Surabaya, August 4, 2025 – Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya, visited the Center for Environmental Health of Pesantren (CEHP), Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM), Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Surabaya (UNUSA), on Monday, August 4, 2025, to review eco-friendly technology innovations. Two leading products are smokeless incinerators and water purification systems were considered to have strong potential for development within the creative economy sector.
Menteri Ekraf Teuku Riefky Harsya Meniinjau Inovasi Teknologi Ramah Lingkungan di UNUSA, Dorong Ekraf Berbasis Sains, Surabaya, Senin (04/08/2025).
The Minister emphasized that such creative economy innovations emerge when culture, science, technology, and digitalization work in synergy.
“The creative industry is born from the touch of research and innovation based in culture and design. Innovations such as these incinerators and water purifiers can be developed within media-based or digital,” said the Minister of Creative Economy.
UNUSA’s Incinerator Technology product is designed as a smokeless waste-burning tool that is environmentally friendly and does not pollute the surrounding air or environment. Meanwhile, UNUSA Water is a water filtration system utilizing filtration, adsorption, and bacterial disinfection using UV light technology, capable of processing water from ditches, rivers, swamps, and wells into usable clean water. These two innovations serve as tangible examples of collaboration between research, technology, and community needs in supporting sustainable development.
Communication Bureau of the Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency.
The Minister of Creative Economy underscored the importance of mapping creative economy subsectors based on their functional relevance to the environment, health, and community needs, to clarify their impact and development direction. He also highlighted the importance of collaboration through a hexahelix approach that involves six elements: government, business actors, academia, communities, media, and financial institutions.
“Creative players often lack physical assets but possess the capital of ideas and work. Therefore, financial institutions must begin to recognize the value of creativity. This is why we have built networks with more than 160 creative associations and cross-sector strategic partners to promote financing, marketing, and commercialization of innovative products,” the Minister expressed.
The Minister also conveyed that the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, has positioned the creative economy as a vital component of national development.
“The creative economy is not merely about creating job opportunities, but about creating quality employment with high added value. Universities like UNUSA play an essential role in producing competitive innovations. We must accelerate market-ready works, encourage intellectual property, and expand access to both national and global markets,” he added.
Communication Bureau of the Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency.
UNUSA Rector, Achmad Jazidie, welcomed the Minister’s visit and expressed appreciation for the government’s attention to academic innovation.
“In addition to the incinerator and water purifier technologies, we also showcased various innovations from our lecturers and students. We hope this marks the beginning of concrete synergy in fostering an economy driven by creativity and community needs,” he stated.
Chairman of LPPM UNUSA, Achmad Syafiuddin, added that UNUSA’s innovations prioritize science-based principles, low cost, and field relevance.
Communication Bureau of the Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency.
Also present during the visit were Vice Rectors, Deans, and structural officials of UNUSA. The Minister of Creative Economy was accompanied by Deputy Minister for Strategic Creative Economy Development, Cecep Rukendi, as well as Expert Staff for Research, Education, and Institutional Relations, Dian Permanasari.
This visit reaffirmed the Ministry of Creative Economy’s commitment to building regional innovation ecosystems to ensure more equitable development and a more tangible sense of independence across Indonesia.
Kiagoos Irvan Faisal
Acting Head of Bureau for Communication
Ministry of Creative Economy / Creative Economy Agency
