Mangupura, Baliwakenews.com – Imagine giving students a piece of paper and a pen to share their dream and innovation for a better village. What might seem like a simple exercise can become something much bigger. A glimpse into the hopes, worries, and aspirations of a generation that will one day inherit the place they call home.

Hundreds of elementary school students from Jimbaran gathered at Jimbaran Hub on Thursday, October 29, 2026, to put those dreams into words through an essay competition titled “Impianku untuk Desa Jimbaran yang Terbaik” (My Dream for a Better Jimbaran Village).

The competition brought together around 200 students from 12 public elementary schools and five private schools across Jimbaran, giving young participants a platform to express their ideas, creativity, and hopes for a better future for their village.

Students who joined mainly from in Grades 4 to 6 to share their ideas about the environment and the future of their village. As part of Jimbafest Presents: Pekan CERIA, the event also featured talk shows, workshops, and an exhibition involving non-profit organisations working in the environmental sector.

Behind the children’s handwritten words lies a question, what kind of village will they grow up in, and what can be done today to make that future better? For Jimbaran Hijau, the answer begins by giving young people the space to express themselves and the opportunity to be part of the change.

Dr. Putu Agung Prianta, B.Eng (Hons.), MA, Advisor to the Jimbaran Hijau Foundation and CEO and Founder of Jimbaran Hijau, said the annual Jimbafest serves as a platform to bring together communities across Jimbaran while nurturing local talent and strengthening cultural identity.

“This time, we are raising sustainability through writing. Their works will later become a book or a compilation,” he said.

Agung also emphasised the importance of preserving Jimbaran’s authenticity amid rapid development, ensuring that Balinese culture remains alive for future generations rather than being gradually overshadowed by modernisation.

For more than 13 years, Jimbaran Hijau has pursued environmental and educational initiatives, including tree planting, reforestation, seedling cultivation, beach clean-ups, and village clean-up activities. This year’s writing competition adds another dimension to those efforts by placing children’s ideas and literacy at the centre.

Yusea Eka Prasetya, Chairperson of the Jimbaran Hijau Foundation, said Jimbafest continues to evolve each year to respond to emerging challenges across education, culture, and the environment.

“Everything we do here is to make Jimbaran a much better village from year to year,” Yusea said, expressing hope that the initiative would also bring a positive impact to Bali as a whole.

The competition’s chief judge also highlighted the importance of listening to ideas that children may not always have the opportunity to share.

Every child, he noted, carries their own imagination, thoughts, and original ideas. Through this initiative, those voices can finally find a place to be heard.

At a time when artificial intelligence makes information increasingly accessible and often similar in form, he believes children’s own creativity deserves to be nurtured rather than overlooked.

The organisers hope to compile approximately 20 to 25 of the best essays into a book, which will be distributed to elementary schools across Jimbaran, with the possibility of reaching a wider audience throughout Bali and Indonesia.

Beyond the competition itself, the initiative reflects a simple but meaningful belief: children should not only be taught about the future. They should also be invited to imagine it.

The programme brings together traditional village institutions, government agencies, non-profit partners, communities, and families to strengthen a shared commitment to sustainable development. Its wider vision is to build a circular and sustainable ecosystem while keeping environmental awareness and green character education at the heart of community life.

As Bali continues to develop, the challenge is not simply how to build more, but how to grow without losing what makes the island unique. Guided by the Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, the initiative seeks to maintain harmony between people, nature, and spirituality.

Pekan CERIA serves as a collective step towards that vision, leading up to the culmination of the programme at Jimbafest 2027. And perhaps the most meaningful outcome will not be the number of essays written or the pages eventually published.

It will be whether the children who filled those pages grow up believing that their voices matter, that their village belongs to them, and that protecting its nature and culture is a responsibility they can carry forward. BWN-07