On Monday, September 1, 2025, the Community Service Program (PKM) team from the Communication Studies Program at Universitas Padjadjaran carried out an observation and interview activity in Jatigede District, Sumedang Regency. This activity was part of the “Internship Innovators 2025” program, which involved internal internship students serving as Community Outreach Officers (COO) alongside supervising lecturers.
Located at the Kadujaya Village Hall, the activity began at 9:30 AM WIB with a briefing by Ditha Prasanti, S.I.Kom., M.I.Kom., as the coordinator of the Internal Internship Program of the Ilkom Study Program, along with the village heads of Jatigede District, including Kadujaya, Karedok, Cijeungjing, Jemah, and Cipicung villages.
The main agenda of the visit consisted of observation and interview activities conducted by the PKM team in small groups. The focus was to explore the potential of local folklore and natural tourism in Jatigede, which would later be developed into visual storytelling products. Through this activity, students interacted directly with village officials and local communities to collect data while also documenting various information to be used as development material.
After completing the main session at the village hall, the PKM team and village representatives shared lunch together before continuing their visit to Tanjung Duriat Tourist Site. This visit provided students with an additional opportunity to experience firsthand the tourism potential of Jatigede.
This activity is also in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals. The collaboration between universities, students, and village governments through this program serves as a platform for developing more effective communication strategies to support rural development. This synergy further demonstrates that achieving sustainable development goals cannot be accomplished in isolation, but rather requires cross-sectoral cooperation that mutually reinforces one another.
The Communication Science Study Program at Universitas Padjadjaran hopes to deliver real contributions to the Jatigede community, particularly in efforts to promote local wisdom and tourism potential through creative media. Furthermore, this activity is expected to serve as a valuable learning platform for students to hone their communication skills, field research abilities, and collaboration with the community directly. Through this, the PKM initiative not only aims to strengthen Jatigede’s image as a culture-based tourism destination, but also to raise young people’s awareness of the importance of preserving folklore and presenting it in innovative ways to remain relevant in the digital era.