From the Embassy to the Classroom — BRIDGE ESEM 2026 Showcases Australia-Indonesia Connections in Climate and Intercultural Action
Jakarta, 30 September 2026 – The Australia-Indonesia BRIDGE School Partnerships Program brought teachers, school leaders and officials from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) together for its Education Stakeholder Engagement Meeting (ESEM) — a day about how long-term school partnerships are turning climate concern into classroom action.
The event was formally opened by Chloe Ashbolt, Counsellor - Public Affairs, Australian Embassy Jakarta (DFAT), following a welcome and introduction by Lisa Hayman, Director, Asialink Education, and an opening performance from students of MAN 11 Jakarta that showcased creativity and cultural pride.
Morning: Why Schools Matter Now
The first voice was Ibu Suharti, Ph.D., Secretary General of Ministry of Secondary & Primary Education of Republic Indonesia. Her message was clear: climate change is no longer distant. Thousands of schools have been impacted by hydrometeorological disasters, and millions of students live in medium-to-high risk areas.
But schools, she said, have the widest reach. The curriculum already provides the space – through Intracurricular, Co-curricular, Extracurricular and School Culture.
Drawing on her visit to Victoria in August 2026, she shared what she saw at Firbank Grammar School partnering with a pesantren-madrasah (boarding & religious school) in Lumajang, East Java and at Upwey Junior Secondary School, Victoria where five students led peer climate awareness with university researchers. What made them work, she said, came down to three things: school leadership, collaboration partners, and student agency.
Next, Dr. H. Abdul Basit, S.Ag., MM, on behalf of Prof. Dr. Nyayu Khodijah, Director KSKK Madrasah, Ministry of Religious Affairs, introduced the Love-Based Curriculum or Kurikulum Berbasis Cinta (KBC).
Grounded in Panca Cinta (Five Loves) – love for Allah and His Messenger, for knowledge, for environment, for self and others, and for homeland – KBC turns environmental care into daily habit. In Qur'an Hadis, students audit their madrasah environment. In Fiqh, they practice water-saving wudu. In one madrasah, students even developed bioplastic from cassava – combining love for environment and love for knowledge.
Thea Stinear from CoolPlus closed the morning session by showing how climate education in Indonesia is growing as an ecosystem – linking schools with partners across conservation, media and youth action, and how small classroom actions connect to a larger national story.
Afternoon: Connections in Action
If the morning was about vision, the afternoon was about what it looks like in practice.
SDN 023 Pajagalan Bandung & Bertram Primary School, Perth – a partnership of 12 years since 2014. Their project Connecting through Sharing turned paper waste into landmark sculptures through paper mache and upcycling. Students stayed connected through video calls, penpals and homestay visits.
MAN 1 Magelang & Portland Secondary College, Victoria – focused on Sustainable Development Goals 12. Students built an Ecobrick school sign, launched hydroponics and composting, formed a Green Team to redesign bins, and logged beach clean-ups to the Tangaroa Blue Database.
SD Unggulan Hamzanwadi Mataram & St. Helens District High School, Tasmania – students identified five major issues they see: vehicle pollution, plastic waste, water wastage, waste in the ocean and deforestation. Their response was uniquely theirs: a Sustainability Dance to bring awareness to life.
"The Australia-Indonesia exchange was described as leaving a special impression on both teachers and students, with participants valuing the opportunity to share knowledge and practices that can be developed in both countries"
"This is a good program that needs to be continued and expanded."
"I never thought that small actions, especially those done by students, are very important and impactful. And it was more impactful when done by large groups."
What Stays
Closing the day, Lisa Hayman announced the 2027 BRIDGE Program cohort. Since 2008, 263 school partnerships have been established, involving almost 1,000 educators across 18 provinces in Indonesia.
ESEM 2026 showed that shift – from seeing climate change as an abstract scientific issue to understanding it as an emotional, intergenerational and collective responsibility. From paper sculptures in Bandung to Ecobricks in Magelang and a Sustainability Dance from Mataram to Tasmania, the connections are in action.
The BRIDGE Program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and managed by Asialink Education, University of Melbourne.
