Mining and Biodiversity Comics Publishing to the Elementary School Students Around Mine Areas

The importance of the continuity and the human quality of life improvement encourages

mining companies to always give priority to the environmentally friendly technology

utilization and the nature preservation as a manifestation of social responsibility. However,

a lack of information often creates incorrect perception from the community members

around the mines about mining enterprises, especially, the perceptions about the

exploration process of the natural resources which directly relates to their social life and

living environment. These conditions can reduce their harmony relationships among them

and in the end it disrupt all parties.

This project designs a comic as a medium of communication that is not only effective to

inform but to disseminate knowledge and to create positive attitudes and behaviour of the

community members of surrounding the mine towards the mining business and biodiversity

in an early age. A comic as a communication medium is selected because children like it so

that our objectives can be achieved easily. This project will create some characters in the

comic that correspond to the children characteristics in the surrounding mine area

representing mining and biodiversity. Then it is drawn a series story about the importance

of natural conservation and mining business as well as their relation to improve the quality

of life and human civilization.

Objective

This project purpose is to improve the understanding and shaping the positive attitudes and

behaviour of the community members towards the importance of natural conservation and

mining business in an early age.

Method

The project is based on a survey method and a quasi experimental. The survey method is

used to collect and analyze data of geographical conditions of the environment around the

mine, demographics, psychographic of the community members, and socio-economic

characteristics of the elementary students. Based on the survey results, some mining and

biodiversity comics were designed. Then the experimental method is used to evaluate the

comics effectiveness to improve the understanding and positive attitudes and behaviors of

the students towards mining business and preservation of the nature. Elementary students

will be sampled using cluster sampling in which the class chosen was given a certain comic

version. The data will be analyzed descriptively for the students’ characteristics and pair

comparison test for evaluating the each comic effectiveness.

Time

The project will be implemented for about 6 months after acceptance (15 May - 19

September 2014). The another time up to 30 September 2014 will be allocated to prepare

the final report.

Group involved

The teams, education department, teachers, and elementary students around the mine will

be involved.

Added value

The mining activities and the corresponding preservation of the nature information to the

community surrounding the mine until recently are available to the adult category, so that

this information is likely to be understood partially and pragmatically. In contrast, to

improve understanding and to establish positive attitudes and behaviors of the community

members of the surrounding the mine towards the mining business and the environment in

an early age is offered by this project. It is our project added value. In addition, the success

of this project is believed to be able to improve the harmony relationship between the

mining business, social life community activities and the environment around the mine

sustainably.