The Love Johor River Programme: Community engagement for accelerating change
World Water Day 2023: Accelerating change
21 March 2023
Neo Sau Mei, UTM
Community engagement is critical for accelerating the change required to address water security challenges. Communities need to be involved in research programmes from the outset to ensure change is sustainable and suitable at a local level. In February 2023, the Malaysia Collaboratory launched the Love Johor River Programme (Program Sayangi Sungai Johor) at the Community Hall of Kg Sungai Telor (Sungai Telor Village). This programme is just one example of collaboration between colleagues at IPASA-University of Technology Malaysia, the District Office of Kota Tinggi, and the Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK) - the community-based organisation of Kg Sungai Telor.
This programme aimed to raise awareness of water security and river health of Sungai Johor through co-created and interactive activities, including: colouring, cooking, and fishing competitions; KUDAH (cleaning up the river); exhibition booths; and a quiz. We worked with the JPKK, the District Office, and a local fishermen’s club to create the programme, which was attended by over 200 visitors from schools, local and nearby villages, government agencies, and NGOs.
Throughout the formation of the Love Johor River Programme, the community of Kg Sungai Telor was actively and deeply involved, from the planning, preparing, coordinating, and liaising stages, through to the programme's completion. Hub researchers worked closely with local residents to highlight their culture and gain a thorough understanding of what they need, in order to make this a goal-based programme with beneficial outcomes for the community.
Throughout this collaborative process, the community were active stakeholders and decision-making partners. Working together like this and ensuring all voices are represented, heard, and included leads to more equitable, long-lasting, and efficient solutions that take into account the needs and priorities of all parties involved. This fulfilling collaboration resulted in novel and creative ideas, concepts, plans, and strategies that can resolve water security challenges.
Take a look through the galleries below to get a flavour of this exciting event.
“To me this programme is a very good beginning to help raise awareness in the communities, and communities can benefit through joining this programme too. I hope this programme can be conducted again in the future.” – Tok Ramlee, village headman of Kg Sg Telor
Colouring competition
This creative competition was open to all children under the age of six (kindergarten).
The invitation was targeted towards kindergarten to foster a sense of responsibility for river protection at an early age.
The theme of this competition was: ‘the colour of the river ecosystem’.
Following a simple story about Sg Johor, the children were invited to colour in illustrations of what they thought a healthy river ecosystem should look like.
Water values quiz
Aimed at young people and adults, the water values quiz focused on peoples’ perceptions of the different values of Sg Johor.
A specific question on the difference between rivers and drains raised awareness of water quality.
The quiz highlighted connections between human activities and the river ecosystem, as well as a sense of belonging to Sg Johor (most attendees live near the river).
Exhibition booths
We welcomed a broad range of exhibitors including: BAKAJ, Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd, Department of Environment, Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd, WWF, and Yayasan Johor Corporation.
IPASA-UTM also had a booth, demonstrating our water quality kits to secondary school students.
These booths increased attendees' knowledge and awareness about water and river conservation.
KUDAH (Cleaning up the river)
KUDAH (cleaning up the river) helps raise public awareness of the impact of anthropogenic activities on the natural environment.
KUDAH is a collaboration between IPASA-UTM, the JPKK, and the District Office’s community-based clean-up programme.
Participants collect rubbish and waste from along the river which is then bagged and weighed.
The aim of this activity is to cultivate environmentally-conscious citizens who are invested in protecting the sustainability of the river ecosystem.
Fishing competition
The fishing competition is managed by the local fishermen club in the village.
The competition took place in the same location as KUDAH, emphasising the act of fishing for food in a potentially hazardous environment.
This competition highlighted the importance of connecting to nature through riverside activities and the need to proactively maintain the natural environment.
Cooking competition
The Love Johor River programme also included a cooking competition focused on using produce from the river.
Participants were asked to cook a dish at home in which the main ingredient was freshwater fish.
They brought their prepared dishes and recipe to the launch event for judging and tasting.
The competition acted as a reminder of where our food comes from and the need to protect the river ecosystem for human health and nutrition.
