(Photo: Freepik.com).
Across Indonesia, some of the most ambitious development projects have stalled not because of engineering hurdles or financing gaps, but because communities chose to withdraw their support. Land disputes and social resistance—often rooted in longstanding mistrust— have repeatedly proven to be the decisive factors determining whether a project moves forward or fails. The real test is no longer technical feasibility or environmental compliance alone. It is whether people believe in an initiative and are willing to stand behind it. Social sustainability has unmistakably evolved from a “soft” reputational concern into a strategic imperative that determines operational continuity, secures a social license to operate, and ultimately shapes long-term legitimacy.
Indonesia’s Unique Social Challenge
In many countries, social sustainability is framed around philanthropy, reporting, or volunteerism. Indonesia’s context is different. It is shaped by structural realities that directly affect business performance.
Agrarian and land-use disputes remain among the country’s most frequent socio-economic issues, often involving corporations in agriculture, mining, and infrastructure development. At the same time, pressure from global buyers and regulatory expectations around fair labor and reporting continue to rise, making social safeguards an increasingly non-negotiable requirement for companies operating in Indonesia.
Indonesia’s social landscape is shaped by the interaction between formal systems, including laws, policies, and ESG reporting, and informal institutions such as local norms, trust networks, and community leadership structures, which determine how decisions are made and sustained. Nevertheless, both systems are often misaligned: communities struggle with translating policies into localized actions, while public and private organizations might overlook socio-cultural contexts in development projects as well as policy-making.
Within this context, efforts that focus only on formal mechanisms often fail to resonate with the communities they intend to support. Meaningful progress requires engaging with the lived social realities that shape collective action.
Bridging Policy and Practice through SSSI
This gap between policy intentions and community experience is exactly what the School of Social Sustainability & Innovation (SSSI) wants to address. Established as one of the first structured platforms in Indonesia dedicated to social sustainability, SSSI combines academic rigor from Universitas Indonesia with Kiroyan Partners’ practical, field-tested experiences.
SSSI was created to help build the skills and networks that allow more people to participate in shaping Indonesia’s future. The program, officially inaugurated in October 2025, was designed to fill a longstanding gap in Indonesia’s sustainability landscape by bringing together the strengths of academia and the applied insights that emerge from real-world practice.
What makes SSSI distinctive is its focus on developing competencies that practitioners need on the ground: understanding local dynamics, facilitating meaningful participation, strengthening community institutions, and navigating stakeholder relationships with sensitivity and respect. By engaging professionals, practitioners, and future leaders, SSSI aims to equip organizations with the tools required to translate social commitments into sustained outcomes.
Multifaceted Perspectives Shaping Meaningful Practice
This approach was illustrated during SSSI’s flagship webinar held on November 21, 2025, under SSSI in collaboration with EuroCham Indonesia. The session brought together perspectives from academia, civil society, and international businesses, including Prof. Bambang Shergi Laksmono, M.Sc., Drs. Imam B. Prasodjo, M.A., Ph.D, and Renata Suyono from Decathlon Indonesia.
Prof. Bambang emphasized that Indonesia is not a uniform social space—each region operates within profoundly different social, political, and economic contexts. Context determines viability. Effective engagement begins with understanding place and designing approaches rooted in local realities.
Drs. Imam Prasodjo highlighted how social capital, community agency, and organized networks ultimately determine whether programs take root and endure. Trust is infrastructure, not a deliverable. With trust, small and consistent efforts can generate lasting impact. Meanwhile, Renata shared practical examples of how volunteerism, youth inclusion, and meaningful partnerships can build credibility even without large budgets. Communities respond to sincerity and continuity, not merely the size of investment. Authenticity outweighs scale.
What Meaningful Practice Looks Like
One insight that emerged clearly is that meaningful social sustainability in Indonesia begins when communities help shape the initiative, not just receive it. Co-design and shared decision-making create ownership, strengthen local institutions, and build the trust that enables long-term success.
In practical terms, this means shifting from “informing communities about a project” to involving them in defining priorities, designing programs, and determining what success looks like. Organizations that adopt this approach move beyond transactional engagement toward relationships built on shared agency.
What This Means for Organizations in Indonesia
For businesses, these insights are not theoretical. They influence operational continuity, stakeholder expectations, legitimacy, and long-term partnership potential. Organizations that invest in understanding context and building genuine relationships are better positioned to manage socio-environmental risks and develop resilient community partnerships. In a market where informal norms and trust networks shape outcomes as much as formal regulations, social sustainability has become an operational determinant rather than an optional add-on.
Moving Forward
This webinar marks the beginning of SSSI’s learning journey. Future programs will continue exploring how Indonesia can advance social sustainability that is inclusive, grounded in place, and responsive to the communities it aims to serve. The focus will remain on bridging the longstanding gap between policy and practice.
For those who want to dive deeper into how SSSI works and where it’s heading, the School has published its Handbook, which outlines its vision, approach, and upcoming learning pathways. You can read it here.
And for those who care about shaping Indonesia’s future, whether as practitioners, students, community members, or young professionals, there is space to be part of this conversation and this work.
🎥 Full webinar recording can be accessed here.
Follow SSSI and Kiroyan Partners for upcoming programs and deeper conversations as we strengthen Indonesia’s social sustainability foundations.
