Jakarta’s Waterways: How is the community saving it?

“Water is Jakarta’s ally”

The first thing that comes to the mind when we think about Jakarta is a picture of a metropolitan city with its relationship with water. Seasonal floods and tidal floods are undeniable especially when climate change is the culprit of this disaster, also the phenomena of sea-level rise, and the urban heat island effect of Jakarta. The Jakarta government has a solution for this particular problem especially in mitigating the flood that keeps occurring. 

Ruang Terbuka Biru (RTB) or Blue Open Space is a technical solution by Dinas Sumber Daya Air (DSDA) or Water Resources Management Agency under the Jakarta provincial government. This policy made water into an ally rather than an enemy, the policy consisting of restoring rivers, revitalizing situ (lakes) and waduk (reservoirs), and creating retention ponds. The policy is one of the ways to mitigate flooding and adapt to climate change through preserving water.

Facts Aren’t Enough

There are specific data and blueprints such as a water map, floor map, flood monitoring data created and yet the people remain silent. The obstacle in increasing Climate Literacy, scholars like Vera Fearns talk about the “knowing-doing” gap, meaning the scientists and experts have the data, agree on the urgency but most of the public remain silent. The core problem with this is that the facts are abstract. We need to close the “gap” by communicating two of the most powerful tools we have according to Tabak,  which is compelling human stories and Fearn (2019) defined immersive experience to buy-in and behavioral change of the public. Data in general doesn’t have a personal factor. The other issue Fearns describes is that we are all wired with a ‘present bias,’ meaning we are unconsciously more concerned with the present than with a slowly creeping “environmental threat”. The information that is shared in a traditional way does not always lead to better understanding and direct action. It craves connection with our emotions.

In addition, scholar Tabak notes that science communication often needs additional “help” because when a policy is conveyed solely by rational scientists or engineers, it can feel disconnected from the political and social realities on the ground. Communicating through narrative, by telling human-centered stories creates a kind of “symbiosis” with audiences. Tabak also explains how authors use “paratext” to build credibility and strengthen the message.

From Theory to Practice: Sobat Air as The “Agent of Change”

The DSDA of Jakarta created Ruang Terbuka Biru as one of its technical solutions for mitigation and adaptation. But this raises an important question: Who will protect the infrastructure that the government builds? And how do we prevent people from throwing trash into a newly revitalized river so that it remains sustainable?

The DSDA also has an answer to this problem: they created an innovative program to address the “knowing–doing” gap. Sobat Air (Friends of Water) is a volunteer community managed by Jakarta’s Dinas SDA and founded in 2021 as the social and educational arm of the Pasukan Biru (Blue Troops), the technical force. The main goal of Sobat Air is to build public awareness about Jakarta’s water resources and to encourage people to learn about, appreciate, and actively participate in improving the health of these resources as part of the city’s climate response.

Sobat Air volunteers are considered “agents of change,” offering a solution to Tabak’s argument that “academic actors alone are not enough.” They act as human storytellers who can communicate the message more compellingly than an official government report. Their activities focus on engagement, education, and creative outreach turning lectures into experiences people actually enjoy. Instead of simply giving people information about caring for nature, Sobat Air brings people into nature through creative events. Programs such as Seni Sama-Sama are held in public parks or in Ruang Terbuka Hijau and Ruang Terbuka Biru. These events combine healing, art, and walking tours; volunteers explain features like retention lakes and share water related facts while showing how these spaces help Jakarta survive.

Other programs include Lomba Foto #RTBnyaJakarta 2024 (Jakarta’s RTB Photo Contest), which not only promotes the city’s Ruang Terbuka Biru but also reflects Tabak’s idea of “paratext.” By inviting the public to create their own narratives and visual paratexts about RTB, the program avoids one-way communication and instead encourages people to showcase the beauty of these spaces. This helps build the positive public reception that Tabak argues is essential for a project’s success.

 Sobat Air also plays an important role in modern urban governance by serving as a form of social infrastructure alongside the government. Policy cannot stand on its own; focusing only on large-scale physical infrastructure will inevitably lead to failure. Every policy needs a supporting social infrastructure that builds trust, awareness, and a sense of shared responsibility within the community to remain sustainable. A beautiful new retention lake is useless if the local community ends up filling it with trash. Sobat Air helps prevent these negative outcomes by fostering local pride and encouraging residents to care for and protect their environment.

Climate Literacy: Learn from Sobat Air.

To implement similar programs for other climate-related issues, the key is to focus on the core strategy: shifting emphasis from facts to feelings. The goal is to close the “psychological distance” that makes climate change and its solutions feel abstract. Providing large amounts of data only gives the public knowledge, not motivation for direct action. Instead, government agencies need to create dedicated volunteer-based social arms so that the public can participate and feel genuinely connected to climate solutions. This approach is effective in increasing climate literacy because, as Tabak argues, it creates a “symbiosis” between science and story. Programs like Sobat Air cultivate enthusiastic volunteers who drive change by turning scientific information into personal narratives. This strategy reframes climate literacy not just as understanding facts and data, but as feeling personally invested in the issue and gaining the capacity to create and share your own solutions. By working alongside creative community members, any organization can transform complex climate policies into shared, meaningful actions that make a real local impact.