Attendance Without Engagement: Communication Patterns in Urban Riparian Community Groups

This study describes attendance, active participation, meeting facilitation, and communication practices among riparian community groups participating in the Maharagu Sungai (River Stewardship) program in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It distinguishes physical attendance from communicative engagement and examines respondents’ perceptions of leadership and opportunities for participation during meetings. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted among 31 active community groups, with six respondents from each group: three organizational officers and three general members. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed descriptively at the group level. Findings indicate that attendance was generally higher than active participation. High attendance (76–100%) was reported in 55% of groups, while 65% reported low active participation (≤50%). Meeting facilitation was predominantly leader-centered: 55% of groups reported that meetings were always facilitated by the leader, and 64% reported that leaders typically presented information before inviting responses. The findings highlight differences between physical attendance and communicative engagement and describe leadership and participation practices within riparian groups. Communication network and structurational perspectives serve as interpretive lenses rather than tested models. Communication ties, network centralization, and longitudinal changes were not measured; therefore, the findings represent descriptive evidence based on self-reported, cross-sectional data from participating community groups.