Led by the University of Gloucestershire (United Kingdom), the BUiLD project brings together eight universities from across Indonesia.
These include Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Universitas Islam Indonesia and President University (all Java), Universitas Andalas (West Sumatera), Universitas Lambung Mangkurat (Kalimantan), Universitas Muhammadiyah Palu (Sulawesi), Universitas Khairun (North Maluku) and Universitas Surabaya (Java).
The European partners are University College Copenhagen (Denmark), Institute Polytechnic Porto (Portugal), Educational Consulting Group Hafelekar (Austria) and External Evaluator Joerg Krauter from the SYNK Group (Germany).
A strong commitment to realising the vision of the BUiLD project is shared amongst all consortium partners. Cumulatively, the BUiLD consortium holds diverse expertise in disaster management and disaster research as well as expertise in international project management and is supported by a wide network and close working relationships with key organisations.
These include the National Ministry of Education and Higher Education (formerly MoRTHE), the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), non-governmental disaster aid organisation ACT Alliance, the Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Centre (MDMC) and funding platforms kitabisa and Lazismu. At local level, partner universities have working relationships with emergency services, including the police, hospitals, the military and with local businesses and communities.
Examples of current disaster management initiatives in Indonesia’s university sector include the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (DiRReC) at Universitas Islam Indonesia incorporating a disaster responsive medical team, which was deployed to provide early medical support during past and recent earthquake disasters in Indonesia, including those in Lombok, Palu, and Donggala.
Universitas Ahmad Dahlan has established a Center for Environmental Studies and Disaster Management which has been involved in numerous disaster recovery initiatives, for example during the Merapi volcanic eruption in Yogyakarta in 2005 and the earthquakes in Lombok and Palu in 2018. The centre conducts training on mitigation and disaster management and collaborates with the Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Centre in various areas of disaster recovery, including volunteering for psychosocial, logistical and health assistance, and fundraising.
Universitas Andalas and Universitas Lambung Mangkurat are involved in disaster research and provide consulting services to the Indonesian government whilst Universitas Khairun deliver frequent disaster awareness courses to local communities.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Palu and President University have joined the consortium with the aspiration to increase their disaster resilience after having been directly affected by respectively the triple disaster in Sulawesi in September 2018 and the tsunami following the eruption of Mount Krakatau later that year.