Publication Search

This activity was conducted in Timbang Lawan Village, located in Bahorok Sub-district, Langkat Regency, North Sumatra Province. The results of surveys and interviews with partners indicate that most residents, especially housewives, carry out activities at home, work as agricultural laborers, and engage in farming. This situation provides significant opportunities to train and educate them through programs aimed at improving economic conditions and financial independence. However, the main inhibiting factors identified are limited access to information, knowledge, and technology, which hinder their creativity in utilizing leisure time productively. The purpose of this community empowerment program is to provide education and socialization to inspire and empower the community in addressing economic problems through training in making dishwashing liquid. After this activity, it is expected that participants can reduce household expenses by no longer needing to purchase dishwashing liquid on a daily basis. Moreover, if opportunities arise, they may also identify business prospects to develop dishwashing liquid production. The expected benefit of this activity is to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among housewives in Timbang Lawan Village.

The 2025 UINSU Community Service Program research in Sempajaya Village was carried out through training in making ecoprint tote bags as an effort to develop creativity while strengthening the economic literacy of elementary school children. This activity utilized natural materials such as leaves and flowers commonly found in the village environment, so that children could learn to recognize the potential of their natural surroundings as a source of creative works with practical and economic value. The training was conducted in three main stages: preparation, implementation, and reflection. During the implementation stage, children were introduced to the concept of ecoprinting, pounding techniques, and the steps involved in making ecoprinted tote bags through lectures, question and answer sessions, and hands-on practice. The results of the activity showed an increase in the participants' creativity, as evident in their ability to arrange motifs, select natural materials, and produce tote bags with attractive patterns. In addition, this activity also fostered a basic understanding of the economic value of creative products, thereby supporting the formation of independence and an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age. The reflection stage showed that the children were able to identify the process, benefits, and challenges they faced. Thus, ecoprint tote bags proved to be an effective educational tool in integrating creativity, economic literacy, and love for the environment for the children of Sempajaya Village.

The Bulusari Film Village Community possesses considerable potential as a community-based creative space, yet it continues to face limitations in technical film production skills and community management. This community engagement program aims to strengthen the community’s creative capacity and professionalism through training in scriptwriting, cinematography, production, and film editing, as well as reinforcing organizational management using the Participatory Community Appraisal (PCA) approach. The activities were implemented through five major stages, namely needs identification, formulation of alternative solutions, technical training, short film production mentoring, and strengthening of the community’s management system. The results demonstrate significant improvements in members’ technical competencies across all stages of film production, from pre-production to post-production. The community successfully produced a script and one short film with enhanced visual and narrative quality compared to their earlier works. In addition, the establishment of a new organizational structure, operational SOPs, and a simple administrative system effectively improved community governance. The program also broadened the community’s collaborative network with local government, educational institutions, and other creative groups. These findings indicate that PCA-based empowerment supports increased creativity, autonomy, and competitiveness among local creative communities in alignment with the SDGs, particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Communities).