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A sneak peek to the Online Sustainable Development Planning Consulting platform by Traction Energy Asia. It can be accessed at https://elearning.tractionenergy.asia/.

Traction Energy Asia Launches Online Consultation Platform for Sustainable Regional Development Planning

On Thursday, September 2, 2021, Traction Energy Asia launched the Online Consultation platform for Sustainable Regional Development Planning at https://elearning.tractionenergy.asia/. This pioneering new platform supports online consultations about the preparation of sustainable development documents for regional development planning, both for local government officials and professionals.

Jakarta-based policy think tank, Traction Energy Asia, developed the online consultation platform as a follow-up to a coaching clinic that Traction designed and delivered to local governments from December 2020 to June 2021. The aim of the coaching clinic was to assist local governments to incorporate sustainable development, environmental disaster mitigation and emissions reduction in their preparation of Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD), which culminated in the Innovative Development Planning Strategy (SIPP) Award event last July.

“Learning from the assistance that we provided to local governments to prepare for their RPJMDs, it became clear that there were several challenges to incorporating the sustainable development goals, and environmental disaster mitigation into the planning process,” said Fariz Panghegar, Research Manager for Traction Energy Asia. Fariz explained that regional development planners need combined capabilities to produce sustainable regional development plans. They need to have a comprehensive understanding of the procedures for compiling planning documents in accordance with the legal and regulatory guidelines, the ability to formulate relevant problems and strategic issues of regional development, as well as the ability to formulate strategies and policy directions to achieve the regional development goals and targets.

“This platform aims to answer these challenges so that local governments can produce regional development planning documents that are based on sustainable development and are responsive to potential environmental disasters. From the provinces and districts/cities, it is hoped that there will be innovations in planning and implementing development policies that can realize the national sustainable development goals and assist efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions at regional level,” he continued.

The Online Consultation Platform for Sustainable Regional Development Planning provides access for regional development planners such as civil servants and professional groups involved in the formulation of regional development plans, such as the Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD), Regional Government Work Plan (RKPD), and the Strategic Environment Assessment (KLHS). By compiling all regulations and planning modules relevant to the preparation of sustainable development documents, in addition to access to experts, this platform acts as a bridge for those who want to learn more about the development of sustainable development documents.

A list of regulations and materials that can be accessed in this online consultation platform.

 

Beyond that, as the name implies, this platform also allows participants to consult directly with facilitators who are development planning experts, namely Doddy Afianto and Mohammad Saefudin. Doddy Afianto and Mohammad Saefudin have long experience in assisting district/city governments in preparing regional development planning documents. In addition to the RPJMD document, the participants can also consult about the preparation of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (KLHS) document and the Regional Government Work Plan (RKPD). By creating an account and logging into the platform, participants can submit their questions before clicking the “Subscribe” button in the RPJMD, KLHS, and RKPD document forums to get notification of answers from expert facilitators for their consultation questions.

 

The menu and consultation box.

 

Traction Energy Asia developed this platform with the hope that there will be innovations in planning and implementing sustainable development in all regions of the Republic of Indonesia so that provinces and districts/cities can mitigate the impacts of climate change and global warming that lead to environmental disasters. The preparation of regional development planning documents with an orientation towards environmental conservation and restoration is the initial stage of implementing a low carbon growth and sustainable development approach in the regions.

Pak Andar Ginting from the Regional Development Planning and Research Agency, Manado City, summarised the positive reception that the launch of the online consultation platform received, “As a local government official involved in the task of regional development planning, I feel that this platform is very useful for practitioners to discuss and exchange ideas regarding regional development planning. The online consultation platform can facilitate comprehensive discussions on various aspects of sustainable development, from regulations, planning stages, indicators of development performance, to budgeting.”