At present, human resource development for global competition is a focus by the Indonesian government, even though the local developmental gap within the country is still a huge problem. This article focuses on the revitalization of KKN in Indonesian universities as an aspect of human resource development for local development.　　First, it describes the historical development of KKN, its characteristics and functions, the system of its implementation, and the revitalization efforts by the government. Second, it examines specific KKN programs at one university. Third, it discusses the meanings of KKN for university students.　　The history of KKN is quite long, but its perceived importance has grown recently because of social and political changes, especially decentralization and globalization.　　KKN revitalization has been prompted by its official recognition as a compulsory program (2006), funding for KKN projects by the national government, and concomitant changes to the university accreditation system (2010).　　KKN has several characteristic features: 1) students work as an interdisciplinary team;2) students use this interdisciplinary approach to solve multidimensional problems in the local community; and 3) students learn how to empower community members for sustainable development based on co-creation, co-financing, and co-benefit.　　The two cases introduced in this article represent well-organized systems with effective educational materials. The preparatory training for KKN includes suitable knowledge and skills, such as data analysis of the community, the concept of empowerment and conflict resolution, and clear self-evaluation indicators to improve their activities by themselves.　　From the student reports, one can see how students perceive the merits and meanings of learning achieved through the KKN. The importance of teamwork between people with different specialties, information sharing, negotiation with community members, and motivation for local development fostered by empathetic experience are crucial outcomes of KKN.　　In short, many lessons can be learned from KKN for human resource development for local development.

本研究はJSPS科研費26381132の助成を受けたものである。