Wisma Jerman raises Environmental Awareness

On Sunday 25th of August 2019, Wisma Jerman held its Open House under the theme “Environmental Awareness”. All activities among others an exhibition, games, a workshop and a mini bazar were streamlined to support this year’s Open House theme. The theme “Environmental Awareness” was chosen to emphasize the environmental issues we are all facing nowadays and to show that all of us are part of the solution to these environmental problems. Small things and simple behavior changes can have a big impact. On the other hand, the event aimed to inform the public about Wisma Jerman’s activities as the center for activities related to Germany in East Java, namely German language courses and exams, cultural programs and facilitation of trade & investment as well as cooperation between companies from Germany and Indonesia.

The visitors were invited to engage in several activities like a QR Code Rally, Speak Dating, workshops on “Zero Food Waste” & “Composting”, a bazar with environmentally friendly products, an Instagram frame competition, movie screenings, taking memories in our photo booth and much more.

Environmentally friendly bazar at the Wisma Jerman Open House 2019

The tenants of the environmentally friendly bazar offered a wide range of accessories and products made from organic and recycled materials that do not have a negative impact on the environment. “Busabun” attracted visitors with the scent of their organic soap while “E-waste RJ” collected electronic waste and informed about its hazards. Garda Pangan, a social organization focused on the utilization of food leftovers and the reduction of food waste was also present as well as Robries Gallery, Heystartic, Ruts Collection and NA Collection who all utilize waste and residues to produce useful artifacts and accessories. Therefore, all items sold constituted environmentally friendly products made from scraps, waste, residues and organic materials.

On behalf of EKONID, the German-Indonesian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Wisma Jerman hosted a mini exhibition displaying pictures and articles of EKONID’s work in Indonesia in the fields of environmentally friendly batik production, renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management as well as water and wastewater treatment. The visitors of the exhibition were asked to participate in a short quiz as part of the QR Code Rally. All the answers could be found in the exhibition materials so the visitors were motivated to take a closer look at the materials. This way the exhibition visitors learned about EKONID’s engagement for the environment and about technologiy solutions and ideas from Germany.

The QR Code Rally consisted of eight stations. Four of these held a challenge for the visitors in form of a quiz about topics like waste separation and disposal, our environment and different types of plastics we use in our daily lives.

Another station gave visitors the opportunity to learn about the ancient German scripture Sütterlin. Afterwards they could try reading words written in Sütterlin. The next station offered consultation regarding the German language course at Wisma Jerman and about studying in Germany. A particular source of fun and entertainment was the so-called Speak Dating where our visitors could challenge themselves in simple and fun conversations in German language according to their respective abilities. After finishing a station, the visitors could scan a barcode and collect a letter. Together all the letters formed a word related to the event’s topic, which was supposed to be submitted at the last station of the QR Code Rally to be able to participate in a raffle and win the main prize – a voucher for a German course at Wisma Jerman.

Moreover, there were different competitions where the visitors could win and take home some exciting gifts. The Instagram frame competition asked the visitors to take a picture with a mobile Wisma Jerman Instagram Frame and to upload it on their Instagram account.

Prior to the event, another competition had already invited the public to combine a private picture with an online frame provided by Wisma Jerman, upload it with a unique caption on their account and gather as many likes as possible. The winner of this Twibbon Competition also brought a course voucher home as prize.

For the event, the whole Wisma Jerman was decorated with accessories made from waste and recycled materials. The walkway towards the back of the house was hung with some posters made from waste materials, which were produced by Wisma Jerman students as part of another competition.

Our visitors were really excited and enthusiastic about the topics and activities. The auditorium was filled to the brink with people for most of the time who followed the program consisting of a choice of mini games, workshops and video screenings. Garda Pangan co-founder Dhedy Bharoto Trunoyudho explained ways to reduce food waste in a well-received workshop followed by Cornelius Swiyanto who informed the audience about simple ways to utilize organic waste as fertile compost.

In order that nobody had to go hungry, our guests had the opportunity to buy some typical German cuisine. Noodle salad, potato salad, chicken Schnitzel, Kartoffelpuffer and onion cake are just some of the menus offered for our guests to get a taste of German food. On top of that, some Wisma Jerman emloyees had put their heart and soul into baking some typical German sweets and cakes like Mandarinenkuchen, Moccakuchen, Pfirsichkuchen, Apfelstrudel, and German style brownies that could be enjoyed at low prices between Rp 3.000,00 – Rp 7.000,00.

The more than 200 visitors were proof of the importance of environmental awareness and the ever-growing interest in German language and culture. We hope next year the numbers of visitors will grow even more when Wisma Jerman will open its doors to the public once again.