Life After Oil – Teaching Indonesia’s Energy transition

Abstract

Indonesia is an interesting case study for students of sustainable development and sustainable energy due to its ability to connect the multiple “worlds” it has become part of. Indonesia is an important bridge to Muslim countries, the voice of the Global South in the G20 and a main pillar of the 134-country-strong G77. Indonesia’s development trajectory is also key to the achievement of the Paris Climate Agreement as well as of the 2030 Agenda. Students can learn from how Indonesia address contradictions that would have been unsurmountable for other countries. Indonesia’s energy transition offers helpful lessons, because of its aspiration to become a developed country by 2045. This goal is only possible when a country is able to effectively address barriers and caveats to sustainable energy. It is interesting how Indonesia focuses on silver linings and come up with pragmatic solutions to energy-related issues. This is followed by the “teaching guide,” which provides recommendations how the lessons from Indonesia can be embedded into a learning experience. The “learning activation approach” is introduced, which encourages students to systematically reflect on the complexity of selected contexts and understand this complexity by looking at the technical issues and processes that allow decision-making.