Participants at the event

In Kupang, climate change has brought longer dry seasons and unpredictable weather. Crop yields and fish catches have declined, disrupting people’s livelihoods. Yet amid these challenges, several local entrepreneurs have begun to see opportunities by tackling climate issues, including through participation in the clean energy transition.

The KINETIK NEX program, initiated by KINETIK together with New Energy Nexus Indonesia, aims to spark climate solutions and new ideas. One of its key initiatives is the KINETIK NEX Climate Innovation Workshop, which was held in Kupang on 24 September 2025 as the first stop. The workshop brought together young people, communities, local government, businesses, financial institutions, and civil society organizations to shape ideas that respond to local needs while considering access to capital, skills, and ecosystem support. It marked an early step to strengthen an inclusive and sustainable clean energy ecosystem while expanding the role of entrepreneurship in addressing climate challenges at the local level.

Participants at the event

Through activities focused on empathy, research, and creativity, the KINETIK NEX Climate Innovation Workshop guided participants to understand local problems, identify key issues, and simulate the creation of new innovations using a design thinking approach.

Yasinta speaks at the event

The workshop began by inviting participants to reconnect with their surroundings and look closely at the problems around them. Yunitha Yasinta Adoe, an activist and seaweed farmer from Pasir Panjang, Kupang, delivered a core session on identifying climate change and its impacts, including on vulnerable groups such as women fishers.

“If you walk up and down the beach in Pasir Panjang now, it feels exhausting because the coastal barriers are already damaged. That is what motivates women here to call for repairing the broken infrastructure rather than building a jogging track the community does not need,” Yasinta said.
She explained how damaged coastal areas have been converted for unsustainable projects like jogging tracks, which ends up making life harder for fishers and coastal women who rely on marine resources. By taking participants to see how climate change affects coastal communities, Yasinta highlighted the need to understand changes in the environment and to see how development, environmental protection, and people’s livelihoods are connected.

Ben Fasco at the event

The next speaker, Ben Vasco Tarigan, CEO and Founder of Kuan Timor Teknologi, a Kupang-based startup offering local solutions, shared his experience along with a simple guiding question for entrepreneurs:

“Once we understand the problem, we must define the solution. What solution do we want to offer?” Ben said.

This question encouraged participants to see a wide range of innovation opportunities. He gave examples from solar-powered desalination for areas facing water scarcity but rich in sunlight, to low-energy drying technologies that can support local economic activities.

Although many participants were meeting each other for the first time, a variety of ideas emerged across different sectors, from waste processing and water management to strengthening agricultural productivity. These ideas grew from a spirit of collaboration and the belief that climate challenges can be addressed through creativity and collective effort.

The KINETIK NEX Climate Innovation Workshop in Kupang marked an important step in strengthening the green entrepreneurship ecosystem across communities. Because even in the face of climate change, there are always opportunities to grow and innovate.

Starting the workshop series in Eastern Indonesia shows the intention to build an inclusive and sustainable green entrepreneurship ecosystem. The lively collaboration and active participation throughout the workshop are proof that local knowledge, community experience, and technical insights can come together to create new opportunities that match the real needs of local communities. They also show that climate challenges can be faced with creativity, teamwork, and the courage to try new approaches.

Stay tuned for the next Climate Innovation Workshop in the upcoming locations!

Author: Shilfina Putri Widatama

Photographer: Jefri Tarigan