Pengembangan Lingkungan Kreatif Berbasis Partisipasi Masyarakat Melalui Program Desa Helau

Abstract

This research aims to examine efforts to develop a creative environment based on community participation through the Desa Helau Program in Purwodadi Hamlet, Rulung Raya Village, using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach that positions the community as both subject and partner in the process of problem identification, planning, implementation, observation, and reflection on activities. Data were collected through participatory observation, interviews, discussions, and documentation, involving village officials, neighborhood unit (RT) heads, community leaders, local residents, and Community Service Program (KKN) students. The research results show that the Desa Helau Program succeeded in encouraging community participation in creating an environment that is cleaner, better organized, more creative, and more productive, through various activities such as environmental arrangement, communal work (gotong royong), provision of sanitation facilities, reuse of used goods, installation of environmental facilities, and utilization of home yards for crop cultivation and fish farming. Community involvement at every stage of the activities also enhanced residents' awareness, care, creativity, and sense of responsibility toward their environment, thereby demonstrating that through the PAR approach, environmental change can be achieved more sustainably when supported by active community participation and collaboration with students acting as companions and facilitators.