A community laboratory program called Social Lab will be launched at Islamic boarding schools, according to the Institute for Research and Community Service ITB (LPPM ITB). This project is a part of ITB's community service to examine the complexities of problems in a specific community group, in this case, Islamic boarding schools.

In 2015, ITB partnered with the Al Ittifaq Islamic boarding school in Ciwidey, West Java, to launch the project. The initial plan was to create an agricultural tourism market by combining Islamic boarding schools' strengths with Ciwidey's tourism potential. The resulting market design, however, cannot be implemented due to the complexity of the implementation issues.

Another example is the Institute Leading Applied Research (PTUPT) in 2018-2019 in the edutourism area of Imah Noong, Lembang, West Java, which focused on the astronomy-themed market. The project aimed to initiate a temporary market called Pasar Purnama that involved the local community as well as tourists who were interested in watching certain astronomical phenomena in the area.

The owner of edutourism Imah Noong is an ITB alumnus who is also an alumnus of the Tebuireng Islamic boarding school. The edutourism project was shown to have a substantial economic impact on the surrounding community, especially during the Tabligh Akbar seasons. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, edutourism has been unable to continue.

Various interactions with Islamic boarding schools led to the discovery that religiosity can be cultural capital in the development of innovation. As a result, ITB decided to partner with the Islamic boarding school community on the Social Lab project. Despite the project's complicated challenges, ITB and the Islamic boarding school community successfully tackled the issues.

ITB lecturers and the chairman of PW GP Ansor Jabar H. Deni Ahmad Haidar began an academic discussion about the potential synergy between ITB and Islamic boarding schools for community development. Following that, ITB PW Ansor Jabar, young kiai from Bandung Raya, and representatives from the Siliwangi Military Command III as the coordinator of Citarum Harum in Imah Noong Lembang participated in a focus group discussion.

The academic discussion was then continued with the participation of several lecturers from the ITB Development Study Program, and the most appropriate integrated technology for testing in Islamic boarding schools was chosen. The collaboration between ITB as a technology provider and RMI Islamic boarding schools as a Social Lab began with the Karsa Loka Special Ramadan online workshop.

The event's theme was "Pesantren As Social Lab for Integrated Agriculture-Based Innovation," which addressed the issue of integrated agriculture. The Islamic Public Lecture and Community Development Series by Humanics Studies Salman ITB in 2019 sparked interest in integrated agriculture. This topic was expected to be able to bring together religiosity, innovation, and community development in this forum.

On May 7, 2021, the Karsa Loka webinar was held. Several notes were taken during the workshop that can be used as lessons or as a potential follow-up. The scope of pesantren functions, according to Law No. 18/2019 concerning Islamic boarding schools, is not limited to education and da'wah, but also community empowerment.

RMI began collecting data on more than 130 Islamic boarding schools in several provinces and districts/cities in the first week of May 2021. Islamic boarding schools within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) were found to have specializations or superior programs in agriculture (45.6%), entrepreneurship (41.9%), animal husbandry (27.2%), fisheries (23.5%), and information technology (19.9%), in addition to religious education and tahfiz (memorization of the Qur’an).

The potential of the Islamic boarding schools community motivates ITB to conduct research and provide community service in the Islamic boarding schools. The spirit of innovation that has emerged from Islamic boarding schools, such as istiqra (research) for sa'adatuddarain (worldly and hereafter welfare), must be continually explored to achieve taswir al afkar (awakening of thought) and nahdat al tujjar (awakening of the economy) for Islamic boarding schools and the Islamic boarding schools will benefit from the spirit of innovation, which will increase their economic potential and independence.

This community service program has been published in Media Indonesia's Rekacipta ITB column on September 21, 2021.

The full article can be seen at the link https://pengabdian.lppm.itb.ac.id/information/pesantren_as_social_lab_untuk_inovasi

Reporter: Pravito Septadenova Dwi Ananta (Geological Engineering, 2019)
Translator: Naffisa Adyan (Oceanography, 2019)