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IDRP- THE BEGINNING

In 2016 I visited Indonesia. During this time, I saw how widespread and fast urbanisation and development was having an impact on the environment. You could say that this trip was a catalyst for me; it was what inspired me to look into studying the Master of International Development. I became particularly interested in how development can be done sustainably.

When I first became interested in “sustainable development” I had only really considered environmental sustainability. Since studying this degree I have come to realise that this term incorporates environmental, social and economical sustainability. So, in searching for an IDRP I was looking for something that strived to be sustainable in all three ways.

Given these motivations, I am very lucky to have come across an IDRP that incorporates sustainability in social, economic and environmental ways; and does so within an Indonesian context. For my IDRP, I quickly found myself contributing to a project that is focused on sustainable development with a former RMIT University Masters of International Development graduate’s organisation, Chakana Creations.

Chakana Creations is an incubator of social and environmental projects. In this case, the project they are incubating is for their client, Hivos Indonesia, and is titled “Assessment Towards Sustainable Decentralized Renewable Energy through RESCO Model in Indonesia.” This project aims at examining the viability of electrifying remote areas using the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model. A RESCO is a fee-for-service organisation that provides electricity from a renewable energy source such as solar, wind or hydro. The fee is carefully thought out and has to be agreed upon by the beneficiaries beforehand. This ensures that the energy technology is maintained, serviced and upgraded when necessary. It also ensures that there is ongoing communication between stakeholders long after project completion. I am in the early stages of unpacking this model, but I feel that these aspects can ensure long term sustainability in all of its forms.

Within this project, there are 5 specific outputs that I will help to achieve: (1) data collection (2) data analysis; (3) strategical mapping (using the data to locate potential RESCOs) (4) helping to prepare reports of the findings to the client; and (5) helping to prepare a presentation that other members of the team will give to the public. I will be helping to contribute to these tasks remotely, from Melbourne. The deadline for many of these outputs is the end of June, so I definitely feel like I have “hit the ground running.”

Despite feeling a little overwhelmed because of how quickly I have found myself contributing to this project, so far in these early stages I have felt well supported by my project team. They offer both positive and constructive feedback and are very helpful in answering any questions I may have. I did initially have concerns about this IDRP because I would not be working face-to-face with a team, but technology has definitely helped me realise that to be able to contribute to a project in another country you do not have to be there.

What is sustainability?

I have now completed my IDRP and one thing that I have been thinking about is how my opinion of sustainability has changed. As I had already mentioned in my first blog post, since studying the Master of International Development I had realised that sustainability composed of more than just the environment, but also included social and economical sustainability. During the course of this project I have learnt from my project coordinator that in general sustainability in development projects can be classified into the following categories: environmental, implementative, technical, organisational, social, financial and economic.

When researching stakeholders, programs and projects that we could learn from in this project, I came across Panasonic’s 100 Thousand Lanterns Project. Between 2013 and 2018 the company gave 100,000 solar lanterns to NGOs across the world in order to help electrify remote communities. I probably would not have questioned this program’s sustainability before this IDRP. However, based on my new understanding of sustainability this program is unsustainable for the following reasons:

Whilst solar lanterns can help promote environmental sustainability, not having a proper disposal system at the end of the product life is environmentally unsustainable.
A lack of adequate and ongoing capacity building and coordination among stakeholders means that it is implementatively unsustainable.
A lack of proper maintenance for the solar lanterns means that it technically unsustainable.

Of course, partner NGOs may increase the chances of sustainable approaches being adapted. However, I feel that placing this onus on the NGO is problematic. It appears as if Panasonic has viewed this program as a simple business transaction whereby they just allocate lanterns to NGOs without much ongoing support. Moreover, they merely offer a technical solution to the problem of rural electrification. “Monitoring” by Panasonic is then performed by sending regular company workers from their Japanese offices via a lottery system. They then write pieces praising the work Panasonic has done. Not only have I been encouraged by this experience to reflect on sustainability, but what this means within development partnerships, particularly those that involve the private sector.

At this point, both the concept of sustainability and how it applies to partnerships are something that I want to delve deeper into. With some assistance from Robbie, I have decided to incorporate these elements into my RRR. I feel that gaining a better understanding of this will assist me in my future work by: (a) helping me to better understand when aspects of a project/program may become unsustainable; (b) how to ensure that there is a common understanding of what sustainability is amongst partners; and (c) how to achieve it.

DAYS FILLED WITH DATA

My main tasks so far for this IDRP have been data collection and data analysis. Before undertaking this IDRP I thought I understood clearly what both of these things meant, however my understanding of them has changed.

This never-ending search for data has made me realise that at university I would normally build my essay argument around whatever I could easily find. Often this approach has worked well for me. On the other hand, this project requires very specific data to help justify a particular argument. For example, to be able to analyse any potential renewable energy model for rural electrification, we need to know how many unelectrified villages there are in Indonesia.

Finding this kind of statistical data for the report has proven to be quite painstaking at times. To find data on the example above, it took me over 5 hours. I searched academic journals, development agency reports, news outlets, in both English and Indonesian and found multiple varying numbers. I could not just take the data at face value. I had to take time to carefully understand how it was obtained, by whom it is being presented, and for what purpose.

With this IDRP being remote-based work, I have to log all of the hours that I am working. At first, I felt uncomfortable logging 5+ hours to find one specific statistic. However, I have come to realise that I should not beat myself up about it. Ensuring that the most reliable data is being used is a part of data collection. Moreover, I have been able to develop a list of skills to help make it easier. This includes something as simple as making lists of search terms I have already used.

Overall, along with new skills in being able to collect and analyse data, this experience has taught me two key things. Firstly, it is both okay and sometimes even integral to take time to find data, especially if it is integral to the project. Secondly, it has taught me to appreciate data more. That data that I would typically use in my essays because I came across it easily has taken people many hard hours of work to compile.