In 2015, the UN announced the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. Many of the 17 goals are related to environmental education, and touch upon teaching, oceans, land resources and access to clean drinking water.
In Taiwan, the 12-year compulsory curriculum also includes many topics related to environmental education. Educating the public about ecology and the environment has become a trend.
Since about 2000, natural ecological education and sustainable education centers began to open their doors to promote environmental education in Taiwan.
However, there have been problems regarding their implementation.
One major issue is that the institutions fall under many different authorities. Some are under an environmental protection department, some are de facto managed by schools, some are managed by an education department and some even by the Forestry Bureau.
This makes developing and coordinating their curriculum, and regularly attracting students and parents, difficult.
A second drawback is the shortage of funds. Institutions established after 2000 often have no allocated budget, making environmental maintenance and hardware repairs challenging.
Finally, there is a shortage of expertise, with most activities organized and run by ad hoc task forces. Although some counties and cities have set up environmental education guidance groups according to regulations, they mainly assess the implementation of environmental education in schools, whereas there are no regular discussions or consultation meetings on the environmental education provided.
Local governments should strive for consistency by facilitating communication and coordination. For example, a local government could assign its education department to manage and maintain the jurisdiction’s environmental education center, and designate a neighboring school to take charge, with its principal acting as the institution’s director.
The center could then provide basic environmental maintenance and teaching aids, such as access to pools to cultivate aquatic plants for students’ field research.
Collaboration with industry is also necessary. The institutions could look for companies or universities to provide support — be it financial or in terms of labor — for hardware repair and maintenance. Surplus equipment of the companies and universities could also be used by elementary and secondary schools for science classes.
Finally, there should be coordination with ongoing government initiatives, such as the recruitment of retired natural science teachers or lecturers to develop teaching materials and conduct on-site demonstrations to enhance education methods.
Local governments could also involve local social education institutions. For example, institutions in central Taiwan, where the National Museum of Natural Science and the Endemic Species Research Institute are based, could organize exhibitions in collaboration with local research centers to facilitate greater community interaction and involvement.
The environment of each locality is different, and each has its own unique features. Coordination of resources can have a multiplier effect. Effective marketing can create recreational destinations that also contribute to environmental education. This should resonate with the “environmental stability” cited as necessary in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025.
Liu Yung-chien is an educator.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s