Dear Readers,

Every year on 23 July, we commemorate National Children’s Day. This is a fitting moment to explore a study by Bappenas, UNICEF Indonesia, and SMERU that places the perspectives of children and adolescents in marginal areas at the center of analysis. The study’s findings underscore the importance of incorporating their voices into more inclusive policymaking.

In this edition, we also feature a selection of articles written by two of our researchers. The first, by Muhammad Syukri, examines how participatory policies during President Joko Widodo’s administration have shaped village democracy and environmental governance. The second, by Jonathan Farez Satyadharma, explores the opportunities and challenges of using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the targeting of social assistance. You can also watch a short video highlighting our latest study on green job opportunities in Indonesia’s textile and textile products industry.

Lastly, if you are looking to deepen your policy research skills, we invite you to join the Qualitative Methods in Policy Research training organized by the SMERU Learning Centre on 5–6 August.

We hope you enjoy this edition and find its content both informative and inspiring. As always, we welcome your feedback and comments at comms[at]smeru.or.id.

Widjajanti Isdijoso
Director, The SMERU Research Institute