Communal Culture Value on Housing Transformation: Empirical Exploration from Indonesia

Homecoming (Mudik) and Halal Bihalal are significant traditions in Indonesian society, especially during Eid al-Fitr, reflecting social, cultural, and religious values. Mudik, the journey back to one’s hometown, is not only a moment for family reunions but also a symbol of respect for parents and the strengthening of intergenerational bonds. Meanwhile, Halal Bihalal plays a crucial role in maintaining and strengthening social ties through Islamic values such as mutual forgiveness, reinforcing brotherhood, and fostering harmony, even promoting interfaith tolerance. These traditions embody positive values such as mutual cooperation (gotong royong), empathy, and tolerance while serving as a medium for preserving local culture and reinforcing national identity. By integrating moral, spiritual, and communal values, the traditions of Mudik and Halal Bihalal symbolize harmony and strengthen human relationships in a diverse society.

This paper discusses house transformation by owners in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, examining the reasons for the phenomenon and highlighting its nature, opportunities it offers and what be done to formalise it and take advantage of some of these opportunities for the benefit of the community. The main objective of the study was to investigate the factors and processes leading to house transformation in Kampala’s owner-occupied houses. The study revealed that the processes of house development and transformation in Kampala are largely informal, excluding professionals and local authorities. House transformations were a means of expression of the changing needs of the owners, in terms of sizes, income, class and status. House transformations are characterised by phased alterations/modifications, which result in more space for the household needs, income generation and house improvement and status uplift. The process being widespread, almost inevitable and addressing the largely genuine concern. The research recommends formalisation of guided house transformation and phased construction by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) under the consultation of house-owners and professionals.

As a tourist destination, Bali relies on its culture, which includes socio-cultural activities and the architectural form of the traditional Balinese house inspired by the Hindu Balinese religion, as the main core to attract tourists. The increasing number of tourist arrivals has motivated people to transform their traditional houses become tourist facilities to improve their economic condition. The traditional house-compound becomes a home-based enterprise with the construction of new buildings in their house. This construction has changed the setting, spaces and forms of the house, which are components of an architectural identity. This phenomenon encourages questions about the new relationship between a home-based enterprise and an architectural identity. Is there a conflict between a home-based enterprise as a strategy to gain an economic benefit and an architectural identity as an expression of Balinese culture? Is there an interdependent relationship between them? By examining the setting, forms and transformation process of the traditional Balinese house, this study discusses the continuity of an architectural identity alongside home-based enterprises in the physical transformation of tourist villages. In tourist villages, the architecture identity and home-based enterprise have an interdependent relationship where the architectural identity is an asset to attract tourists and, by running tourist facilities as home-based enterprises, the Balinese people maintain the architectural identity of their houses.

Moving from reactive to proactive development planning to conserve Indigenous community and biodiversity values

The Community Service Program (KKN) is a form of student community service aimed at helping resolve social problems. This research focuses on publicizing the dangers of online gambling (judol), a global phenomenon that causes moral, economic, and social harm, by integrating it with Sharia principles in Perkebunan Gunung Melayu Village. The method used was Participatory Action Research (PAR) with a qualitative approach. The 13-day program involved initial observation, educational-participatory socialization interventions that emphasized the prohibition of Maisir and its relationship to Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah (Objectives of Sharia), and impact evaluation. The implementation results demonstrated high community enthusiasm and a significant increase in cognitive awareness and understanding of Sharia as a spiritual bulwark against online gambling practices. Furthermore, supporting activities such as mutual cooperation (gotong royong) successfully revitalized the spirit of collaboration and social participation. Despite time constraints and weather constraints, the entire KKN program successfully had a transformative impact, strengthening the community's religious and social values. This study recommends the need for continued monitoring and mentoring to ensure the sustainability of the awareness that has been formed.

Aim/Purpose: This study examines the kind of community value companies should provide when strengthening the relationship between customers and brands through the establishment of an online brand community, and how this kind of community value promotes customers’ sense of community engagement and willingness to spread brand reputation. The paper also discusses how an enterprise’s brand symbolism affects the relationship between community value and customers’ engagement in online brand community. This study explored the important role of brand symbolism in the establishment of an online brand community. Background: Many companies want to create online brand communities to strengthen their relationships with consumers as well as to provide better service and value to consumers, for example, Huawei’s Huafen community (club.huawei.com), Apple’s support community (support.apple.com/zh-cn), and Samsung’s Galaxy community (samsungmembers.cn). However, these brand communities may have different interests and consumer engagement about the kind of community value to offer to their customers. Methodology: This study uses data collection from questionnaire surveys to design a quantitative research method. An online questionnaire survey of mobile phone users in China was conducted to collect data on social value, cognitive value, brand symbolism, customer community engagement, and brand recommendation. The brands of mobile phone include Apple, Huawei, Samsung, OPPO, VIVO, MI, and Meizu. The researcher purchased a sample service of WJX, an online survey company (www.wjx.cn), and WJX company distributed the questionnaire to research participants. The WJX company randomly selected 240 subjects from their sample database and then sent the questionnaire link to research participants’ mobile phones. Among the 240 research participants, the researcher excluded participants who lacked online brand community experience or had invalid data to qualify for data collection. After the researcher excluded participants who did not qualify for data collection, only 203 qualified questionnaire surveys advanced to the data collection and analysis phase, which was the questionnaire recovery rate of 84.58%. For the model analysis and hypotheses testing, the researcher used statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics and AMOS 21 and Smartpls3. Contribution: This study deepens the body of literature knowledge by combining online brand community value and brand symbolic value to explore issues that companies should consider when establishing an online brand community for their products and services. This study confirms that brands with high symbolic value establish communities and strengthen social values in the online brand community rather than reducing brand symbolism. Online brand community involves a horizontal interaction (peer interaction) among peers, which can have an effect on the symbolic value of brand (social distance). Findings: First, online brand community value (both cognitive and social value) has a positive impact on customer community engagement. Second, customer community engagement has a positive impact on customers’ brand recommend intention. Third, the customer community engagement is a mediator between the online brand community value and the customer brand recommend intention. Most importantly, fourth, the symbolic value of the brand controls the relationship between community value and customer community engagement. For brands with high symbolic value, the community value should emphasize cognitive value rather than social value. For brands with a low symbolic value, the community provides cognitive or social value, which is not affected by the symbolism of the brand. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners can share best practices with the corporate sectors. Brand owners can work with researchers to explore the characteristics of their online brand communities. On this basis, brand owners and researchers can jointly build and manage online brand communities. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can explore different perspectives and factors of brand symbolism that involve brand owners when establishing an online brand community to advance consumer engagement, community value, and brand symbolism. Impact on Society: Online brand community is relevant for brand owners to establish brand symbolism, community value, and customer engagement. Readers of this paper can gain an understanding that cognitive and social values are two important drivers of individual participation in online brand communities. The discussion of these two factors can give readers and brand owners the perception to gain more understanding on social and behavior activities in online brand communities. Future Research: Practitioners and researchers could follow-up in the future with a study to provide more understanding and updated research information from different perspectives of research samples and hypotheses on online brand community.

This study employs a qualitative research approach to explore the social construction of participation by the Dayak Deah indigenous community in the oversight of village fund management in Pengelak Village, Upau Sub-District, Tabalong Regency. Data were collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with key informants. The findings reveal that participation by the Dayak Deah community is deeply rooted in cultural values and local identity, reflecting a strong sense of collective responsibility for environmental stewardship and community development. Traditional practices such as gotong royong (cooperation) are central in shaping their involvement. Participation is influenced by three interrelated dimensions: cultural and communal values, which reflect indigenous norms and shared heritage; social and institutional structures, particularly the role of traditional leadership and customary institutions; and communication and knowledge systems, including interaction patterns, access to information, and levels of education. Additionally, historical experiences with governance, development interventions, and resource management shape the community’s trust in participatory mechanisms. In conclusion, the Dayak Deah indigenous community's participation in village fund supervision results from a complex interplay of cultural traditions, institutional arrangements, communication practices, educational factors, and historical context. Understanding these socially constructed dimensions is essential for developing inclusive and sustainable strategies to strengthen community-based governance.

Culture as an abstraction of a dynamic human experience, tends to develop in line with development of the supporting communities. Babad Banyumas as a literary work of traditional history reflects the culture which tends to convey a transformative message, and many of which loaded with social life values of the community at the time which became the underlying guidance and characters of the Banyumas society. This study aims to explore the culture and local values of Banyumas community's social life reflected from the text of Babad Banyumas. This is a qualitative study which employs content analysis to Babad Banyumas text as the data analysis. The data was collected through observation and interviews with experts in history. Data analysis uses qualitative data analysis using display data, data reduction and data verification to find common themes. The results of the study found that there are manifested cultural values and concepts in Babad Banyumas among others the culture of showing gratitude ‘terima kasih’, cablaka, egalitarian, asceticism (tapa brata), freedom (free soul), and politeness, which are also effective in strengthening and instilling the local culture and social norms values appreciated and observed by Banyumas society.Keywords: cultural values, Babad Banyumas, social studies

Gotong royong and COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia: Linking communal values to collective immunity

This article explores an issue of increasing relevance to protected area management, the identification of social value and the incorporation of such values into protected area management strategies. Relationships between people and places are examined in an attempt to define and understand the concepts of ‘community’ and ‘community value’ and ‘social value’, and how these may be linked to nature conservation. The distinction between cultural and natural values is explored, with particular reference to the perception of ‘wilderness’ in protected area management. How representative areas for future protection may be selected and the implications this has on management agencies and their officials is discussed in the context of the cultural attachment of people to landscapes or places. The article concludes with a statement of the basic shifts in practice required to give greater focus to cultural (social) value in protected area management.

Meaning of life as a protective factor against early mortality: Implications for life expectancy.

Bureaucratic reform is needed not only at the national level but also at the village level. Since 2014, Indonesia’s development focus has been directed towards villages, yet the performance of village-level bureaucracy is still considered weakMany villages have not been able to optimize their local potential due to a lack of collaboration and integration of communal values, such as gotong royong (mutual cooperation), within the village bureaucratic system. This study aims to formulate a model for measuring village-level bureaucratic reform based on gotong royong in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Lebak Regency, Banten. The research emphasizes the importance of community participation in village bureaucratic collaboration, particularly in the Komodo District, West Manggarai Regency, which faces challenges in human resource empowerment and technological limitations. Despite having tourism potential, the villages in this area have not fully benefited from bureaucratic reform and village autonomy. In Lebak Regency, as of 2023, there were 78 underdeveloped villages where efforts toward bureaucratic reform was hindered by limited capacity of village officials and the low utilization of information technology. Moreover, some villages struggle with effectively managing village funds. This study employs a qualitative approach, enabling an in-depth exploration and development of a village-level bureaucratic reform model, particularly in villages classified as underdeveloped according to the Village Development Index. The findings suggest the implementation of a more collaborative bureaucratic reform, grounded in local wisdom, such as gotong royong in NTT and Lebak, to enhance village development effectiveness. Community empowerment and the integration of local wisdom into village governance are key factors in overcoming these challenges, aiming to improve village bureaucratic performance and maximize local potential.

This study examines the integration of local cultural values of the Tengger ethnic community into the Merdeka Curriculum at the elementary education level, specifically across phases A to C. Utilizing a qualitative case study design, data were collected through in-depth interviews with educators and school administrators, direct classroom observations, and analysis of curricular and instructional documentation in public elementary schools located in Tosari District, Pasuruan Regency. The findings reveal that core Tengger cultural values, such as deliberative consensus, communal cooperation (gotong royong), and interreligious harmony are systematically embedded within thematic learning activities and Pancasila Student Profile (P5) projects. These values are internalized through pedagogical strategies that align with Lickona’s framework of moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action, fostering holistic character development among students. Teachers contextualize learning content by linking curriculum competencies to students’ lived cultural experiences, thereby enhancing relevance, engagement, and ethical understanding. The study demonstrates that the Merdeka Curriculum provides a flexible platform for the incorporation of local wisdom, enabling culturally responsive and sustainable character education. These findings highlight the potential of curriculum localization to strengthen national education goals while preserving indigenous identity and community values within formal schooling.

Gotong royong, or mutual cooperation, is a deeply rooted local cultural value in Indonesian society that plays a strategic role in strengthening social cohesion and promoting environmental consciousness. This study aims to explore and analyze the function of gotong royong in fostering social solidarity and raising community awareness of environmental sustainability through various communal activities. These activities include neighborhood cleaning, reforestation efforts, and participatory waste management, all of which require active involvement from community members. Using a qualitative descriptive method, the research was conducted through field observations and in-depth interviews with residents actively engaged in gotong royong practices. The findings reveal that gotong royong serves as a powerful social mechanism that encourages a sense of togetherness, mutual aid, and shared responsibility among community members. These interactions help to solidify social bonds and create a collective spirit that is vital for social resilience. In addition to reinforcing social relationships, the practice of gotong royong significantly contributes to enhancing environmental awareness. Communities become more proactive in maintaining cleanliness, preserving green spaces, planting trees, and managing waste sustainably. The study concludes that gotong royong is not merely a traditional cultural practice, but also an effective and relevant instrument for promoting social and environmental well-being in contemporary society. Its continued integration into community development programs could further strengthen both social solidarity and environmental stewardship, making it a vital component in sustainable development initiatives. Therefore, revitalizing and institutionalizing gotong royong is essential for fostering holistic and inclusive community growth.

This study aims to analyze efforts to foster love and tolerance through the integration of local wisdom in Islamic economic practices within the BMT Bintang 9 Forum in Bojonegoro. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, the research explores the social, spiritual, and cultural values that shape collaboration among Islamic financial institutions at the community level. The results show that the BMT Bintang 9 Forum functions not only as a coordination platform but also as a space for spiritual development and institutional strengthening based on the values of ukhuwah (brotherhood), mahabbah (love), and tasamuh (tolerance). Local wisdom such as guyub rukun (harmony), tepo seliro (empathy), and gotong royong (mutual cooperation) is integrated with the principles of maqashid sharia to create social harmony and economic productivity. The forum strengthens social capital, professionalism, and inter-BMT networks. Theoretically, this study expands the concept of Islamic economics grounded in local culture and spirituality as an inclusive, just, and sustainable Islamic economic model