The problems facing teenagers and university students are increasingly diverse, ranging from reproductive health and mental health to social relationships and planning for education and the future. Against this backdrop, the Youth Information and Counseling Center (Pusat Informasi dan Konseling Remaja, PIK) matters not only as a provider of information, but also as a space where young people can receive education, hold discussions, and find support from their peers.

The need to keep building this capacity led UKM PIK-M Lingkar Seroja of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta to exchange experiences with PIK-R Rasendriya of Universitas Tidar Magelang. The meeting, held at the DPMP4KB Building in Magelang City on Saturday, October 3, 2026, gave both organizations a space to examine how each manages its organization and to discuss the challenges of fulfilling the PIK function for young people.

Event Chair Anggita said that strengthening PIK capacity should happen through shared learning spaces among institutions. In her view, each organization's experience can be a source of learning for rethinking how programs are designed, carried out, and adapted to the needs of teenagers and university students.

"PIK is not only a place to get information and peer counseling, but also a space for education and self-development for young people. That is why it is important for us to keep learning and exchanging experiences so that our programs are truly relevant to their needs," she said.

At the meeting, the leaders of both organizations presented their profiles, directions, and work programs. The exchange did not stop at introducing activities. It became a starting point for seeing how each organization responds to its members' needs and fulfills its role as a platform for information and peer counseling.

From this session, both organizations saw similarities as well as differences in how they manage their PIK. Differences in organizational character and campus environment became part of the lesson that youth empowerment programs cannot be applied with a one-size-fits-all approach. Programs need to be adapted to the characteristics of their members, the problems they face, and the social setting in which the organization operates.

The discussion was then deepened through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Anggita described how the leaders exchanged experiences on organizational management, the implementation of work programs, and the challenges of running PIK activities. The forum was a space to talk about practices already underway while exploring possibilities for developing programs through the experiences of another organization.

For PIK-M Lingkar Seroja, this kind of exchange is important because an organization's sustainability is not determined solely by the number of programs it carries out. The capacity of its leaders, the ability to read the needs of its target audience, sound organizational management, and the courage to evaluate programs are all essential if PIK is to remain a space close to the concerns of young people.

The meeting also opened the door to a broader relationship between PIK-M Lingkar Seroja and PIK-R Rasendriya.

"We hope this meeting does not end as a comparative study, but becomes the start of learning from each other and collaborating to bring wider benefits," she said.

For both organizations, strengthening PIK is ultimately not just a matter of sustaining a student organization. More importantly, organizational capacity must be directed toward ensuring that young people have access to accurate information, safe spaces for discussion, and support in facing the problems they encounter and making decisions about their future.

Through this exchange, PIK-M Lingkar Seroja of UIN Sunan Kalijaga and PIK-R Rasendriya of Universitas Tidar position their organizations as ever-evolving learning spaces. Each other's experiences become material for evaluating existing practices while looking for ways to bring PIK's role closer to the needs of teenagers and university students. (humassk)