One of the matchmaking activities on the Pekalongan Batik Wastewater Project was the Green Batik Forum, which organised jointly by Bappeda Kota Pekalongan and The Water Agency on 14 November 2022 at Batik Museum in Kota Pekalongan. This Forum was set as a starting point to kick off green batik concept in Pekalongan. During this Forum, more than sixty people from different organisations attended.
The Forum was opened by the Mayor of Pekalongan, Mr Afzan Arslan Djunaid, and he pressed the importance of starting a greener and more environmentally responsible production, where both the batik community could thrive, and the river environment could get better.
First Session
The first session of the Forum acted as information and inspiration sessions for the participants, especially for the batik communities in Kota Pekalongan and Kabupaten Pekalongan. The session discusses what is considered green batik, what elements and standards could be used, and which stakeholders or businesses have started the sustainability path.
Figure 1. Opening Speech from Mr Afzan Arslan Djunaid as the Mayor of Kota Pekalongan (left), Green Batik Forum Session One (middle), Mr Zahir Explaining about Batik that Use Natural Dye (right).
A total of six speakers from different organisations were invited to talk about various aspects of sustainable batik.
- Mr Sri Budi Santoso – The head of Department of Industry and Manpower (Dinperinaker) of Pekalongan
- Mr Ariefwick – Representative from Kampoeng Batik Kauman, and the chairman of Pekalongan Creative City Forum (PCCF)
- Mr Zahir Widadi – The owner of Batik Kelir, and Senior lecturer at Universitas Pekalongan
- Ms Magfiroh – Senior lecturer at Universitas Pekalongan, and the team leader of Green Industry Standard for Batik Industry Revision
- Mr Arka Irfani and Ms Semeru Gita – The founder and owner of Bell Society
- Blue Deal Team
Second Session
The second session of the Forum was an active brainstorming session where participants were given a set of keywords that led to sustainability options and were encouraged to provide their input on what could be done with those options. The inputs resulting from the Forum would then be discussed with key stakeholders as the potential follow-up agenda.
The Forum also served as a networking opportunity for the participants to get to know the latest developments in the batik industries.
