Strengthening Community Awareness and Participation through the Red and White Village Cooperative Outreach Program in Bojong Nangka Village, Bogor Regency

Abstract

The establishment of the Red and White Village Cooperative represents an initiative for strengthening village-based economic institutions and promoting community participation in economic development. However, the effectiveness and sustainability of such an initiative depend on community understanding, awareness, and willingness to participate. This community engagement program aimed to strengthen community awareness and participation in the Red and White Village Cooperative program in Bojong Nangka Village, Bogor Regency, West Java. The program employed a participatory and educational approach involving 115 community members. The implementation consisted of preliminary coordination, needs identification, educational material preparation, outreach and education, discussion, and evaluation. Educational materials addressed cooperative concepts and objectives, membership mechanisms, members' roles and rights, potential business activities, and opportunities for community participation. The effectiveness of the activity was assessed using pre-test and post-test questionnaires, complemented by observations of participant engagement during discussions and question-and-answer sessions. The results demonstrated an improvement in participants' awareness and understanding, with the average score increasing from 52.2% in the pre-test to 82.6% in the post-test, representing a 30.4-percentage-point improvement. Improvements were observed across all indicators, including understanding of cooperative concepts, objectives, membership mechanisms, awareness of participation opportunities, and willingness to participate. The greatest improvement occurred in awareness of participation opportunities, which increased by 33.9 percentage points. These findings indicate that participatory outreach can serve as an effective initial strategy for strengthening knowledge and encouraging community engagement. Continued mentoring, cooperative management training, financial literacy, and participatory governance are recommended to translate increased awareness into sustained participation and support long-term cooperative development.