Closing Ceremony Held for Volcanic Disaster Prevention Education for the Young Generation in Bali - JICA Partnership Program by the Mount Fuji Research Institute

On June 3, 2025, a closing ceremony was held in Bali to mark the completion of the three-year “ Project for Building a Disaster-Resistant Community through the Utilization of Local Universities as a Base for Responding to Low Frequency, Large Scale Disasters”, implemented under JICA Partnership Program. The program was led by the Mount Fuji Research Institute (MFRI) in collaboration with Udayana University, aiming to build a disaster-resistant community in Karangasem Regency, an area particularly vulnerable to large-scale and low frequency disasters.

Following the 2017 eruption of Mount Agung, which led to the evacuation of about 140,000 people, twice the expected number, as this happened because many people don’t have knowledge about volcanic disaster. To address this, the project began in 2022 promote volcanic prevention education to residents living in the Mount Agung area and it is targeted to elementary school students, hoping they can disseminate what they learned with their family and neighbours.

One of the final activities was a workshop held at SDN Duda Timur (Elementary School) in Karangasem Regency, where students learned the basics of volcanic disasters and how to respond safely and effectively. Volunteers from Pasebaya Agung, a local Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) group that actively collaborated throughout the project, especially in community outreach and education at the school also joined the workshop as key facilitators.

The following day, a closing ceremony was held. The session opened with remarks from Ir. Kadek Diana Harmayanti, ST., MT., PhD., IPM., ASEAN. Eng, representing the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Udayana University and it was followed by a lecture from Dr. Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, an expert in DRR and community-based resilience strategies, and MFRI’s project manager, addressing students at Udayana University’s Civil Enginering Study program. He spoke about Disaster-Safe Education Unit in Yamanashi Prefecture and emphasized the importance of community-based disaster education, giving example of a big role of museum in DRR education for young children.

Ir. Ida Ayu Budiwati, MSc., Ph.D, Head of Civil Engineering Study program, expressed her gratitude in her closing remarks to Dr. Yoshimoto and MFRI for their collaboration and contribution. One of the students, Ms. Adel, reflected on the session by saying she realized how important it is to prepare early for disasters.

Although the project has concluded, Dr. Yoshimoto expressed his hope that Udayana University will continue its efforts in volcanic disaster prevention activities and involve students to outreach to primary schools.