Science education (SE) policies in Bengkulu are performed formally according to the national curriculum which was decided by the central government in Jakarta. These formal practices tend to ignore the principle of free choice learning, so informal science education (ISE) is also really needed as a complement to improve the quality of SE and conservation education (CE). This paper will describe implementation effort to pioneer ISE in Bengkulu during a period of five years (2014-2018). There were eight efforts as follows; Concept of ISE in accordance with local condition, Provide space for ISE activity, Build mini library including internet access, Compile simple laboratory tools, Manage life science training, Serving research needs in the field of life sciences, and Assisting to prepare scientific publications. The efforts resulted a Small Learning Center (SLC) for life sciences which was called “Sumber Belajar Ilmu Hayati” (SBIH) Ruyani with the following concept; (1) Main goal of the effort: (a) providing out-of-school experiences are synergistic with the experiences occurring within schools, and universities, (b) learning nature harmony from the facts. (2) Key educational approaches: Giving guidance for teaching, learning, research, and publication in life sciences. (3) Audience targeted: learner enthusiasts from junior high, high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. There are still some limitations of the implementation efforts, but temporary results (work system, number of participant, and service quality) were useful as the complement to existing formal institutions. Thus, the SLC should be developed in order to make more real contribution for improving SE and CE.

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