Indonesia
Students from the Faculty of Cultural Studies (FCS) at Universitas Brawijaya (UB) have once again demonstrated their capabilities through outstanding achievements. Muhammad Savero Shaquel, a student in the Japanese Literature Study Programme, won the Best Team and Most Impactful Sustainability Project awards at the Youth Leaders Exchange and Conference.
The programme, organised by GoldNation, is a student exchange programme abroad for Indonesian youth from various regions and educational backgrounds. As part of this programme, Muhammad Savero Shaquel, also known as Vero, participated in various activities, including campus tours to the University of Malaya and the National University of Singapore, visits to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and an international conference.
Among these activities, Vero found the discussion forum and international conference to be the most memorable experiences. The conference, themed “Youth Contributions in Global Innovation for Sustainable Development,” covered several topics: Economic & Sustainable Business, Education & Community Empowerment, Social & Environment Action, Peace & Inclusive Society, and Mental Health & Well-being.
During the conference, delegates were divided into groups to collaborate on innovative solutions to the issues raised. Vero led a team with members from diverse age groups and educational backgrounds. For him, this diversity was an advantage rather than a challenge.
“Different backgrounds provide us with a lot of new insights. Different ways of thinking lead to innovative ideas,” Vero explained.
He and his team tackled the issue of household waste, which is a common problem in their daily lives. They developed a paper and pitch deck outlining a plan to utilise Eco-Enzyme using fermentation technology to address this issue. Additionally, they tested their solution with a prototype. With this project, Vero and his team were awarded the Best Team and Most Impactful Sustainability Project.
During the presentation process, Vero and his team felt they were treated differently from the other participants and did not expect to win two awards.
“The interesting part is, after the presentation, we felt like we were being pranked by the judges, one of whom was the Founder of GoldNation himself. Unlike the other teams who only received an evaluation and one or two questions, our team was asked up to four questions. The questions were also tricky if we didn’t really understand the project,” Vero said.
“Alhamdulillah, we tried to answer as best as we could. Unexpectedly, we were awarded the Most Impactful Sustainability Project,” he concluded. [trans.acl/ed.vidya/PR FCS]