IATSS Forum

Hello Everyone! I am Maryati from Indonesia.  It was one of the greatest days of my life when I was informed that I got the chance to be the delegate of the 62nd IATSS forum. Reading through the documents, I know that this is going to be a life-changing experience. I have always admired many aspects of Japan- the people, the culture, the local wisdom, the natural beauty, and many more- which I believe bring a lot of values I could learn and adapt to solve challenges in my own country. For example, One Village One Product (OVOP) has been a successful initiative which I see very relevant to be implemented in my country.  Indonesia possesses similar characteristics with Japan in that economic activities are centered in urban cities. The disparity between rural and urban is widening because current incentives ain't sufficient to liven up the business in rural areas. Therefore, getting to learn OVOP directly from the initiator will definitely help to solve one challenge my country faces, not to mention the other key takeaways I will get during the program.    Moreover, in IATSS we will explore a lot of things about Japan with participants from various background. This diversity will add perspectives to help us make better decisions. I can't wait to get together with all the participants and bring actionable plans to make the world a better place!

IATSS is an intensive program that covers the topics of environment, business, politics, education, disaster risk management, cultural preservation, inclusive society, and urban planning under the framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). All seminars provide sufficient background on how to create sustainable community design in relation with those fields. The sequence of the lectures were designed in such a way that allows participants to find answers on their own. Everything is packed into approximately 12 hours activity per day, not to mention the report assignments and surveys. This really required us to have a good time management, otherwise we could never catch up with that. The learning curve really depends on how willing we go beyond our limitation. IATSS also allows us to delve into Japanese culture. The most interesting thing is that the Japanese really values irregularity and imperfection, which is reflected in the art and craft. The message delivered through ‘Imperfection’ is that as human-being, it is okay to be imperfect because people make mistakes. The most important thing is to admit the mistakes and take corrective actions to improve the situations. Similarly, Irregularity reflects the beauty of diversity, that human is beautiful the way she is. Though irregularity, people would truly appreciate the details because every art is distinctive. Another thing is that the Japanese really values seasonality. When thing doesn’t last forever, people will enjoy every moment of it. There are many more learning takeaways from IATSS. Overall, this is really a life-changing experience because you will learn not only from the whole activities, but also from the participants. The diversity, the uniqueness, and the skills of each participant really color this program. IATSS has successfully set an environment where we can comfortably show authenticity and stretch beyond our limit. I believe, whoever get this opportunity will say this is really 'Ichigo Ichie' - once in a life time experience which memories will last forever.