Staff Development Week 2026: Investing in Our People, Investing in Our Impact

From July 15–17, 2026, Coral Triangle Center (CTC) brought together CTC staff from Bali, Jakarta, Maluku and Timor-Leste, for Staff Development Week (SDW) 2026, under the theme “Scaling Impact Through People, Partnerships, and Performance” at the CTC Center for Marine Conservation in Sanur and Jiwa Community Garden in Badung. The three-day event was designed to equip staff with practical skills and stronger cross-department collaboration to support CTC’s growing programs. The program emphasized hands-on learning, knowledge sharing, and collaborative problem-solving to strengthen CTC’s impact.

Throughout the event, each portfolio and division shared mid-term updates on their progress, achievements, challenges, and lessons learned. These updates provided staff with a better understanding of how each team contributes to CTC’s mission. Then, through a session on co-management study on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Indonesia, staff explored lessons learned from different governance models, discussed institutional and policy challenges, and reflected on how stronger partnerships between government agencies, communities, and non-government organizations can improve the long-term effectiveness of marine conservation. This was followed by a session on time and self-management, encouraging staff to strengthen personal productivity through better prioritization, structured work planning, and effective time management.

On the second day, practical sessions on basic photography and storytelling were conducted, led by Mike Veitch from Indo Pacific Films. Staff learned techniques for documenting activities using smartphones, explored the fundamentals of underwater photography, and practiced visual storytelling through hands-on photography exercises in a group photography challenge. The activities encouraged staff to capture and communicate stories from the field better.

During the Integrated Collaboration for Impact session, led by Dicky Lopulalan, CTC staff reflected on how stronger communication, trust, and coordination across departments contribute to better outcomes. Through interactive discussions, staff identified practical ways to improve collaboration across portfolios and divisions while reinforcing the shared values that enable CTC to work effectively as one organization.

On the last day, building on the growing adoption of digital technologies, staff also explored advanced artificial intelligence (AI) applications to improve efficiency and enhance the quality of daily work. The session, led by Fransisca Tri Wahyuni and Muhammad Toyyib from AptaWorks, focused on the responsible and practical uses of AI to support program implementation, communication, knowledge management, and other operational tasks, empowering staff to integrate digital tools into their everyday work.

To end the event, staff participated in an interactive learning experience at Jiwa Community Garden. Through the garden tour, staff explored examples of organic permaculture, composting, companion planting, multi-cropping, and environmentally friendly sanitation systems. The excursion offered new perspectives on sustainability and encouraged the team to connect environmental practices to CTC’s broader conservation mission.

Staff Development Week 2026 reinforced that achieving lasting conservation impact depends on strong technical expertise, effective collaboration, continuous learning, and the ability to adapt to new challenges. By strengthening its people and fostering opportunities to learn across teams, CTC continues to strengthen the knowledge, skills, and partnerships needed to deliver greater impact for Indonesia’s coastal and marine ecosystems.

Writer: Megan Alexis
Photos: Megan Alexis/CTC, Alisha Cambari Saka/CTC