ITS Community Service KKN Team (ABMAS) for Tihingan Village, Klungkung, Bali

ITS Campus, ITS News – Since it was designated as a tourist village by the Klungkung Regency Government, Bali, Tihingan Village does not yet have physical planning documents and tourist village concepts to be offered. To maximize the potential of nature and industry in the village, the academic community of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) again presents a program of Community Service Real Work Lecture (KKN Abmas) for the next four months.

ABMAS Tihingan Village team leader, Prof Dr. Ketut Buda Artana ST MSc. revealed that Tihingan has been renowned for its natural beauty potential. “More than that, Tihingan Village is also known as the center of Balinese gamelan craftsmen at the national to international level,” said Ketut, his greeting.

Carrying the theme of Strengthening Village Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) through the Development of Natural And Cultural Tourism Business Unit in Tihingan Village, Banjarangkan Subdistrict, Klungkung-Bali Regency, this activity was attended by 15 students and nine lecturers across departments. “Previously, we have held an opening as well as a survey held for four days and ended Saturday (19/6) yesterday,” said the professor of Marine Engineering ITS.

Prof. Dr Ketut Buda Artana ST MSc (hold the mic) in the opening ceremony of KKN Abmas in Tihingan Village, Banjarangkan Subdistrict, Klungkung Regency, Bali

After conducting a four-day survey involving representatives from Ganesha Education University (Undhiksa) and Warmadewa University, ITS KKN Team found several potential tourism village concepts that will be tried further. “Among them are Eduwisata Merdeka Belajar (EMB) and Jogging/Tracking/Cycling Facilities that will take advantage of the naturalness and beauty of the local nature,” he added.

The concept of EMB will use local wisdom. Because the home facilities owned by the villagers will be used as homestays and in terms of learning in open spaces will be recognized as credit-earning or fulfillment of curricular activities for elementary, junior high, high school, and college students.

Materials about culture, art, agriculture, and animal husbandry will be the main content in the learning process in the outdoors. In addition, this activity will be guided by local instructors who are generally teachers from the local village. “Eduwisata participants will explore in certain content and will be accommodated in homestays owned by residents and managed by BUMDes,” he said.

Therefore, the determination of homestay service standards, hygiene standards, free learning curriculum standards, and food supply standards, and others will be designed and taught to instructors through tiered training programs.

ITS KKN Abmas team is in discussions with a number of local village community leaders

This activity, Ketut continued, will produce an external master plan in the form of Tourism Village Development consisting of infrastructure planning and space design, digital marketing planning, the creation of management information systems, and a trading business unit for BUMDes. “In addition, we will also give away the hardware and software, develop business models and economic studies, and plan to support ICT infrastructure,” he explained.

The drafting of the document is expected to be completed by next October. Similarly, direct socialization to stakeholders in Tihingan Village will also be held in the same month after a virtual discussion to ensure that the master plan of tourism villages prepared in KKN Abmas is in accordance with the expectations, capacity, and socio-cultural conditions that exist.

In order to ensure that tourism village initiatives and planned programs will not have an impact on the social conditions, culture, customs and values carried out by the local community, a series of social mapping is carried out comprehensively through interviews and discussions with the village government representatives, leaders, and communities.

During this activity, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) between the KKN Abmas team and the tourism conscious group (pokdarwis), BUMDes manager, and community leaders was held every night. “We conducted this discussion openly so that some aspirations of all components of society can be netted directly,” Ketut added.

Discussion activities between the ABMAS ITS KKN Team and community leaders Tihingan Village, Klungkung, Bali

On the sidelines of the KKN Abmas activities, ITS Team was visited by the Vice Chairman of the Gianyar Dprd as well as Gianyar community leaders I Gusti Ngurah Anom Masta, to give directions relating to the tourist village. “In fact, we are offered to benchmark to Gianyar Regency and will be facilitated to see the governance and planning of tourist villages in Gianyar,” Ketut said enthusiastically.

(from left) Community leaders Komang Dane, Village Head Tihingan Wayan Sugiarta, Vice Chairman of the DPRD Gianyar I Gusti Ngurah Anom Masta, and Chairman of its Abmas Team Prof Dr. Ketut Buda Artana ST MSc

At the end of the discussion, Ketut stated that the success of this program depends on smart work and effective and open communication between its ABMAS KKN Team and stakeholders in Tihingan Village. “KKN is a real form of the concept of Merdeka Belajar, so it is expected to be a model used as one of the implementations of various levels of schools in Indonesia,” he concluded. (ITS PUBLIC RELATIONS)

Reporter: Erchi Ad’ha Loyensya