WEA launches program to build Rural Climate and Economic Resilience (RuCLER) in Indonesia

Following the devastating impact of COVID-19 over these past 2 years, 11 WEA alumni in Indonesia have been selected to join the Rural Climate and Economic Resilience Accelerator Program (RuCLER) which aims to revive and accelerate the growth of green and sustainable businesses in rural areas as a way to create a more resilient and sustainable livelihoods for local communities.

RuCLER was launched to address the challenge many WEA Leaders continue to face in this new pandemic-era—namely, supporting their communities to achieve economic security and empowerment. Most Leaders found themselves in need of additional business skills and support to ensure the eco-enterprises they were co-developing with their communities were self-sustainable.

RuCLER offers a 12-month program in leadership and entrepreneurial development, as well as training in practical business operations such as finance, product improvement, and marketing. The program is divided into two phases: Business Operations Assistance (August - December 2022) and Market Readiness Assistance (February - August 2023).

The 12 eco-entrepreneur teams in the 2022 cohort have already begun to strengthen their business operations. Over the past two months, at least 46 people from their teams have built their capacities around leadership, time & team management, and customer identification. These 46 team members will go one to partner with at least 531 artisans—farmers, weavers, local community members—who will be able to gain access to a better market for their products.