of West Java Province, Bandung is populated by about 2,5 million people, of which almost 70% are below 40 years old. Historically, it was among the most cities favored by the Dutch colonial government due to its cool temperature, mountain scenery and hot water springs. It had more to offer: as a resource for quinine and pharmaceutical industry and tea and coffee plantations; it was the first city designed as a garden-city, and where Dutch-Indies architects built art deco buildings. In the 30s, the newest fashion could be found either in Paris or in Bandung, hence the nickname “The Paris of Java” for Bandung in those era. All these historical facts have left cultural heritage beyond mere physical buildings; they left a city whose people are used to having a variety of lifestyles and behaviors, including progressive development in many aspects.

Bandung Potentials

Bandung is located relatively near from Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. Surrounding the two cities are smaller towns with material and production resources, which have become an important part of business and R&D activities in Jakarta and Bandung. Among the advantages are easy accesses to material research, product development and production, market studies, manual skills, traditional and cultural resources, and many more, which are often required in creative activities. Therefore, the location of Bandung is much favorable, considering the surrounding resources and the distance to all these resources. Added by the condition of Bandung, which is known for its pleasant mountainous atmosphere, Bandung has its advantages as a Place where creative endeavors are supported and encouraged.

Since the establishment of the first higher education in engineering in Bandung, the city has become home for about 50 universities and other higher education institutions, both for vocational and academic/research levels. These schools have attracted young, talented people from all over the place, who represent the diversity of Bandung citizens. These generations also possess an abundance of energy and ideas. They commonly gather with people who share similar interests, conducting joint programs and numerous activities in various scales, and holding them in many spots in Bandung. The facts that communities in Bandung are high in number and are very active have lead to the conclusion that the main potentials of Bandung are its People and Ideas, added by the advantage of Bandung’s location and condition: Place. The slide that shows four main programs of BCCF (Helarfest, Kampung Kreatif, Simpul Institute, DesignAction.bdg), with their general road map, gives a picture of how these programs work closely to the field of design and creativity.

Design for the City

How is Design contributing to the development of a city and its sustainability? The following slides attempt to answer this question through examples taken from BCCF programs. Presented here are three functions of Design: as a tool, as a practice, and as a method. Firstly, as a tool, the design of our city branding .bdg has taken effect as a code that unify the different creative communities in Bandung, who can still present their individual identity while having also a collective identity as originated from Bandung (by the community’s name before the [dot], and by the “bdg” that follows). As commonly conducted when defining a brand, prior studies on positioning, values, personality, etc. were explored as well, to find the real soul of Bandung, before translating all these manifestations to a visual form: a logo, a brand and its activations that represent the city.

Secondly, as a practice, design for a city can come in many forms, purposes, and scales.

  1. RekaKota project during Semarak.bdg in 2010, where several public spots in the city were each assigned to a group of designers/artists. Each group designed either a shelter, a smoking corner, a public bench, and so on, depending on the particular spot. RekaKota is among the first BCCF events that attempted to implement a collaboration among designers, business sector, and the government, by offering the public facility designs to a brand or company who would invest in producing the facilities while also subtly promoting their brand, and by having the government’s decision to give permission to the location and the facilities, and for tax reduction if the facilities are considered as an advertisement for the brands.
  2. Bandung Public Furniture projects in Helarfest 2008 and 2009, where industrial design students, lecturers and professionals designed and produced a variety of public furniture and put them in public spaces (open space in malls, public parks, etc.). The products had unusual functions and shapes, compared to the benches commonly found in public areas in Bandung, and it was interesting to observe how people appreciate and interact with these products. This project has gradually proven that well-designed products can add to the pleasant experience of people towards their built environment.
  3. An infographic poster from Regia event in 2013 that was published in Pikiran Rakyat, the biggest newspaper in West Java, informed its reader about Babakan Siliwangi World City Forest in Bandung: the dominant tree species, its Oxygen production, its function as a transit place for migrating birds, and so on. Through this clear and easy-to-read graphics, people are expected to gain information and affection towards the subject at the same time, and – in this case – to be aware and care more about Bandung’s only city forest.
  4. Regia in 2013 contained several sub-events, among which one was Forest Dining, where Baksil ForestWalk was turned into a dining place, collaborating with a nearby restaurant. This environment design provided a new experience in dining, where the “floors” were elevated wooden planks and the “walls” were huge, living trees with its hanging roots, leaves and branches, lightened by random colorful spotlights. Furthermore, another Regia sub-event was going on at the same time: Blues Leuweung, where live blues music performed at Sanggar Olah Seni, a cluster of art studios located at the periphery of the forest, and its sounds reached the ForestWalk, which added to this unique dining atmosphere.

All in all, “design for the city” that are presented here can be seen not as a mean to merely decorate or beautify a place. Design is meant to provide proper interaction between people and their surrounding objects and environment, to give clear information inclusively, and to create pleasant experiences for citizens in conducting their daily lives in the city. All design projects by BCCF aim to make urban life more enjoyable.

Thirdly, design as a method to solve problems in the city. DesignAction.bdg (DA.bdg) program at BCCF is a workshop-conference that applies design thinking method to find innovative solutions for urban issues, involving the four stakeholders of a city: the government, business sector, academics and communities. The first DA.bdg in 2013 focused on urban mobility issues, where all participants tried walking, taking angkot and bus, and riding bicycles in the city in the observation/empathy phase. The process continued with re-framing up to prototyping, where participants in groups presented and role-played their recommendations to solve urban mobility problems. DA.bdg2013 had about 250 participants from all stakeholders (government, business sector, academics and communities) who gathered for three full days and interacted intensively with each other; an opportunity that seldom comes. The “creative process” that is commonly used to solve design problem is now no longer the domain for designers only, but can be applied to other conditions, including an urban setting, and even to rethink about policies and regulations, to find where bottom-up and top-down solutions can meet, and so on.

What about the Sustainability?

The term “sustainability” refers to the three aspects of Environment, Economy, and Social-Culture. “Design for the City” by BCCF includes these three aspects as well, in the form of the target of each program: Footprints. The slide that contains BCCF strategy to create a “creative city” describes that all BCCF programs and activities aim to leave either one or more of these footprints:

  • Economic: local people or communities should be able to gain an entrepreneurial mindset and to gradually self-sustain themselves by relying on their own skills and efforts
  • Social-Cultural: local people or communities should be able to express themselves and explore their own characteristics inclusively, particularly through creative activities
  • Environmental/ Artifact: there should be a physical object/ artifact that not only reminds the people/ communities about their creative potentials, but also becomes a tool for their creative expressions, while maintaining the quality of their living habitat

The previous examples left these footprints in various forms:

  • .bdg left a city brand and its activations; it gained a sense of belonging towards the city from the different communities; it also accumulated a sense of Pride that we all a part of Bandung; and it encouraged Bandung citizens to be aware of their identity.
  • Public facility projects left a number of physical objects that have improved the urban experience in Bandung, both for citizens and visitors; the project even led to a change of policy at the municipal level concerning creative expressions in public spaces.
  • Design thinking workshop basically provides a new method of solving problems by exploring the creative potentials from all stakeholders of a city, from different backgrounds and disciplines, since this is how usually innovations emerge.

It can be seen in the slide that contains a few of BCCF portfolio since its establishment in 2008: programs and events that were held to respond to, or attempted to find solutions for, a number of urban issues (in the red circles in the middle): green open space, urban mobility, entrepreneurship, public space, heritage buildings, etc. The processes and results are prototypes and recommendations for the city government and all stakeholders, especially seen from the community level, on how people can contribute to many aspects of a city. All programs and events leave the aforementioned footprints; some are better-maintained than the rest, which proves that they all require active participations from all stakeholders of the city.

Conclusively, it is proven that Design can play an important part in a City development: as a tool, a practice or a method. It so happens that Bandung has this potential at a superior level, therefore we – communities – have been using this strength to build our own living spaces, to make them more pleasant. The Sustainability takes place when all stakeholders understand and are willing to contribute to creating a Liveable, Lovable Bandung! 🙂

What’s Next?

DAbdg putihDesignAction.bdg 2013 was over about three months ago. It was our first attempt to conduct a colossal design thinking workshop-conference in order to find innovative solutions for urban problems; in this case, within the issues of urban mobility. Among our motivations to conduct that event was inadequate infrastructure and public service of Bandung, due to insufficient years of governance at that time.

We consider “design thinking” as among the methods that we could apply to come up with solutions that don’t require complicated bureaucracy, gigantic infrastructure, and massive financing. These are the kind of solutions that are feasible in a short-term, yet effective, although some might be temporary. We did a workshop-conference; we practiced the “fun theory” and we did have fun indeed. A productive kind of fun.

It’s 2014 now and we have a new leader for our beloved city. Our mayor for 2013-2018 is a visionary, progressive person; not to mention that he is the former chair of Bandung Creative City Forum (2008-2012), an organization that has been providing examples and conducting city-scale experiments, in order to show the previous government how a city and its creative potentials could excel.

Within the new mayor’s first 100 days period in office (September-December 2013), most citizens have been benefiting from improvements of public facilities and services in Bandung. The mayor also stated that 2014 is the year for strengthening infrastructure and disciplines. His vision for Bandung is seemingly simple, but quite apt: a livable, lovable city.

twitRK2014

What's next?

What’s next?

Now that the government has a similar line of thinking to ours, what’s next? What could the next DesignAction.bdg be about? It was too “easy” before: to fix a badly-run city. But now that the city seems to be in good hands, we are facing a different challenge. Therefore, in this phase of transition from old to new Bandung, DesignAction.bdg will be very interesting.

Starting a few weeks back, we at BCCF gathered again to find the answer to that “What’s Next?” question. Whatever we do, it is still based on our affection for Bandung and our intention to make it more pleasant to live in. There are lots of issues going around; we even picked one for Helarfest, our other main program. We consider it better if the results of DesignAction.bdg this time could be realized within three months or so.

Idea sketches

Brainstorming

We also consider the municipal programs, improving public facilities and services, and relating them to their impacts to society. How would people react? How would people respond to those improved product and services? What does it mean to live in a maintained city, with accessible public spaces and facilities with good conditions? Are Bandung citizens ready to accept all these improvements; do they have suitable mindsets and behaviors, in order to sustain these pleasant facilities? A bigger question for us would be; what does it mean to be an urban citizen?

Based on these questions, and more and more discussions, which I’m sure will happen a lot more times, we decided that the theme for our next DesignAction.bdg is iden[c]ity. We’d like to encourage our fellow citizens to define who they are, related to their urban habitat. It might seem abstract at this phase, but we have a lot of keywords that can be translated into programs, pre-events, workshops, and so on. Watch our sites http://www.dabdg.bccf-bdg.com/ http://www.bccf-bdg.com  and, hopefully, we could spill more in the coming weeks!

Handmade Urbanism

In the first week of June, 2013, BCCF was invited to participate in an exhibition and symposium with the theme Smart Cities: The Next Generation at Aedes Network Campus Berlin, Germany. We were asked three questions that determine the “smart” aspects of our city for the exhibition materials:

  1. How does your project “smarten up” your city?
  2. Why does your city need your project and what challenges are country­‐specific to your urban context?
  3. What are the new behaviors your building/planning/initiative encourages?

While working on the answers, we became more convinced that the strength of Bandung is in its proactive citizens who have been interfering with their own habitat, to make it more livable. Our presentation in Berlin included a series of Kampung Kreatif (Creative Kampong/Neighborhood) program and Helarfest 2012, which brought up issues concerning four elements of the city: river, forest, kampong and park. Next to Bandung, there are also other Indonesian cities such as Jakarta and Medan participating in the event. During the event, it was evident that most growing, dense cities in developing countries are facing similar problems due to overpopulation and underdeveloped infrastructures and facilities, of which solutions mostly depend on the survival ability of the inhabitants.

Handmade Urbanism

Handmade Urbanism book and Urban Future CD

On our last day in Berlin, we found a book whose contents resonate what has been done in the local neighborhoods of Bandung. This book, titled Handmade Urbanism, describes the journeys of five world cities that have brought them to receive the Deutsche Bank Award for their civic initiatives: Mumbai, Sâo Paulo, Mexico City, Istanbul, and Cape Town. The book also comes with a CD, titled Urban Future, containing documentary videos of these cities. Each city has its own issues, which received different treatments as well, and they are not always expensive, nor requiring a substantial amount of budgeting and infrastructures. From the stories, we could learn that all things started small – but they got started anyway – whether from a group of people or an individual, from common villagers or planners/architects to public figures, with different backgrounds.

The examples in Handmade Urbanism show results after about 10 years of the interventions, when citizens could already enjoy the results, where social changes are evident and physical improvements are obvious. Kampung Kreatif program in Bandung started in 2012, now not even 1 year old, and – as experienced in all fields – getting started and maintaining the energy and spirit are the most challenging phase. There is still a long way to go, but we are convinced that we can also keep the program going and reach up to such benefits!

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“All over the world, water takes a significant part of a city” – Mumbai

“The problem (of a city) will never be solved if we keep trying to demolish the slum” – Mumbai

“Community-based programs take place and succeed where administration fails” – Mumbai

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“City growth as desired by politicians creates greater tensions among its citizens” – Sâo Paulo

“Small gestures (planting, library, mural, etc.) can help create space and connectedness” – Sâo Paulo

More positive activities > more life security > less crime > less reason to demolish the “slum” – Sâo Paulo

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“Small scale activities and movements can create great changes in a community” – Mexico City

Next to soccer games, gangs also organize graffiti classes, which have lowered the criminal rates – Mexico City

“A change of an urban space can change the attitudes and activities of the local people” – Mexico City

“Improving accessibility for all (citizens) means improving the quality of life” – Mexico City

“A city is more than a place to make money, people need more than roofs above their heads” – Mexico City

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“Teach children to tend a garden, they’ll go home and teach their parents” – Cape Town

“Municipality needs to recognize what has been done at the grass root level, the activism and pro-activeness” – Cape Town

Bandung 2035

DAbdg putihOnly very few things are more exciting than having the chance to determine your own future. This time, the chance came as a workshop called Riung Gunung, which invited children to create a city of their desires. This workshop was held by Sahabat Kota, a community that focuses on conducting activities that provides a fun way to educate children about urban environment, as a Selasar Kids Program and also as one of the pre-events of DesignAction.bdg.

As mentioned in the previous post, Riung Gunung completed the workshop last week and is currently having an exhibition of the results. At the opening, the participants (children aged 8-12) acted out the conditions and current problems of Bandung, and their wishes for this city are translated into concepts and models. This exhibition goes on at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space until July 21, 2013, and some highlights will be selected and exhibited again during DesignAction.bdg on October 1-3, 2013 at the conference venue, Bumi Sangkuriang, Bandung.

Tokens of the regents that should be gathered in order to heal Sang Hyang Riung Gunung

Tokens of the regents that should be gathered in order to heal Sang Hyang Riung Gunung

Riung Gunung workshop was an adventurous one. The kids were divided into groups that represent five regions of Bandung and were given a mission: to heal Sang Hyang Riung Gunung, a spirit that lives in Bandung who has been ill due to the current conditions of Bandung. In order to do that, they must gather Sang Hyang Riung Gunung’s six regents, who live in mountains that are surrounding the city of Bandung, which represent six sectors of a city: (1) marketplace and trading, (2) cleanliness and landfill, (3) nature and parks, (4) urban housing and neighborhood, (5) sports and health, and (6) balance of knowledge, environment and social aspects. They were to gather tokens of these regents and put the pieces together to complete a puzzle.

During this mission, the kids were taken to a high density neighborhood to talk to the local inhabitants about their daily lives and mobility. They had a ride on a train (which, in this case, was the kind of train commonly used by mid- and low-income people), went to a marketplace and a Puskesmas (a clinic or health center that normally serves low-income people). They also went to a landfill and recycling center and public parks, before walking up the tower of Gedung Sate (currently the office of West Java governor), to have a good view over the city of Bandung.

Report books and photos of their adventures throughout the city: marketplace, train, health center, etc.

Report books and photos of their adventures throughout the city: marketplace, train, health center, etc.

These kids made reports, noted down as much data as they could absorb by all their senses, expressed their wishes in poems and drawings, composed a dramatic storytelling performance and created a city according to their desires in three-dimensional miniatures of the city. All these materials can be viewed at the exhibition, including a documentary video that records their activities.

Viewed briefly, their main messages are not far from what we are longing for our own living environment: peaceful neighborhoods, fun public parks, a smooth transportation system, pleasant shops, maintained historical buildings, surrounded by lots of playgrounds, plants and trees, and friendly animals. This is the City of Bandung in 2035, the kind they decide to live in.

What’s most moving was to see, during the opening of the exhibition, how these kids could articulately explain their plans through all their models and reports, happily, and full of spirit. It is obvious that they are proud of their works! Let’s hope that they would fondly remember this experience, and also not forgetting the fun process of achieving all these results, when they reach the age of mature citizens of Bandung, when they would have already become professionals, who could make actual contributions to the city. Let’s hope that they remember their dreams and desires, make them happen with their own hands, and leave footprints that they can also be proud of!

Salute to Sahabat Kota for the hard work and much respect to the volunteers who have pulled off this program successfully! 🙂

Farewell photo of the workshop participants and their instructors after the opening of the exhibition

The green part of that wall is Tangkuban Parahu mountain, from where cable cars come and go into the City of Bandung

The green part of that wall is Tangkuban Parahu mountain, from where cable cars come and go into the City of Bandung

Crayons are available for those who want to add ideas

Crayons are available for those who want to add ideas

You can tell that this is somewhere in the center of Bandung by the railway

You can tell that this is somewhere in the center of Bandung by the railway

Brainstorming ideas and illustrations

Brainstorming ideas and illustrations

The five regions of Bandung for each group

The five regions of Bandung for each group

Riung Gunung: children as co-designers

DAbdg putihChildren are important stakeholders of a city. In the next 20-30 years, they will be the ones taking over and making decisions for the city. However, they are often neglected, or not taken into account, by public facilities and infrastructures that are built in Bandung. The streets – and even sidewalks – are too dangerous for them to walk or ride bicycles alone, city parks are neither closed nor unkempt, playgrounds are almost non-existent, and so on. It is due time that they should say their desires for the city and to be listened to. This is the main reason why Riung Gunung is on!

REV [RG]Poster_05 (pendaftaran)

Riung Gunung promotional poster

Riung Gunung is a workshop organized by Sahabat Kota, a community/organization in Bandung that has been active in holding programs and events for children and youth who want to learn about the City of Bandung and urban life. As a part of the pre-event series approaching DesignAction.bdg, Riung Gunung is coming up really soon as the next one. This workshop is held for 60-90 children between the ages of 9 to 12, whose main task is to make a scenario of Bandung 2035. In this 6-days workshop, they will go through the phases of exploration, city adventure, envisioning, co-design workshop, and realization. As a result, they will make a model or a physical miniature of the city according to their design, and will act it out, according to the systems they create. These results will be performed and exhibited on July 7, 2013, at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, a gallery at the North of Bandung, and also during DesignAction.bdg event on October 1-3, 2013.

The 30 instructors who will accompany these children during this workshop have been having their own workshops in order to be prepared with appropriate knowledge, with the following subjects: design thinking, sustainable development, child psychology, education for sustainable development, city planning, performance, games, child handling and creativity.

Detailed program of Riung Gunung

Detailed program of Riung Gunung

We are really looking forward to having this workshop. Hope for a lot of fun and incredible results!

More about Sahabat Kota: http://kisahsahabatkota.wordpress.com/

Sahabat Kota at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sahabat.kota

Sahabat Kota at Twitter: https://twitter.com/sahabatkota

Sahabat Kota videos at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/komunitassahabatkota

Design Thinking workshop: urban mobility

DAbdg putihWe plan to hold DesignAction.bdg, an international conference/workshop on Design Thinking, but not all of us have a design background, nor are familiar with conventional design process, and most of us have never experienced Design Thinking approach. Therefore, as one of the pre-events that precede DesignAction.bdg, we held an internal workshop on Design Thinking, by inviting Amelia Hendra (ex-IDEO Shanghai) to be the facilitator. This workshop consisted of an introduction about Design Thinking, then an exercise to use the method within the context of urban mobility issues. It is like doing a simulation of the actual DesignAction.bdg event in a smaller scale.

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Day One: introduction

The workshop was held on April 5-6, 2013, attended by about 30 participants. In the first day, Amelia introduced herself. It helped that she was born in Indonesia (originally from Pontianak, West Kalimantan), so Indonesian language was used the whole time. During this workshop, she was assisted by Adi Panuntun, founder of Sembilan Matahari and co-founder of Bandung Creative City Forum (BCCF), a movie maker/ video mapping creator who pursued his study in Design Thinking at Northumbria University, UK. The participants are organizing members of/ contributors to DesignAction.bdg event that came from different backgrounds and communities in Bandung, such as Riset Indie, Labtek Indie, Sahabat Kota, Vidour, GrowBox, Sembilan Matahari, KreativeLab, Fight.BDG, ITB (from School of Business and Management, Faculty of Art and Design, and Architecture Department) and UNPAR. Amelia proceeded with giving an overview about Design Thinking method and examples. The participants came up with questions, whether the Design Thinking phases should start from a certain point or if it can be started anywhere, about “extreme users”, and discussed the importance of “reframing”, since this is practically the most important skill required in the process. Lunchtime was filled with a documentary video about Curitiba, which inspires us all: that with few resources we should still be able to move and make changes. The day ended with an assignment that required the participants to break into groups and started a fieldwork: Understanding urban mobility through the lens of Bandung. The participants should map out design challenges: map out key stakeholders, list out interview questions, and divide tasks with team members.

(c)AmeliaHendra2013

(c)AmeliaHendra2013

1 Observe & Understand: Not only about being creative | But also about being empathetic

2 Reframe: Does not start with the answers | But about asking the right questions

3 Ideate: Not only for designers | But also for problem solvers and optimists

4 Prototype: Not only about designing and thinking | But also making, learning, and sharing

5 Co-design: Not only about perfection | But also about perspectives

Processing ideas

Processing ideas

In the second day, the process was continued and completed, up to prototyping and sharing phases. There were four groups, each took a different focus: angkot (a public minibus that serves as a public transportation method that dominates Bandung), pedestrian, DAMRI (city bus) and PKL (mobile food vendors that often cover a parcel of roads and sidewalks). As a closing, each group presented their findings and solutions, all in role-playing, and it was obvious from this phase that everyone enjoyed the workshop. It was a pleasant way to identify actual Bandung mobility problems from different viewpoints, to exercise all forms of creativity and to come up with recommendations that might be solutions for the problems.

The groups proposed products, systems, programs and activities that might release some burden related to mobility and traffic, at different scales. Some might need conventional way of infrastructure improvements, but most could actually be implemented without requiring substantial financial capital and complex bureaucracy, and could be succeeded as long as networks and collaboration among local people and communities are available.

An impression from a participant (Ronaldiaz from Agritektur): Collaboration is an important key point, since this workshop was joined by people with multidisciplinary background. If one participant from each discipline could contribute one solution from his/her field, by collaborating we would be able to give a comprehensive solution. The power of collaboration is indeed frightening!

Thanks to Amelia and everyone involved in the workshop! We had fun – a productive kind of fun – which what we of young productive age actually need, to be able to respond innovatively to endless problems faced by our urban environment.

The results of the four groups were all presented at the next Pre-Event of DesignAction.bdg, PechaKuchaNight.BDG that was held on Sunday evening, 26 May 2013.

Pedestrian team

Pedestrian team

Angkot team at work

Angkot team at work

DAMRI team

DAMRI team

Amelia closing the workshop

Amelia closing the workshop

Amelia assisting a group

Amelia assisting a group

DesignAction.bdg Pre-Events 1 and 2

DAbdg putihTime flies, when you’re having fun. Like what we’re having now – approaching DesignAction.bdg – when we realize that the first pre-event has just passed and the second one suddenly appears at the corner!

Slide15The first pre-event was an Expert Opinion Polling, where Riset Indie (an independent research community) teamed up with HMP ITB (Planning Department students society at ITB) in gathering expert opinions concerning the issues of urban mobility in Bandung and processing the input using Delphi Method to come out with conclusions. The event took about four hours in one Saturday morning (April 23), seemingly short, but went quite lively and yielded interesting results.

How it looks from the back of the room during the EOP session

How it looks from the back of the room during the EOP session

What was so exciting about this first pre-event is how we managed to gather so many experts in a room for a focused purpose, eminent stakeholders from different backgrounds (academics, government, communities, etc.) – something that usually occur in a different setting, hosted by a formal institution, instead of an independent community. We are quite honored to have such trust in conducting this session. Another exciting thing is that we actually confirmed a number of assumptions concerning the issues of urban mobility, and that we can use the data from this event to move on to our next plans. Riset Indie is currently arranging the data to be accessible online, in a friendly format (i.e. infographics), with the hope that any audience can contribute to the issues, or even to offer realistic solutions. Congrats and salute to Riset Indie and HMP ITB! Have fun preparing another pre-event, Angkot Day, with all its sub-events!

Slide16The second pre-event takes place next weekend, April 5-6: an internal workshop on Design Thinking, facilitated by Amelia Hendra, whose years of experience from working as a designer at IDEO Shanghai would add to our insights on design thinking method. The workshop is limited to 30 people with various backgrounds (educators, designers, engineers, academics, artists, social workers, etc.), all of whom belong to the organizing team for DesignAction.bdg. It is important for us to have this workshop, since the event we’re preparing is about Design Thinking, while all of us (except Adi Panuntun, who will assist Amelia in the workshop), have next to zero experience concerning Design Thinking methods.  (Although we might have practiced parts of the methods, but with no structured phases and evaluation.) The workshop will bring up the theme urban mobility. At the end of the workshop, we hope to understand more about Design Thinking as a method to exercise our creativity in order to gain innovative, doable solutions for challenges around urban mobility in Bandung. We are really looking forward to having this workshop!

Bring it on! 🙂

Links to media about EOP:

BandungNewsPhoto: BCCF Bakal Gelar Polling Memecahkan Masalah Kemacetan di Kota Bandung

AntaraNews.com: Komunitas Kreatif Petakan Masalah Kemacetan Kota Bandung

Aktual.co: Komunitas Kreatif Petakan Masalah Kemacetan Bandung

About DesignAction.bdg:

DesignAction.bdg, coming soon!

Design Thinking? Design Action!

DesignAction.bdg, coming soon!

Following are excerpts from my tweets about DesignAction.bdg #designthinking #DesignActionBDG #DAbdg #urbanmobility

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Prop DAbdg cover.jpg

This year Bandung Creative City Forum (BCCF) will host the 2nd international conference on design thinking: DesignAction.bdg #DAbdg

Now that about 70% of the world population lives in urban areas, “development” doesn’t always mean “giant structures”.

Solutions other than costly infrastructures should fulfill the needs of urban citizens. Creativity and innovation are crucial.

Therefore BCCF looks into #designthinking and urban acupuncture methods to inject creative interventions to the city.

Why Bandung? Because almost 70% of its citizens are below 40 y.o. This demographic bonus is a huge potential with lots of energy.

These dominant, young, productive citizens should be able to make Change for a better living space. The government can’t do it (alone).

DesignAction.bdg brings out #urbanmobility as the theme. Why? Every time we talk about Bandung, this issue comes up more and more often.

Urban Mobility isn’t merely about roads and vehicles. It’s also about mindsets and city elements that cause obstacles in mobility… such as shops in residential areas, cafes without parking space, schools where private cars take and pick up students.

Where laws are weak, solutions should be made from different viewpoints. #designthinking is therefore used and applied.

DesignAction.bdg conference is in Oct, but lots of Pre-Events, equally important, start in March until July 2013.

In March, Riset Indie team will conduct an expert opinion research, so the whole #DAbdg events can proceed with better strategies, based on data.

In April, BCCF will have an internal #designthinking workshop, to experience the design thinking process, facilitated by a former IDEO designer. #DAbdg

In May, Pecha Kucha Night Bandung is on! Gathering public opinions and having conversations about #urbanmobility issues, in a fun way.

In June, Riset Indie is on the role again: providing new experiences in interacting with Bandung’s notorious “angkot” in “Angkot Day”!

July will see the last series of #DAbdg pre-events: Sahabat Kota holds “Riung Gunung”, involving children as co-designers. Children in this workshop are 9-12yo, but they own the city in 20+years. They have to create their own urban space and mobility NOW.

All results, artifact & documentations from these pre-events will be exhibited and presented at #DesignActionBDG conference in October.

The #DesignActionBDG conference itself aims to give recommendations of #urbanmobility solutions other than conventional infrastructures.

We’ll surely publish more details about #DesignActionBDG conference & pre-events. Follow @BCCF_bdg and stick around for updates! 🙂

***Related post: Design Thinking? Design Action! (in Indonesian)