​Bali, September 22, 2026 — SEAMEO BIOTROP organized a Regional Webinar and National Training titled "Geoparks as Living Laboratories: Integrating Biodiversity Education, Agrobiodiversity, and Sustainable Community Development in Southeast Asia" from September 22 to 25, 2026, in Bangli Regency, Bali. The event was attended by 25 participants, including educators from primary to high school levels representing 13 schools across Bangli Regency. It aimed to enhance the capacity of educators, geopark managers, community facilitators, and local stakeholders in developing and implementing the Geopark Education Model for Schools (GEMS) within the Batur UNESCO Global Geopark area.

​The program was officially opened by the Deputy Director for Program of SEAMEO BIOTROP, Dr. Doni Yusri, representing the Director of SEAMEO BIOTROP. In his remarks, he introduced SEAMEO BIOTROP's mandate and mission in tropical biodiversity conservation. Dr. Doni explained that this training was designed to bridge the interconnections among geological heritage, biodiversity, agriculture, and community livelihoods. He also extended his appreciation to all partners and expressed hope that the event would foster cross-sector collaboration among schools, universities, communities, government, and the public in supporting sustainable development.

​Representing the Bangli Regency Government, the Head of the Division for Teachers and Education Personnel (GTK) of the Bangli Regency Education, Youth, and Sports Office, I Wayan Suwitra, welcomed SEAMEO BIOTROP to Bali. According to him, Bangli Regency possesses immense natural resources and biological potential that can be integrated into the learning process. He also encouraged all participating teachers to fully engage in the program to enrich their insights and instructional methods at their respective schools.

​Event Coordinator Dewi Suryani explained that the program was designed to reinforce the geopark's role as a contextual learning space that connects geodiversity, biodiversity, aquaculture, and local community livelihoods. Through the GEMS approach, educators and practitioners are expected to design and implement practical, local-potential-based teaching modules.

​Over the four-day training, the curriculum integrated interactive classroom lectures, focus group discussions, and hands-on fieldwork in the geopark area. This methodology was chosen to ensure that the delivered materials remain straightforward, applicable, and easily replicable. The sessions covered an introduction to the Batur area as a living laboratory, the development of educational plants and local cultivation techniques, vegetation and agroecosystem potential analysis, the design of educational cultivation plots, and the formulation of action plans.

​Through this initiative, SEAMEO BIOTROP aims to build participants' capacity as GEMS facilitators, establish educational gardens featuring Batur’s endemic plants as hands-on learning facilities, and enhance biodiversity literacy among students. Moving forward, this educational framework is expected to be sustainably replicated across school communities throughout the Batur UNESCO Global Geopark area.

​MDM