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Beach revitalization, improved sanitation, disaster prevention.

These are not proposals pushed by legislators but the ideas of the 15- to 21-year-olds who gathered over the weekend for the first Indonesian Youth Conference in Jakarta.

As House of Representatives members and regional legislators squabble about whether they should get more money to make improvements in their constituencies, the young people seem to know better.

Thirty-three students from 30 provinces were doing what legislators are expected to do: identifying the real priorities of the regions, drawing up plans to address them, and then setting out to realize them.

Nur “Kiki” Rezky, 21, from Central Sulawesi, wants to revitalize the province’s vanishing coastline. The “Save My Beach” project focuses on replanting mangroves along the shores to prevent erosion.

“Last year we saw that the coastline was seven meters from the houses,” she said. “This year it is just five meters. Can you imagine it? In less than 10 years our beaches will be completely gone.”

As coastlines shrink, locals stand to lose their homes, fishing grounds and all hopes for flourishing tourism, Kiki said. For towns with economies relying on the ocean and the beach, the nation’s coasts needed saving, and fast.

“We can get sponsorship from the Ministry of Forestry, other governmental agencies and NGOs to buy the mangrove seeds, then involve the community in the actual planting,” she said. “We want this to be a true community project, where people who enjoy the beach take their share of responsibility for maintaining it.”

Kiki also plans several workshops and seminars on the importance of mangroves and caring for the environment. She has even worked out a budget for her program, Rp 15 million ($1,650).

Tika Musita, 18, from Bengkulu, is working on a “Schools Disaster Preparedness” program.

“Bengkulu is constantly hit by earthquakes,” she said. “Just in 2008 we had a 7.8 magnitude quake.”

Tika said Indonesia was on the infamous Ring of Fire, with active volcanoes across the archipelago, and also sat at the intersection of three continental plates, making it vulnerable to earthquakes.

“The thing with earthquakes is they’re unpredictable,” she said. “What if it hits during school hours? We don’t want the children to panic and just run around in the chaos and confusion because that would only create more victims.

“We want to build on an existing idea in Bengkulu to come to schools and spread proper disaster prevention and evacuation techniques. We will target kindergartens and primary schools.”

Fatimah Sulistyowati, 18 comes from Depok, and has a very different concern.

“There are neighborhoods in Depok that have very poor sanitation,” she said. “In Limau, they don’t even have toilets.”

Fatimah said sanitation issues went largely ignored. According to Unicef, an overwhelming 48 percent of the population lived with poor or non-existent sanitation facilities.

“As a result, Limau has the highest rate of elephantiasis,” Fatimah said, referring to the infectious tropical disease spread by parasitic worms, causing the limbs to swell.

“But people don’t know much about it,” she said. “We want to educate the locals about the disease, how it spreads and what it does. We will also raise funds to build public toilets and encourage cleanliness.”

Besides working on their aspirations and programs, IYC participants also benefited from seminars with notable speakers like education expert Arief Rachman and businessman Sandiaga Uno and workshops on leadership and project management.

“With IYC, we are being equipped to make a change. I hope the projects continue and that we, the youth, can keep working together to improve our regions,” said Muhammad Ridho Pratama, 16, of Gorontalo.

Fatima added: “Often the adults are too occupied with dealing with major issues that they don’t have the time to address small, but nevertheless important, things. The youth can take care of those things.

“We see things that need changing every day, so why not change it ourselves?”

The participants were selected from 550 applicants. “We looked for people who are already active in their communities and have solid ideas for the future,” said communications coordinator Ghian Tjandaputra, 20. “We don’t judge based on past credentials, but more to whether they can take their ideas and action to the next level.”

“I think the biggest strength of Indonesian youth is their positive view of the world, and their passion and ideas to make a change,” said Rivandra Royono, 31, a forum speaker from the education unit of the World Bank’s Jakarta office.

“That strength will diminish with age. Once you’re old, you get more realistic and bitter and pessimistic, and you start believing change is impossible. Indonesia can’t afford not to involve youth or we’d lose out on this energy.”

Rivandra said that while adults were responsible for transmitting knowledge to the youth, the latter should be allowed to “decide what they want and can do with that knowledge.”

The conference was a project of The Cure for Tomorrow, a nongovernmental organization founded by Alanda Kariza, a second year Binus International student.

“We’re done sitting around quietly,” Ridho said.

So while legislators lean back in their chairs, teenagers around Indonesia are on the move.