Rural EPICS Program

Rural EPICS (Rural Educational Program for Improving Civil Society)

The Rural EPICS (Rural Educational Program for Improving Civil Society) program was developed to enhance community capacity and ability to engage in promoting clean governance. Additionally, it aims to facilitate the role and participation of community groups in development planning at the district level through an action research approach conducted by the community groups themselves and dialogues with the District Government and Regional Parliament (DPRD).

The Rural EPICS program was implemented from July 2002 to October 2003 in two districts: Temanggung District in Central Java Province and Lumajang District in East Java Province. The selection of these districts was based on the experience of cooperation between local partner organizations and their respective local governments. In each district, three sub-districts were selected, and within each sub-district, two villages were chosen.

Community initiatives represent ideas from the community on various issues deemed important for their lives. These interests are collective, not merely personal, and can cover a wide range of needs, including employment, public infrastructure, information, safety, and more. To address these needs, a "social contract" is established to create a state, which then develops laws and regulations. A government is formed to realize the community's desires. However, when these "implementers" are given power and authority, the community's interests often become difficult to realize. This leads to a disconnect between the community's issues and their representatives, causing unresolved problems and increasing challenges.

Activities of the Rural EPICS program include: Training for Community Organizers (COs); Identifying and Analyzing Issues at the village level by COs and forming Community Sector Groups; Training on Action Research Facilitation for COs and Action Research Training for Community Sector Groups by COs; Action Research by Community Sector Groups; Dialogues between the community and the District Government and DPRD: Listening to Community Voices; and National Seminars.

The outcomes of the program include training 36 community members from 2 districts as Community Organizers (COs); 900 village community members from 2 districts conducted action research activities, enabling them to identify community issues; Rural community members formed action research groups to support community needs and follow-up actions; Several other institutions and local organizations were involved and supported the action research and dialogues with village communities; Local government and DPRD representatives discussed with village community members conducting action research about community issues and alternative solutions. During these dialogues, community representatives communicated directly with their government and policy makers in DPRD; The program framework was implemented as planned and evaluated directly by the community, thereby developing skills, expertise, and networks through the program's implementation in various regions; Members of action research groups from marginalized rural areas actively expressed their opinions during the program's execution.

In implementing the Rural EPICS program, FIELD Indonesia collaborated with the Indonesian PHT Farmers Association (IPPHTI) in the local districts and received support from the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia.