“Growing with modernization, returning to the roots of tradition” is the campaign tagline that brought three students of the Public Relations Study Program (Prodi), Vocational Education Program, Universitas Indonesia (UI), to win second place in the national competition of the Pemuda Indonesia Awards (Indonesian Youth Awards) in the PR Deck category held by Perhimpunan Hubungan Masyarakat (Indonesian Public Relations Association), or Perhumas. The three students, Futihat Nurul Karimah, Hurin Nazhifah Mumtaz, and Quinta Ayu Maharani, are part of a team called Spread Love.
The PR Deck competition is part of the World Public Relations Forum 2024 held in Nusa Dua, Bali. This event was attended by professional public relations practitioners, including the Chairman of Perhumas Indonesia, Boy Kelana, Director of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, Prof. Justin Green, Minister of Foreign Affairs 2019-2024, Retno Marsudi, and Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Arya Mangkoenagoro X. The competition took place from October to November 2024 and was attended by students from various universities in Indonesia.
The campaign titled “Kembali ke Akar” (Back to the Roots) that they proposed raised the issue of the low participation of the younger generation in preserving traditional values, especially subak in Jatiluwih Village, Bali. With a philosophical strategy based on life stages—birth, growth, development, and returning to the roots—they succeeded in raising awareness of the younger generation of Bali about the importance of preserving the subak tradition.
“The problems with subak, irrigation, and agriculture are not caused by the younger generation not knowing effective techniques. However, we see that these problems are rooted in the younger generation not understanding their values and culture. So, instead of focusing on explaining agricultural techniques, we focus more on building awareness of the generation towards their identity and local cultural values. We believe that understanding both of these things is the solution to various environmental problems faced,” said Futihat.
Subak, a traditional irrigation system implemented by Balinese farmers since the 11th century, has been recognized as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO since 2012. Through a survey conducted by the team, it was found that 90% of respondents in Jatiluwih Village felt that the main problem in their area was the lack of concern from the younger generation towards agricultural traditions.
In this campaign, the Spread Love Team involved influential figures to convey messages that are relevant to young audiences, connecting traditional values with modern innovations. “Through this campaign, we want the younger generation to realize that maintaining tradition does not have to be contrary to modernization, but rather complement each other,” said Futihat.
Head of the Public Relations Study Program, Mareta Maulidiyanti, S.Sos., M.M., emphasized that this achievement is the result of practice-based learning implemented in UI Vocational. “By presenting practitioners in the world of public relations, we want students to learn and overcome problems through case studies that occur in the real world of industry. This is evident from the success of the Spread Love Team through conveying messages about cultural values in the PR Deck competition. I hope that they will also use this competition as an experience and learn from their lecture process,” she said.
The Spread Love Team hopes that this achievement will inspire the younger generation to continue to create relevant creative ideas, while providing real solutions to environmental issues through awareness of cultural values.
