Tuban, June 2026 – The East Java chapter of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) in collaboration with Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia organized a training entitled “Sustainable and Climate-Just Land Use for Communities and Civil Society Organizations in East Java” on 18–19 June 2026. The training brought together coastal women’s communities, mining-affected communities, youth organizations, student organizations, and civil society organizations from Surabaya, Gresik, Tuban, Lamongan, and Sumenep.
Participants represented a wide range of organizations and community groups, including the Coastal Women’s Association (Kesatuan Perempuan Pesisir), the Traditional Fishers Coalition (Koalisi Nelayan Tradisional), Fatayat NU, the United Tuban Citizens Alliance (Barisan Warga Tuban Bersatu/Bawartu), as well as various student organizations and other civil society groups. Their participation created a valuable learning space for exchanging experiences on land use change, the impacts of climate change, and the challenges communities face in defending their living spaces.
The training aimed to strengthen the capacity of coastal communities and mining-affected communities to understand and advocate for land use that is sustainable, climate-adaptive, and equitable for all members of society. Specifically, it was designed to enhance participants’ understanding of sustainable land use concepts, climate change and its impacts on the environment and local livelihoods, while also strengthening community capacity to identify land use changes and environmental risks occurring within their respective areas.
The training also provided a platform for participants to conduct participatory analyses of land use and climate change issues through participatory mapping. The results of these analyses are expected to serve as the basis for community advocacy action plans aimed at promoting more sustainable and climate-just land governance.
The first day began with participant introductions, the sharing of expectations, and a pre-test to assess participants’ baseline understanding of land use and climate justice. This was followed by a session on sustainable land use and climate justice delivered by Catur Bambang Nusantara, an environmental activist from WALHI East Java.
During the session, participants explored the critical role of land use in shaping environmental sustainability and community well-being. Discussions highlighted how unsustainable spatial planning and land management policies can generate significant ecological, social, and economic consequences. Participants also shared firsthand experiences from their respective regions, ranging from declining community access to natural resources to the shrinking of living spaces due to industrial expansion and mining activities.
One of the key issues emerging from the discussion was the importance of ensuring meaningful community participation in land use planning processes. Participants recognized that spatial planning is not merely an administrative document governing land allocation, but a crucial instrument that determines the sustainability of community livelihoods. Consequently, areas with vital ecological and social functions—including water catchment areas, fishing grounds, productive agricultural land, mangrove ecosystems, and groundwater recharge zones—must receive stronger protection to prevent their conversion into industrial estates or mining concessions that pose significant environmental and social risks.
Building on this understanding of sustainable land use and climate justice, participants then engaged in participatory mapping exercises. Through this process, they mapped land use changes in their respective regions, identified areas affected by industrial and mining activities, and analyzed the environmental challenges emerging from these developments.
The discussions were guided by several key questions, including which areas had undergone significant changes, what had driven those changes, who had benefited, and who had borne the resulting impacts. This approach enabled participants to better understand the interconnected relationships between land use change and broader social, economic, and environmental transformations within their communities.
The mapping results revealed that nearly all participating regions are experiencing increasing pressure on community living spaces. In Surabaya, participants identified the impacts of sand mining and large-scale development projects on coastal areas. In Gresik and Sumenep, limestone quarrying activities were found to have affected environmental conditions and traditional fishing grounds. Meanwhile, participants from Tuban highlighted the rapid expansion of quarry mining (Category C mining), which has converted productive agricultural land into mining areas, significantly affecting the surrounding communities’ socio-economic conditions.
Participants also emphasized that the impacts of land use change are experienced not only by men as primary actors in productive sectors but also by women, who play essential roles in maintaining household economic resilience, managing access to clean water, and ensuring household food security. Consequently, issues of land use and climate change cannot be separated from the broader perspectives of gender justice and social justice.
On the second day, participants explored the topic of sustainable development planning. The session extended beyond normative discussions of Indonesia’s development planning system by introducing practical advocacy opportunities through which communities can influence local development policies. Participants examined key planning documents, including the Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD), Regional Spatial Plan (RTRW), Detailed Spatial Plan (RDTR), and Strategic Environmental Assessment (KLHS), all of which play critical roles in shaping regional development and land use decisions.
Through this session, participants gained a deeper understanding of the importance of community engagement from the earliest stages of development planning. This awareness is particularly significant because many decisions concerning industrial development, mining, and land use conversion are typically determined within planning documents long before business permits are officially issued.
As the final activity, participants developed advocacy action plans tailored to their respective regions. Each group identified strategic issues, advocacy objectives, desired policy changes, and concrete strategies to pursue following the training. Participants from Surabaya, for example, identified the Waterfront Land National Strategic Project (PSN) as a priority issue requiring close public oversight. Meanwhile, participants from Gresik committed to advocating on issues related to industrial waste management and the impacts of limestone quarrying, both of which threaten fishing grounds and the long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems.
This training marked an important first step toward strengthening community capacity to critically understand land use challenges while promoting meaningful public participation in development planning processes. The participatory mapping outcomes produced during the training will be documented and further developed into case studies for a national campaign toolkit on sustainable land use and climate justice. In doing so, the experiences of communities in East Java will contribute valuable lessons and inspiration for civil society movements across Indonesia in their efforts to defend equitable, sustainable, and climate-resilient living spaces.