UPNVJ Public Relations – The Veteran National Development University (UPNVJ) in collaboration with the Indonesian National Defense Movement (GBNI) has begun formulating guidelines and a curriculum for national defense education designed to be implemented and replicated across Indonesia. The formulation was one of the main outcomes of the focus group discussion (FGD) on national defense development strategies that took place during the Inauguration of the Central Executive Board and the GBNI National Working Conference (Mukernas) at the UPNVJ Pondok Labu Campus, South Jakarta, Saturday (15/8/2026). The guidelines are intended to serve as a reference for organizing national defense education and training that can involve local governments, schools, universities, community organizations, and even communities at the village level.

UPNVJ Rector Prof. Dr. Anter Venus, MA, Comm., stated that national defense education requires structured guidance to ensure its implementation continues at the conceptual level. The formulated curriculum must address real needs in the regions, encompassing program objectives, materials, training duration, instructor qualifications, implementing institutions, collaboration patterns, and funding schemes.

"What we're being asked to do is to find out how GBNI, along with UPN, can design guidelines and a curriculum to be implemented throughout Indonesia. Not just in higher education, but also in rural and regional communities," Venus said while facilitating the focus group discussion (FGD).

According to Venus, these guidelines are necessary to ensure that national defense education has clear standards while still being adaptable to the characteristics and needs of each region. The National Unity and Politics Agency (Kesbangpol), for example, can use the curriculum as a reference in implementing national defense programs in their respective regions.

Therefore, the discussion is not only directed at the content of the material, but also the overall design of the implementation.

"What will national defense in the region be like, what will be done, what will the curriculum be like, what will the teaching qualifications be like, how long will it take, and which institutions will be involved?" he said.

Venus emphasized that the forum's results must be translated into operational guidelines that can be used by various stakeholders.

" The output will be guidelines and a curriculum for regional training. Of course, the guidelines will include objectives, duration, and so on. This will also cover broader strategies, including who the network is with, regional collaborations, and funding," he said.

Involve Local Governments and Local Organizations

The national defense education model formulated by UPNVJ and GBNI uses a collaborative approach. The central government, regional governments, youth organizations, schools, universities, and community groups can play roles according to their respective capacities and needs.

At the village level, youth organizations such as Karang Taruna can be considered as implementing partners. At the district and city levels, networks can be developed with Kesbangpol, schools, universities, and community organizations.

"On the one hand, when GBNI goes to the regions, it will also partner not only with government agencies, but also perhaps schools, universities in the regions, and so on," said Venus.

According to him, there are two crucial components that must be ensured in developing a strategy: the curriculum and the implementation of collaborative work. The division of roles between institutions needs to be clearly defined so that the resulting educational model can be replicated and is not dependent on a single institution.

UPNVJ can contribute through academic capacity, research, curriculum development, learning methods, and training. Meanwhile, GBNI has a network of organizations that can support the expansion of program implementation across Indonesia.

"We want to spread ideas, including building a national National Defense Movement. One way to achieve this is through training and national defense education," Venus said.

The National Defense Curriculum Responds to Non-Military Threats

Curriculum development also takes into account the changing nature of threats to the nation. According to Venus, national defense education currently requires a non-military approach because challenges to national resilience don't always manifest in physical conflict.

"The approach is a non-military one. Non-military means not about war. The war has changed. It's now a war of cognition, a war of narrative, a war of ideology," he said.

The digital space is a crucial area that requires attention. The rapid flow of information, disinformation, narrative warfare, and the development of artificial intelligence (AI) can influence how the public understands various national issues.

"Challenges in cyberspace, especially AI challenges, can also lead us astray. That's what we want to discuss," Venus said.

These conditions mean that national defense education is not sufficient to simply provide an understanding of national insight. The curriculum also needs to strengthen resilient thinking, digital literacy, ideological awareness, the ability to identify information, and community readiness to face changes in the social and technological environment.

UPNVJ Experience Becomes Capital for Development

As a National Defense Campus, UPNVJ has academic experience in developing national defense education through its National Defense Study Center. One approach it has developed is the Actualization of National Defense (ABN), which places national defense values within the context of student and community life.

This actualization is based on five basic values of national defense, namely love of the homeland, awareness of nation and state, loyalty to Pancasila as the state ideology, willingness to sacrifice for the nation and state, and initial ability to defend the country.

The approach not only positions students as recipients of material in the classroom, but encourages project-based learning with themes close to societal issues, such as entrepreneurship, digital transformation, literacy, local wisdom, sustainable development, public health, and diversity.

The concept of actualization has also been developed through various regional-based ideas, such as National Defense Village, Tourism Village, Digital Village, Literacy Village, Anti-Corruption Village, and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika Village.

This experience has become one of UPNVJ's assets in moving national defense education from a conceptual level to practical, applicable activities within the community. The guidelines and curriculum discussed with GBNI in the FGD are still in the formulation stage and will be refined through stakeholder discussions.

FGD Results Brought to GBNI National Working Meeting

The FGD was part of the GBNI Central Executive Board Inauguration and National Working Meeting, held on the same day. In addition to discussing strategies for strengthening national defense education, the forum addressed the GBNI's organizational direction for the 2025–2028 period. The discussion results were then formulated into recommendations to be presented at the National Working Meeting plenary session.

The activity was attended by GBNI officials, including the General Chairperson of GBNI Drs. H. Abu Hasan, M.Pd., Daily Chairperson of GBNI Prof. Dr. H. Mansyur Achmad KM, M.Si., Head of BACADNAS Lt. Gen. TNI Gabriel Lema, and Secretary General of GBNI Agung RC Prabowo, SE, MM, along with academics and other stakeholders.

For Venus, UPNVJ's identity as a National Defense Campus must translate into contributions that can be felt by the wider community. Universities cannot simply instill national defense values within their campuses; they must also develop knowledge, methods, and educational models that can be used collaboratively with the government and the community.

By developing guidelines and a curriculum in collaboration with GBNI, UPNVJ is promoting the development of more structured national defense education, adapting to non-military threats, and replicable to suit regional characteristics. This effort also represents UPNVJ's commitment to instilling national defense values in educational settings and communities across Indonesia.