PARTICIPATORY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMS: A CASE STUDY OF THE BENTANI INITIATIVE

Abstract

Environmental sustainability increasingly depends on effective communication that encourages community participation, collaborative decision-making, and collective environmental action. However, previous studies have predominantly emphasized digital environmental communication, social media campaigns, and public engagement outcomes, while relatively limited attention has been devoted to understanding participatory environmental communication within community-based sustainability initiatives. This study examines how participatory environmental communication is implemented through the Brewing Change: Women’s Empowerment in Coffee Origin Communities in Indonesia (BENTANI) Initiative. Employing a qualitative research design, the study uses qualitative document analysis to examine official program documents produced by Mercy Corps Indonesia and supporting national media coverage. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify communication processes, community participation, environmental stewardship, and sustainability practices embedded within the initiative. The findings demonstrate that participatory environmental communication is implemented through dialogue, collaborative learning, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and shared decision-making involving women coffee farmers, coffee farmers’ wives, young women, facilitators, and community stakeholders. These communication processes strengthen women’s empowerment, environmental stewardship, community participation, and long-term community resilience while integrating environmental conservation with sustainable livelihoods. The study further demonstrates that the effectiveness of participatory environmental communication lies not merely in disseminating environmental information but in fostering community ownership and sustained interpersonal engagement. By providing empirical evidence from a community-based sustainability initiative in Indonesia, this study advances the understanding of participatory environmental communication and offers practical insights for governments, non-governmental organizations, development agencies, and community organizations in designing more participatory, inclusive, and sustainable environmental communication programs.