In-depth interview discussion session between the PKM-RSH Nyadran Inception team from ITS with the Head of Tondomulo Village and the Traditional Head of Tondomulo Village, Bojonegoro

ITS Campus, ITS News — Several cultural traditions of Indonesian society could be threatened with extinction due to the burden of financing activities that is greater than its income. Highlighting this, the Student Creativity Week – Social Humanities Research (PKM-RSH) team of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) initiated the implementation of accounting in order to support the sustainability of existing cultural traditions.

The head of the PKM-RSH ITS team, Rajni Shrinishaa, highlighted the sustainability of the Nyadran tradition that still exists in East Java. The Nyadran tradition is the result of the acculturation of Javanese and Islamic cultures to pray for ancestors. However, its existence is almost threatened with extinction due to financial problems, where expenses can exceed income. “In order to maintain the existence of this culture, an economic study is needed by applying accounting practices for accountability for its financing,” explained Rajni.

The team, which consists of five students from the ITS Actuarial Department, aims to provide a strategy to optimize income and reduce costs in the Nyadran tradition. The strategy for optimizing income can be provided with installment-based contributions to the community and exchanging agricultural products. Not only that, other means of obtaining financial support can be done through activity sponsorships or through fundraising, namely the Pesona Nyadran program.

Display of the Excel Macro program used for accounting records in the Nyadran tradition

Furthermore, according to Rajni, optimizing self-financing focuses on replacing rental cost allocations with the purchase of fixed assets that can be long-term investments. So far, people have chosen to rent to get new costume models to enliven annual events that are inefficient in terms of economy and environmental sustainability. “This can be overcome by using fixed assets that only require remodeling of knick-knacks,” he explained.

In facilitating the implementation of accounting, the ITS PKM-RSH Team has also prepared a Macroexcell program that can describe in detail the burden of expenses and sources of income. As a result, the profit from the calculation is more accurate and can minimize errors appropriately. “Because the Nyadran tradition requires various thorough preparations, so that the creation of strategies and programs can only be implemented in 2025,” added Rajni.

This brilliant idea was born from various observations and analyses by team members under the guidance of ITS Actuarial lecturer Dr. Drs. Soehardjoepri MSi. Initially, a literature study was conducted to explore the phenomenon and validation of interviews was carried out with the tourism office, village heads, and local communities. Furthermore, K-Means Clustering and Matrix Cap analysis are also involved to group the price range of each need.

The PKM-RSH Nyadran Inception ITS Team successfully won a bronze medal in the presentation category at the 37th Pimnas 2024

Rajni’s team has repeatedly validated data on the Nyadran tradition to formulate concrete problems and solutions felt by the community. This team had difficulty reviewing the interview results in the local regional language because all team members happened to be from outside Java. “Therefore, we translated it with an online platform first for the meaning of the language and validated it with the local village head,” said the girl from Kalimantan.

Thanks to the solidarity and unyielding efforts of all its members, the PKM-RSH ITS team named Nyadran Inception managed to bring home a bronze medal in the presentation category at the 2024 National Student Scientific Week (Pimnas) some time ago. This ITS team always tries to practice and help each other with each other’s work so that they can complete it together. “The competition experience gained up to this Pimnas event has really sharpened my mentality and provided an unforgettable experience,” concluded Rajni proudly. (ITS PUBLIC RELATIONS)

Reporter: Silvita Pramadani