Wednesday, April 24, 2013

talks and papers do very little to change reality --Izael Pereira Da Silva


I found a great article. Check this out! 

Rio+20: Documents Aren't Useful if There's No Action


Izael Pereira Da Silva is an expert in Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Rural Electrification and Energy Efficiency. He is member of the Association of Energy Engineer in USA and of the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers. Today, he is Associate Professor at Makerere University (Uganda) and teaches also in the Strathmore Business School of Kenya.
His studies have taken him to Rio+20 Conference of last june, the Earth Conference that took place at Rio of Janeiro. He sums up his experiences.

How was the organization of Rio+20? 
Rio+20 was a very large conference with plenty of side events and pre-meetings conferences which, to my understanding, were way beyond the ability of a human being to consume. I found myself quite lost on the maze of dialogues, presentations, panels and show-events available. Another challenge was transport. Riocentre, the venue of the UN conference, was too far from downtown. We had 6 different routes with buses taking participants and it would always suppose more than one hour, sometimes two, traveling.
Which were your priorities in Rio+20?
I live in Africa and thus my geographical priority were the East African region in particular. In terms of technology my focus was renewable energy. In terms of organs in society I was there representing the Academia and thus I was concerned about capacity building, research and development, innovation and consultancy.
I think that unless Academia starts seriously working with Government and the Private Sector, no lasting and wide impact will be achieved.
You attended Renewable Energy, Water management, Sustainable Development... Could you give us some advice related with the sustainability suggested by Rio?
Everybody is talking about renewable energy. Whether the oil is going to get finished in the next 10, 50 or 100 years, I cannot tell, I see a movement towards solar, wind, small hydro and geothermal energies; as a welcome movement even if petrol is to stay there forever.
The challenge is still with the countries in Africa, India and South Asia, where 2 billion people are living very poorly because they have no access to modern types of energy and thus have problems to access income generating activities, health, education and communication services. I think Europe can help these 2 billion people and at the same time solve their current economic crisis by accessing this huge new market.
What do you think about the importance of Rio and his influence in society? 
The final non-binding document "The future we want", as Vatican Observer says, is 49 pages long with 283 paragraphs divided into six parts.
Rio+20 focused on issues previously announced and various priority areas including, among others, decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness.
As the Observer mentions elsewhere, it’s a non-perfect document which nonetheless can be useful to help the developing world and the developed one to work together towards a better future for the planet, our common home.
Do you think that Rio will be an impact to society and that can generate an active engagement?
Young people do what they see the old generation doing. I think they are offered now a more responsive role model and, generally, I see reasons for optimism.
One think though is important to mention: talks and papers do very little to change reality. Unless people start DOING things nothing will really change.
How would the leadership of the new generation for the sustainability be? 
Sustainability is a "catching" concept and I could see in Brazil how people on the streets were already trying to live in a more conscientious manner, having in mind the future generations and our responsibility of leaving the planet to them in a better shape.
Here in Kenya the Government has created a fund to support and reward initiatives on sustainable environment and the thing is catching fire.
I am thus optimistic about the future. The only issue to have in mind is that we need to tell our young people that the human person is meant to be the focal point of development and thus his/her dignity has to be preserved above any "right" of nature.
For those who didn`t attend Rio but develop a sustainable project related with youth, poverty, childhood and family. What could they do to take advantage of Rio?
That is simple! I dare say having attended Rio+20 was only important from a historical viewpoint. If people read the final document and do a bit of research on what the government of their specific country is doing (the ministry of environment, energy, water, etc), they will find plenty of initiatives to engage and make a positive contribution towards the future we want.
On a light note, for those who did not make it to Rio+20 and thus missed to enjoy the most beautiful city in the planet there is another chance next year as they can join Pope Benedict XVI on the World Youth Day and yet another in 2014 when they can attend the World Cup.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Hei mahasiswa ITB! This might be your chance! Join GaneshaMUN now to have a real international conference experience!



Halo teman2, adik2, rekan2 ITB! Puji Tuhan februari yang lalu saya berkesempatan untuk mengikuti Harvard National Model United Nations 2013 di Boston, USA, sebagai perwakilan dari Ganesha MUN Club. Nahhh, apakah kalian sudah tahu kalau sekarang GaneshaMUN Club sudah membuka open recruitment! This might be your one and only chance to feel a real international experience! Saya sendiri merasakan begitu banyak manfaat yang saya dapatkan setelah mengikuti HNMUN 2013. Selain itu, bergabung di GaneshaMUN sendiri juga sangat menyenangkan! Kalian tertarik? Ayo segera daftar! Caranya? Liat gambar di atas!

"Duh, aku ga bisa nulis, tapi pengen ikut"
"Duh, bahasa inggrisku pasif"
"Duh, minder sama si 'itu' yang udah jago dan dia juga lagi daftar"

ada begitu banyak curhatan yang datang ke saya mengenai seleksi pertama ini. nah, untuk (setidaknya mungkin bisa) membantu kalian dalam menyelesaikan seleksi pertama untuk masuk ke GaneshaMUN ini, sekarang saya kasih algoritma (ceilah, teknik bgt) untuk mengerjakan esai nya.

Jadi, seperti yang kalian baca di poster di atas, seleksi pertama adalah menulis esai bertema "MDGs in developing countries. Maka dari itu.....
1 . googling/baca/pokoknya cari tau tentang MDGs in developing countries, baca apa itu MDGs, apa aja yang sudah dilakukan oleh negara2 untuk mencapai MDGs, pro kontra thd MDGs, dll dll
2. Karena ngebahasnya developing countries (apa itu developing countries? belum tau? cari tau! ask google!), maka kamu bisa membahas keterkaitan developing countries dgn MDGs atau kamu mau spesifik membahas 1 negara saja (misal: indonesia)
3. Nah sekarang bergantung kamu, kamu mau membahas dampak/akibat MDGs kah, penyebab keefektifan/ketidakefektifan kah, atau hal apapun yang menarik perhatianmu untuk kamu analisis....semakin kritis analisismu, semakin bagus.
4. Oh ya, MDGs ada 8, itu terserah kamu mau membahas semuanya atau cuma beberapa, atau cuma 1 saja
5. Yang akan dilihat dari sebuah essay itu (secara general ya) 1) kekritisan dalam melihat isu dan menyampaikan opini, 2) kemampuan untuk meng-gather data dan fakta, dan kemampuan untuk menyatukan kedua hal tsb dalam kalimat yang efektif (tidak redundant/bertele2).

Nah, sekarang perkara bahasa....
1. Kalau bingung menulis dalam bahasa inggris, TULIS DULU DALAM BAHASA INDONESIA
2. untuk mempermudah supaya bisa menulis dalam bahasa inggris, cari artikel, bahan bacaan, atau sumber informasi yang juga berbahasa inggris
3. jangan pakai kata "I think....", "I..."
contoh: I think MDGs cannot solve Indonesian problem in poverty <---this is="" span="" wrong="">
Poverty in Indonesia can hardly being solved even by using MDGs as the weapon, because....<---this is="" quite="" right="" span="">
4. Cari kata2/kalimat2 yang (sebisa mungkin terlihat) intelek, jangan pakai kata2 percakapan, seperti this ain't...gonna, wanna....
5. Hati2 menggunakan google translate! Cek lagi grammar nya

Nah, masih bingung? Feel free to ask me, using twitter (@rinnachan), FB (Rinna Santi Sijabat), through this thread's comment, or email (rinnasantisijabat@yahoo.com).
SEMANGAAATT!


nb: untuk melihat langkah2 menulis esai secara general, lihat ke sini

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Mencoba menulis esai? Ini Langkah-Langkahnya

Halo, beberapa hari belakangan ini saya menyadari bahwa kehidupan saya begitu santai di semester 8 ini (ceilah). Saya pun kembali menelusuri hobi lama, yaitu menulis....jujur, saya se-kangen itu dengan nulis. Kenapa? Karena cuma lewat tulisanlah saya bisa mengatakan apapun. APAPUN. Kalau kadang saya suka canggung berkomentar di depan orang lain karena takut salah, takut menyinggung perasaan, atau takut yang lain-lain....saat menulis saya merasa begitu bebas....merasa begitu menjadi diri sendiri.

Baru aja beberapa menit yang lalu, sebuah akun twitter yang saya follow, yakni @ganecapos , meng-kultwit tentang bagaimana cara menulis esai. Nah mungkin diantara kamu ada yang sedang ingin menulis esai, atau malah "diwajibkan" menulis esai (baca: tugas bahasa indonesia dari sekolah, hahahha), mungkin ini adalah langkah-langkah simpel yang bisa kalian ikuti. Lakukan secara berurutan yaa :)


1. Buat tujuan esai. Tujuan esai bisa bermacam2, bisa untuk menjelaskan sesuatu, memberi analisis suatu kejadian, membandingkan, atau menyampaikan apapun ide kalian
2. Perkirakan target pembaca. Untuk target pembaca masyarakat umum, jangan menggunakan istilah yang tidak biasa bagi masyarakat. Sebaliknya, untuk target pembaca khusus, gunakan istilah2 yang "intelek". Ini untuk memudahkan kalian dalam menjelaskan, dan biar terlihat pintar (cihuy!).
3. susunlah kerangka berpikir untuk esai nya, sesuaikan dengan target pembacanya
4. Susunlah alur penulisan esai sehingga menimbulkan rasa penasaran bagi pembaca, sehingga esai dibaca sampe selesai
.................Kalian bisa membuat pertanyaan2 yg bikin penasaran, fakta2 mencengangkan, atau umpan balik ttg esaimu
5. Setelah itu, susunlah ide tulisannya, masing2 ide bisa dibikin satu paragraf, bisa juga ditambahi paragraf pendukung
6. Kembangkan ide jadi paragraf

a.       Usahakan pakai bahasa sendiri, anggap lagi cerita
b.      Jangan terlalu kaku! Esai itu gabungan fakta dan imajinasi
c.       Kita bebas menulis asumsi, loh!
7. Kalo udah selesai, baca lagi. Cek antar paragraf nyambung/ga
8. Bikin paragraf penutup, berupa kesimpulan, saran, ajakan, atau umpan balik ke pembaca (supaya terkesan)
9. Baca ulang! Cari kalimat yang tidak efektif, tidak nyambung, atau tidak pas. Perbaiki
10. Simpan tulisan. Tinggalkan. Lupakan sampai esok hari.
11. Baca lagi, anggap dirimu pembaca yang tidak tahu apa-apa sebelumnya.

a.       Tandai kalimat / kata yang tidak dimengerti, kurang pas, atau apapun yang ‘ngganjel’
b.      Perbaiki deh J
      12. Minta orang lain membaca, minta tanggapan dan koreksi darinya. Perbaiki lagi.
      13. Selesaaaiiiiii :’D