Indonesia had been being well known as a large, archipelagic, vast and diverse country in terms of natural as well as socio-cultural resources. To be more specific, with population total of 238,452,952 people, Indonesian socio-cultural diversity consists of 1,072 ethnic and sub-ethnic groups, and 742 ethnic languages. Meanwhile, Indonesia is facing crucial problems of disaster risks which place it on the 7th rank of world most risky countries. Two of the latest disaster events causing huge damages, losses and victims were Tsunami in Aceh (2004) and earthquake in Yogyakarta and Central Java (2006). Therefore, Indonesian communities are demanded to learning from those experiences by identifying all aspects related that increases the risks and vulnerabilities as well as enhancing their coping capacity.
This research and action project shall focus on revitalizing the indigenous culture in support of disaster risk reduction efforts within Java communities, especially taking place in Yogyakarta where the 2006 earthquake attacked. It shall identify the community’s perception regarding the disaster risks threatening them, their local, indigenous cultural resources enabling them to coping with the risks, and finally formulating any cultural elements (folk literatures, musics, theatres, architecture, gatherings, etc.) that are relevant to be revitalized in support of disaster risk reduction/disaster mitigation efforts
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