Indonesia: Cycling For the Climate

Creation - not for sale

"Cycling for the climate"

Young reformer: Daniel Sinaga

Church: Protestant Christian Batak Church

Implementation period: 05 December 2015 - 05 December 2016

How many people were involved? 5

How many people did you reach? 50

What did you aim at?

We aimed at the young people especially theological seminary students, to inspire them about climate change concerns by using bicycle. We hope they will be role models to other young people to live.

 

What did you achieve?

We inspired a few students to use their bicycle in the seminary.

 

What did you do?

We did a climate campaign by using bicycle around the city in 5th December 2015. In a few months, we did cycling trips around the city, to intrigue people about saving climate change.

Interview with young reformer Daniel A. Sinaga

What is the ongoing reformation you want to see in your church?

I would like to see my church participating in climate change challenges and the current situations in society.

What has been the reaction of the project among the youth?

The reaction was very good and positive about the project and the concern of climate change. Most of the students were from the theological seminary in Pemantangsiantar. Many youth were surprised about it but glad to participate.

How has been the participation of the youth in the reformation project?

I worked with 5 volunteer students to plan how to lead the project and the campaign. We also had cooperation with different students from different bike clubs. Everyone joined the one day campaign as a one time event. At the end, there were 50 participants who came with their bikes in our campaign cycling for the climate.

What has been challenging about creating the project?

It was difficult to organize a bigger event because most of the local people and students do not own bikes, and bikes are expensive in Indonesia. Additionally, there is not a lot of parking for bikes in the location of the seminar where the event was organized.

Did everything go as planned?

The plans went different and we faced different challenges. We changed the strategy to reach our goal. In the end everything went well and we started the campaign.

How do you see the continuity of the project?

I would like to continue with the project but it is difficult because people don’t have bikes and it’s an expensive investment for the local students and people to participate. Hopefully, there will be more people involved that would like to continue. Our church needs to consider continuing this project. This will help people and the church to support sustainable development by using fewer fossil fuels and being more environmentally friendly.