On 30 September – 1 October 2025, Resilience Development Initiative (RDI), in collaboration with key government partners, organized a capacity-building workshop in Yogyakarta on Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA) for Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) projects. This program is the seventh and final session of the RDFact Capacity Building series, implemented with the University of Queensland, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), and funded by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australia. The workshop opened with remarks from Ir. Edi Wibowo, M.T., Director of Bioenergy at MEMR; Cahyani Alfiah, S.Si., M.Sc., Secretary of the Environmental Office of Yogyakarta Province; and Vidya Trisandini Azzizi, Ph.D., Program Specialist at RDI.

The first day featured a series of sessions led by Dr. Ya-Yen Sun, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland. Her presentations introduced the fundamentals of SEIA for RDFact projects, including baseline profiling of affected communities, assessing both direct and indirect socio-economic impacts, and developing mitigation and management scenarios for RDF plants. These sessions were enriched by active exchanges with participants from government and the private sector, ensuring a dynamic dialogue and the sharing of diverse perspectives.

Following this, Ir. Sandhi Eko Bramono, Ph.D., Head of the Central Project Management Unit Program at the Ministry of Public Works, delivered an online presentation on Lessons Learned on Socio-Economic Impacts of RDF Plants in the ISWMP Project. The day concluded with a session led by Junaidi, S.ST., Head of Cleanliness and Green Open Space Management at the Sleman Environmental Service, who introduced the operations of TPST Tamanmartani. He provided an overview of waste management in Sleman Regency, including transportation flows, waste conditions, and processing outcomes at the facility.

On the second day, participants visited TPST Tamanmartani in Sleman, which has been operating since late 2023. The visit allowed participants to observe firsthand the waste-to-RDF conversion process. They also engaged in discussions with community members, workers, and facility management, gaining insights into the plant’s socio-economic impacts on the local community, workforce, and operations. Each group then presented their findings, followed by a final discussion session. The workshop closed with brief reflections from Dr. Ya-Yen Sun.

This workshop marked the conclusion of the RDFact Capacity Building series, which has been running since 2023. It reaffirmed RDI’s commitment to advancing research and development in the waste-to-energy sector in Indonesia. The initiative also aligns with the RDI Roadmap 2025–2030, where waste-to-energy and RDF are identified as priority areas for innovation and capacity building.