As part of his research activities, Prof. Patoka visited Indonesia Open University (Universitas Terbuka, UT) in July 2025. This university is located in South Tangerang in the Banten Province, Java and belongs to one of the most progressive Indonesian universities. Teaching here is strictly online, with students connecting from all over Indonesian territory and abroad. It has a total student body of more than 600,000, and it is not unusual to have more than a thousand students at a lecture. Therefore, it can serve as an excellent platform for the transformation of information and knowledge across the entire country, which is more than welcome in terms of educational activities in such a large island country as Indonesia.
Jiří Patoka has been collaborating with staff at this university at the academic and research level since 2019, primarily with the Faculty of Science and Technology. It is therefore no surprise that his current lecture was managed by this faculty. It focused on invasive species in Indonesian waters, and the presentation was followed by an interview on university radio. During the lecture, the audience was also introduced to the aims and activities of Sulawesi Keepers, and the current environmental risks that the native freshwater biota of Sulawesi is facing were mentioned. During the discussion on possible solutions and management measures, the need for educational activities to raise awareness of the issue among the local communities was emphasized, as well as the need for evidence-based discussions with policymakers.
Overall, the visit at UT was very friendly, and all participants expressed their support for continued cooperation, which immediately led to Jiří Patoka being invited to consult on the curriculum for study programs. As part of this activity, a proposal was made for more intensive involvement of students, who could obtain and gather information and data on non-native and invasive species directly in the field, which would be a valuable contribution to nature conservation management also in Sulawesi.
Jiří Patoka
