Climate Change is a key focus of the Australia Indonesia BRIDGE School Partnerships Program 2022-2025. This case study was conducted to explore emerging practices in how BRIDGE teachers with/without their partners deliver sustainability practices in their school.
Names of Schools: SMPN 20 Singkawang and St. Mary’s College, Seymour, Victoria
Case Study Topic: Climate Change-Focused School Partnership
Date of Case Study: February-March 2025
Contents
Introduction
Climate Change is a key focus of the Australia Indonesia BRIDGE School Partnerships Program 2022-2025. This case study was conducted to explore emerging practices in how BRIDGE teachers with/without their partners deliver sustainability practices in their school.
Data collection occurred between February-March 2025 with a scan of program documentation and discussions with the BRIDGE team about potential candidates and existing evidence.
Data was collected through online interviews with two BRIDGE teachers from SMPN 20 Singkawang and St Mary’s College, Seymour. Due to online data collection, we could only involve limited number of informants. The interview data was analysed to identify relevant themes for the case study report using NVivo.
School profiles
SMP Negeri 20 Singkawang is a state junior high school located in Roban Village, Central Singkawang District, five km from the city centre. There are ten classroom groups for students in years 7-9. The school lands are spacious (covering approximately one hectare) and are situated in an alley, away from densely populated area. Most students at SMPN 20 Singkawang come from low-middle income families, with most parents working as farmers.
St. Mary’s College, a Catholic school in Seymour for students from Foundation to Year 12. It is a regional school approximately 100 km north of Melbourne, Victoria. It is primarily a mono-cultural (Anglo) school with families from farming, military, and business backgrounds. The vision of St. Mary’s College is a welcoming Catholic community that respects their heritage and looks to a sustainable future. The school aims to inspire learning excellence, resilience, and service to others.
Partnership history
SMPN 20 Singkawang and St. Mary’s College commenced their BRIDGE school partnership in 2015. Despite facing challenges, including changes in the principal at SMPN 20 Singkawang, and the movement of BRIDGE teachers to other school, the school has been able to maintain a strong collaboration with St. Mary’s College. They successfully addressed these changes by appointing new teachers as key contacts for the BRIDGE program and remain open to involving former BRIDGE teachers who have moved to other schools, ensuring the continued collaboration. During their partnership period schools have conducted collaborative activities with key activities presented in the following table:
Year | Activity |
2015 | BRIDGE partnership officially started with two teachers from SMPN 20 Singkawang visiting St. Mary’s College as part of BRIDGE immersion program. |
2017 | A group of students from St. Mary’s College visited Jogjakarta and met students from SMPN 20 Singkawang. |
2019 | Principal, educators, and students from St. Mary’s College travelled to SMPN 20 Singkawang and stayed for a few days in Singkawang. SMPN 20 Singkawang was chosen as a BRIDGE grant recipient. Funding was allocated to cover the expenses for one teacher, Ibu Eka, one student, Alfaro and the school principal, Pak Hendra to visit St. Mary's College. Due to the pandemic, the visit was postponed until May 2022. By this time the student who was originally meant to attend had already graduated, so was replaced by a new BRIDGE teacher for the visit. |
2020 | SMPN 20 Singkawang received a Lighthouse Partnership grant and used the funding to establish agritourism activities in the school garden. This initiative was inspired by the visit of SMPN 20 Singkawang to St. Mary’s College. |
2021 | In the second year of receiving the Lighthouse grant, SMPN 20 Singkawang used the funds to purchase IT equipment to enhance communication within the school and to establish a Learning Management System (LMS). |
2023 | SMPN 20 Singkawang and St. Mary's College were awarded Honorary Lighthouse status. They used this grant to fund a teacher from St. Mary's College visit to SMPN 20 Singkawang. The purpose of the visit was to share strategies for improving active learning in the classroom and to strengthen the partnership between the two schools, as well as with other schools in Singkawang. |
2024 | SMPN 20 Singkawang received Honorary Lighthouse grant for the second time. The funding was used to cover spending on climate change initiatives including their visit to turtle conversation centre. |
2015 - present | Regular exchanges of written materials, posters, as well as online sharing through padlets and videos showcasing Indonesian learning in St. Mary’s College and English learning in SMPN 20 Singkawang. |
Climate change focused initiatives
SMPN 20 Singkawang has introduced several initiatives responding to climate change issues at their school. This has been done in partnership with support of their partner school, St. Mary’s College and BRIDGE Program grants. The activities engage members of the school community including non-BRIDGE teachers, principal, students and parents.
Key stakeholders from government institutions including the Head and Secretary of District Education Office have also been made aware of the initiatives undertaken by SMPN 20 Singkawang. The following section presents three key activities that have been successfully executed by BRIDGE teachers in collaboration with other school communities.
Green School/Agro Wisata
Agro Wisata is a key initiative implemented by SMPN 20 Singkawang. This program aims to introduce agricultural practices to students at the school and the broader school community. According to the BRIDGE teacher interviewed, the school is surrounded by farming areas, yet many students are not familiar with farming practices and do not wish to continue practicing farming.
Through the BRIDGE Program grant opportunities, SMPN 20 Singkawang introduced the Green School project. Firstly, the school collaborated with parents to transform the unproductive land behind the school building into productive farmland. By doing so, the school hoped that students would have the opportunity to learn and practice farming at the school.
The school invited vocational agricultural school and farming experts in Singkawang to deliver a workshop on agricultural practices to teachers and students. Armed with improved knowledge on farming practices, the school community have used the farmland to cultivate local vegetables and fruits for their own consumption.
The Green School project has been successful evidenced by their first harvest. The school invited key stakeholders from the Education Office in Singkawang to participate in the harvesting activity. Following the successful Green Project by SMPN 20 Singkawang, the head of Education Office encouraged other schools to follow the practice launched by SMPN 20 Singkawang.
Visiting turtle conservation
Another excellent project implemented by SMPN 20 Singkawang is bringing students and teachers to see the turtle conservation in Paloh, Sambas, West Kalimantan. This visit is intended to raise awareness of sea turtle life and the background of the conservation efforts.
The visit was funded through the BRIDGE Program grant with the school prioritizing students from low-income families to participate.
At the turtle conservation students acquired knowledge about the different types of turtles in Indonesia as well as their anatomical features. They also learned about the ocean food chain, how it relates to turtle life, and the importance of ocean conservation to safeguard the survival of sea turtles.
Students were provided with the opportunity to see turtles laying eggs, baby turtles hatching from their nest, and baby turtles being released to the ocean. The BRIDGE teacher stated, “Hopefully this activity will inspire students to protect animals and plants.”
On 21 February 2025, SMPN 20 Singkawang conducted a workshop titled "Turtle Conservation: Protecting the Ecosystem – Our Role in Environmental Conservation" to share reflections from their school visit to the turtle sanctuary. The workshop was attended virtually by a teacher from St. Mary's College. A total of 71 participants (30 female, 41 male), including teachers and students from both BRIDGE and non-BRIDGE schools in Singkawang, took part in the event.
Waste management
Inspired by the practice observed at St. Mary’s College during their visit to Australia in 2019, SMPN 20 Singkawang has initiated a waste management project in their school.
This project includes initiatives implemented to reduce plastic usage among school members and maintain the cleanliness of the school environment. This project aligns with the Merdeka Curriculum introduced by the Indonesian government, which promotes a sustainable lifestyle among students.
The school has begun to provide different types of waste bins in school areas. This allows school members to separate organic and non-organic waste. This waste management practice was inspired by the practice witnessed by the BRIDGE teacher during his visit to St Mary’s College as part of the BRIDGE immersion program. The Waste management program at SMPN 20 Singkawang also includes recycling practices by teachers and students. During the interview, the BRIDGE teacher indicated that he sometimes created learning materials from recycled plastics or papers.
Teachers at SMPN 20 Singkawang also encouraged students to adopt the same practice, utilising used plastic or waste from plastic products for their assignments. The stories of recycling practice at SMPN 20 Singkawang have been shared to their partners in Australia through an online conference.
SMPN 20 Singkawang has also urged school members to reduce the use of plastic. This is done by encouraging students to stop consuming food products packed in plastic. The school works with the school canteen to not sell those products to students. Despite initial rejection, now school canteen agrees to sell students fresh food rather than food in plastic packages. This practice has effectively reduced the use of plastic among school members.
Conclusion
The initiatives undertaken by SMPN 20 Singkawang have resulted from participation in the BRIDGE Program, their partnership with St. Mary’s College, Seymour and ongoing support provided through BRIDGE grants. These activities engage BRIDGE and non-BRIDGE teachers as well as students. Their partnership with St. Mary’s College has motivated them to be more environmentally responsible.
As the BRIDGE teacher explained, the visit to their partner school in Australia encouraged him to prioritize the cleanliness and sustainability of the school environment. A waste management program, specifically on the reduction and the recycling of plastics, is now advocated in school.
While the initiatives have resulted positive outcomes, they remain in their early stage and require on-going support to ensure the sustainability of practices and the positive outcomes.