BASAibu

Combining public participation and civic engagement, BASAibu has weaved since 2022 a dense research and discussion network alive with conferences, wikithons, and in-person policy dialogues. participation and accountability.

Youth Conferences held by this one-of-a-kind Wiki group have dealt with several pressing topics such as environment, sexual harassment, mental health, tourism challenges [How can we detoxify the toxicity of overtourism in Bali?]

In addition to community-based activities, BASAibu is a remarkable contribution to linguistics, acknowledged with the 2025 Detik Bali ​“Leading Community Movers Award in the Bali Language Preservation, Warriors Category”. 

BASAibu activities in 2025.

BASAibu activities in 2025.

Dictionaries

Impressive linguistic databases built with direct contributions by Wiki communities. This is the first time Indonesian local glossaries are developed with substantial etymological references, in particular from Old Javanese. All entries translate into English or Bahasa Indonesia. Videos and text using words in context provided by the community and via entries in the public dialogue. The four dictionaries are now available as apps to be downloaded from Google Play Store or Apple Store.

Bahasa Bali (Balinese)

BASABali was initiated by a collective of linguists, anthropologists, students and communicators at the initiative of Alissa J. Stern and Ni Nyoman Clara Listya Dewi. The resource provided the first online dictionary of Balinese language, including etymological references to Javanese, in collaboration with the Language Center of Bali Province, the Association of Indonesia’s Indigenous Language Teachers of Bali Province and Balinese Language Teacher Communication Forum of Bali Province.

Bahasa Banjar (Kalimantan)

[under construction]

Bahasa Sasak (Sasak)

The Sasak [sasak script ᬪᬵᬲᬵᬲᬓ᭄ᬱᬓ᭄], also called Bahasa Sasak or Sasaknese is spoken by the Sasak ethnic group which make up the majority of the population of Lombok, an island in the West Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia (Mataram). It is closely related to the Balinese and Sumbawa languages spoken on adjacent islands, and is part of the Austronesian language family. 

Makassarese

The Makassar Digital Dictionary is a ​“living” document produced in collaboration between Rumata’ Artspace — BASAibu — Language Center of South Sulawesi Province, Agency for Language Development and Coaching, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, and Makassarese people around the world. The Makassar Digital Dictionary is sourced from the Indonesia-Makassar Dictionary Revised Edition (2023) compiled and published by the Language Center of South Sulawesi Province.

About the people behind the project

Alissa J. Stern and Ni Nyoman Clara Listya Dewi (“Clara”) are the co-founders of BASAibu (formerly BASAbali). Alissa’s latest’s book, The Process of Business/​Environmental Collaborations, provides case studies of environmental organizations and companies using public dialogues to reach mutually advantageous solutions. BASAibu Board Members.