Bangun dan Gembira is an environmental mapping project using a participatory approach. Beginning with a photography and video workshop for children who live around the earthquake disaster location in Bantul Regency, Jogja.

Participation is a process in which the parties involved share influence and control over all things, both initiatives, decisions and resources, which directly or will not affect their own lives. This concept is translated into terms of ‘ownership’, where the possibility of full involvement of residents or people who benefit from a particular program is wide open. The essence of ‘ownership’ is that the subject of a program alone determines the direction of the process, namely the direction of planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the program. The participatory approach itself is based on ‘that the relationship between stakeholders (NGOs, the Council, the Government, etc.) and the community is collaborative at each stage of program development’.

So the purpose of this approach is to build ownership of decisions and actions.

Take a walk with the camera in their hand, take pictures of the ruins of their homes and surroundings, while also talking about their experiences related to the objects they photographed. By doing it, they can turn their memories and experiences into awareness while stimulating them to have more empathy for their environment.