NTUST is in Da'an District, Taipei, one of the most expensive rental areas in Taiwan. So that housing costs do not stand in the way of study, NTUST runs three on-campus dormitories and makes sure students can afford them in three ways: Evaluate affordable housing: Dorm fees are reviewed by the Student Dormitory Management Committee, which includes the Student Association president and each dorm's head and deputy heads, and then approved by the Administrative Meeting. Fees have been reviewed every year since 2020. Rooms are priced in tiers, starting at NT$6,500 per semester (winter break included). Provide housing: Three on-campus dorms offer rooms and suites for two to six people, plus barrier-free rooms. Beds are allocated by published eligibility and priority rules, with students with disabilities and students from low-income and lower-middle-income households placed first. Provide financial aid: Low-income students live rent-free in exchange for service-learning hours. Under the Ministry of Education (MOE) on-campus housing subsidy, every domestic resident gets NT$5,000 off each semester, rising to NT$7,000 for students from low-income households.The table below summarises NTUST's actions and evidence in each area:1. Evaluate Affordable Housing1.1 Tiered prices that keep low-cost rooms availableNTUST's Student Dormitory Fees set prices by dorm, floor and room type. Fees per semester (winter break included) range from NT$6,500 to NT$27,500, with summer charged separately. The cheapest option, a six-person room in the Second Dorm, costs NT$6,500 per semester, or about NT$1,300 a month over a five-month semester. This is far below private rents near the campus. Fees for each room type are shown below: Source: Student Dormitory Fees (revised at the 647th Administrative Meeting, 17 March 2026, and by the Dorm Management Committee, 5 June 2026). Amounts in NT$. A NT$1,600 security deposit applies. 1.2 Regular review with student participationFees are first reviewed by the Student Dormitory Management Committee. Under its Organization Rules, the Dean of Student Affairs chairs the committee. Members include the heads of the Construction and Maintenance Section and the Student Life Division, an Office of International Affairs representative, dorm advisors, a teacher from each college, the Student Association president, and each dorm's head and deputy heads. Its duties include reviewing and revising the rules on dorm allocation and fees. It meets at least once a semester.After the committee's review, the fee schedule goes to the Administrative Meeting for approval. Since December 2020 it has been reviewed and revised every year, in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and on 17 March 2026 (647th Administrative Meeting). It was most recently revised again by the Dorm Management Committee on 5 June 2026.Other housing charges follow the same process. For example, the dorm deposit was set at NT$1,600 from academic year 2026 only after it was discussed by the dorm self-governance officers in October 2025 and approved by the Dorm Management Committee in spring 2026. This makes sure student views are part of the evaluation.📎 Evidence links for this section Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (2026/03/17) Student Dormitory Fees (revised at the 647th Administrative Meeting, 17 March 2026): https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1053-82135,r1676.php?Lang=zh-tw Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (2024/03/08) Dormitory Management Committee Organization Rules (revised by the Student Affairs Meeting, 8 March 2024): https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1053-115285,r1676.php?Lang=zh-tw Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (2026/08/19) Announcement of the dorm deposit adjustment from academic year 2026 (approved by the dorm self-governance and management committees): https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1053-150812,r1436.php?Lang=zh-tw2. Provide Housing2.1 Three on-campus dorms with many room typesNTUST runs the First, Second and Third Dormitories, offering six-person rooms, four-person rooms, six-person suites, quadruple suites, double suites, and barrier-free rooms in all three dorms. Students can check beds, housing information and photos on the Dormitory Applications page, and each dorm has its own information page. The dorms have kitchens, quiet rooms and living rules, and are managed under the Student Dormitory Regulations.2.2 Published eligibility with priority for disadvantaged studentsUnder the 2026 eligibility and bed-allocation rules, students whose household registration has been outside Taipei City and nearby New Taipei districts for at least a year, international students, and students with disabilities or from low-income and lower-middle-income households can apply. First priority goes to students holding disability certificates in categories 2, 3 and 7, students from low-income and lower-middle-income households certified by local government, dorm self-governance officers and special cases approved by the Dorm Management Committee. Next come new undergraduates (first year of the four-year programme and third year, the entry year, of the two-year programme), followed by other groups by year and status. Remaining beds are filled by lottery.This puts students with financial need or disabilities first in line for low-cost campus beds, reducing the cost of renting off campus.📎 Evidence links for this section Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (Not stated) Dormitory applications (dorm pages, announcements, fees and regulations): https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/412-1053-8395.php?Lang=zh-tw Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (2026/03/17) Dormitory eligibility and bed-allocation priority, academic year 2026 (647th Administrative Meeting): https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1053-87678,r1676.php?Lang=zh-tw Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (2025/06/01) Student Dormitory Regulations: https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1053-141728,r1436.php?Lang=zh-tw3. Provide Financial Aid3.1 Free housing for low-income studentsUnder the Guidelines on Free Accommodation with Service Learning for Low-income Students (approved 13 May 2021), any enrolled student who holds a government low-income certificate and lives in campus housing can apply for free accommodation (in-service and extended-study students excluded). Students submit the certificate when applying for a dorm, and the housing fee on their tuition bill is then NT$0. They complete the service-learning hours set for their room type and hand in a service-learning record card at the end of the semester. Internet fees and the deposit are not waived.3.2 MOE on-campus housing subsidyFrom spring 2025, NTUST has applied the MOE on-campus housing subsidy for college students. Domestic residents do not need to apply: NT$5,000 is deducted from each semester's bill automatically. Students admitted as international students who hold Taiwanese nationality qualify once they submit proof of nationality. Residents from low-income or lower-middle-income households receive NT$7,000 per semester.In the cheapest room (Second Dorm six-person room, NT$6,500 per semester), a domestic student pays only NT$1,500 per semester after the subsidy, and a student from a low-income household pays nothing because the subsidy exceeds the fee. Where the subsidy is less than the fee, low-income students can cover the rest with service-learning hours, and lower-middle-income students pay only the difference.📎 Evidence links for this section Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (2021/05/13) Guidelines on Free Accommodation with Service Learning for Low-income Students (approved 13 May 2021): https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/404-1053-109915.php?Lang=zh-tw Office of Student Affairs, Student Life Division (2025/01) Spring 2025: MOE on-campus housing subsidy for domestic students - eligibility and FAQ: https://student.ntust.edu.tw/p/404-1053-121161.php?Lang=zh-twSummary of EvidenceThis indicator is supported by 8 published NTUST rules and announcements, grouped by area:Summary: NTUST evaluates affordability through tiered pricing that keeps low-cost rooms available and an annual fee review by a Dorm Management Committee with student members and by the Administrative Meeting. It provides housing through three on-campus dorms, many room types and priority beds for disadvantaged students. It provides financial aid through free housing for low-income students and the MOE on-campus housing subsidy. After the subsidy, the cheapest room costs NT$1,500 per semester and students from low-income households pay nothing, so housing costs do not keep students from finishing their degrees.

1.OverviewNTUST monitors the amount of food waste generated by food served on campus through a mandatory kitchen waste measurement and reporting system. Under Taiwan's Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) and the Regulations Governing the Collection, Removal, and Treatment of General Waste (一般廢棄物回收清除處理辦法), all on-campus food service providers, whether self-operated or outsourced, are legally required to collect, sort, weigh, and record their kitchen waste before it is picked up by authorized waste disposal services. Each month, the relevant university offices receive kitchen waste weighing records from the contracted kitchen waste treatment vendors, compile them into the NTUST Recycling Statistics, and report the figures to the Department of Environmental Protection, Taipei City Government.According to these records, NTUST has logged weighed food waste and waste cooking oil for 69 consecutive months since January 2021. From 2021 to 2025, the university tracked a total of 197,830 kg of food waste and 22,530 kg of waste cooking oil. Food waste in 2025 totalled 37,078 kg, 13.9% lower than in 2024 and 25.9% lower than the 2022 peak.2.How Food Waste Is Measured and ReportedLegal basis: Under the Waste Disposal Act and related regulations, food service operators must separate kitchen waste from general refuse and hand it over to licensed collectors.Scope: All campus food outlets are covered, self-operated or outsourced: the Student Activity Center 1st Cafeteria (formerly the 1st Dining Hall), the 2nd Cafeteria (formerly the Faculty Dining Hall, closed July 2024), the 2nd Academic Building cafeteria (formerly the 3rd Dining Hall) and the Yi-Yang cafeteria (formerly the 2nd Dining Hall).Weighing at every pickup: Kitchen waste is weighed and recorded each time it is collected. Waste cooking oil is collected and weighed separately as well.Licensed reuse: Food waste goes to licensed livestock farms (Rong-Quan Livestock Farm and Pang-Du-Du Farm) for reuse. Waste cooking oil goes to licensed oil recyclers (Jing-Zi Enterprise Co., Ltd. and Eucalyptus Environmental Co., Ltd.).Monthly compilation and reporting: The General Affairs Section of the Office of General Affairs collects each outlet's weighing slips every month. It records them in the NTUST Recycling Statistics (food waste, waste cooking oil and 20+ other recyclable categories) and submits the figures online to the Taipei City environmental authority.Figure 1. NTUST food waste measurement and reporting workflow 3.Annual Food Waste StatisticsFigure 2. Annual food waste and waste cooking oil collected at NTUST (2021–2026) Year-on-year notes:2021 (30,361 kg): Lowest of the five years. Taiwan's COVID-19 Level 3 alert closed the 1st Dining Hall from mid-May and the Faculty Dining Hall in October. In August–September, food waste was temporarily handled as general refuse under African swine fever prevention measures.2022 (50,039 kg): All outlets resumed normal operation. This was the five-year peak.2023 (37,286 kg): The 1st Dining Hall closed for July–September, and monthly food waste in that period fell to 30–380 kg.2024 (43,066 kg): Food waste peaked at 7,060 kg in March. The Faculty Dining Hall closed in July.2025 (37,078 kg): The monthly average was 3,090 kg, ranging from 1,890 kg (January) to 3,710 kg (April). This was 13.9% lower than in 2024. Waste cooking oil totalled 4,521 kg. 4.Monthly TrackingThe monthly records track the academic calendar. Food waste is higher during semesters (March–May and September–December) and drops in the winter (January–February) and summer (July–August) breaks. While the 2nd Academic Building cafeteria was renovated in July–August 2026, food waste fell to 1,800–2,200 kg per month, and it rose again when the semester started in September. This continuous monthly data shows the university when and where food waste is generated, and it informs food-surplus reduction and catering management. Figure 3. Monthly weighed food waste at NTUST (2024–2026) 5.Extension: Weighing of Other Campus WasteNTUST uses the same weigh-and-record approach for contracted solid waste (waste codes D-2101 and C-0599). This waste is collected weekly and weighed at every pickup, and since 2025 each pickup has been logged with its waste manifest number. In 2025 there were 48 weighed pickups totalling 14.88 tonnes. From January to October 2026 there were 42 pickups totalling 12.75 tonnes. Because food waste and other waste streams are all based on actual weighed amounts, together they form a complete campus waste-tracking system.Figure 4. Weighed records of contracted solid waste removal at NTUST (2023–2026) 6.ConclusionNTUST has a legally mandated system for measuring campus food waste. Kitchen waste from every on-campus food outlet is sorted, weighed and recorded before licensed collectors take it for reuse, and the responsible offices receive the weighing records every month and report them to the authorities. The accumulated monthly data lets the university follow food waste generation over the long term. Food waste fell by 13.9% in 2025 compared with 2024.

NTUST sees basic services as things everyone should be able to obtain: water, electricity, safe roads and living conditions, and education, job training and the chance to start a business. Building on its engineering and technical-education strengths, NTUST meets this responsibility through four types of programmes and courses: Engineers in Action (USR): This programme combines basic engineering with project-based learning (PBL). Students go to rural communities in Taiwan, such as Dong'ao in Yilan, and to communities in Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan, where they build trails, water and power systems, drinking-water facilities and school facilities. This improves local access to infrastructure and education. NTUST Silicon Valley Program: The Business Incubation Center selects campus start-up teams for training in Silicon Valley, with up to NT$250,000 per team, giving students and staff access to international start-up resources and markets. Pre-employment Training: ESG Sustainability Management Practice Class: The School of Continuing Education runs this 300-hour, government-commissioned course for unemployed people who want to work in ESG, helping them gain green skills and return to work. General education and sustainability courses: The Center for General Education offers cross-disciplinary courses and social-practice events that deepen students' understanding of social structures, media access, sustainable development and care for disadvantaged groups. It also opens its learning to high-school students and local residents. The table below summarises the basic services each programme improves and the supporting news:1. Engineers in Action: Bringing Infrastructure and Education to Rural Communities1.1 PurposeEngineers in Action is a Ministry of Education (MOE) University Social Responsibility (USR) project led by Professor Meng-Jiy Wang (Chemical Engineering), with Associate Professor Chiu-Yen Wang (Materials Science and Engineering) as co-PI. It starts from basic engineering skills and uses project-based learning (PBL) to train engineers who communicate well, care about people and think green. The programme has trained nearly 1,000 students. Its sites include rural Taiwan (such as Dong'ao and Siji elementary schools in Yilan) and communities in Indonesia and Vietnam, and its work covers bridge repair, power systems and better living conditions.1.2 The Atayal community of Dong'ao, Yilan: trails, solar guide walls and school information boardsThe programme has worked in Dongyue village, Nan'ao Township, Yilan County, since 2020. From 7 to 16 June 2025, about 60 students and teachers from NTUST, Songshan Agricultural and Industrial High School, Osaka Institute of Technology (Japan) and Widya Mandala Catholic University (Indonesia) worked together as an international team for the first time. Using eco-friendly methods, they reopened the Snake Mountain Trail (Babaw Kulu), which had been closed for years, repairing steps, handrails, a pavilion and drainage. They installed a solar-powered guide wall at Dong'ao Station with audio in five languages (Mandarin, English, Japanese, Korean and Atayal), set up an Indigenous-language information board at Dong'ao Elementary School, and designed eight STEAM sustainability lessons.1.3 Overseas communities: water, power, drinking water and disaster safetyIn summer 2025, the team repaired a greenhouse and built a crop dryer and composting system in Pacet village, Indonesia; repaired roofs, laid water pipes and wiring, and installed automatic irrigation in Gubug Lazaris; installed a post-earthquake rapid building-safety assessment system and multilingual evacuation signs at a shelter in Kawakami, Nara, Japan; and built a reading corner, play equipment and a football pitch at Long Tuyen 2 Primary School in Can Tho, Vietnam.In summer 2026, the team installed a reverse-osmosis drinking-water filter and renovated toilets and lighting at Hoa-An 1 Primary School in Vietnam; built a solar-powered aquaponics greenhouse, a reading room and road-safety signs in Pacet, and repaired leaking ponds and channels in Gubug Lazaris, Indonesia; and repaired sports facilities and ran a structures workshop in Otari, Nagano, Japan. This work directly improves local access to clean water, sanitation, power and a safe environment.1.4 International recognitionFrom 25 to 27 September 2025, the programme was invited to exhibit with Osaka Institute of Technology in the Future Life Village at Expo 2025 Osaka. It was the only Taiwanese USR project shown at the Expo and drew more than 600 visitors in three days. In April 2026 it received a Merit Award (Sustainability Curriculum category) at the 7th Global Views USR Awards.📰 News and evidence links for this section [Direct] NTUST Official Website (2025/06/30) NTUST Engineers in Action partner with Japan and Indonesia to revitalise rural Dong'ao: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138039,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Direct] 1111 Job Bank News (2025/07/01) Can education transform rural areas? NTUST Engineers in Action light up the Dong'ao community with technology: https://www.1111.com.tw/news/jobns/161380 [Direct] NTUST Official Website (2025/10/08) NTUST Engineers in Action work in Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140988,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Direct] NTUST Official Website (2025/12/03) NTUST USR goes international: Engineers in Action invited to Expo 2025 Osaka: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-142778,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Direct] NTUST Official Website (2026/04/30) NTUST wins two awards at the 2026 Global Views USR Awards: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-147199,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Direct] CNA Press Release Platform (2026/09/24) NTUST Engineers in Action go to Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan, using engineering to meet community needs: https://www.cna.com.tw/Postwrite/Chi/4451252. NTUST Silicon Valley Program: International Start-up Resources for Campus Teams2.1 Programme designThe Business Incubation Center runs the NTUST Silicon Valley Program for campus spin-off teams. Teams need at least two members drawn mainly from NTUST staff and students, and at least one NTUST teacher or industry mentor as advisor. Each team receives up to NT$250,000. Selected teams pitch on an international stage in Silicon Valley, get face-to-face advice from venture capitalists, visit Google and international accelerators, and are supported by the Northern California alumni network.2.2 ResultsAccording to the Center's results page, 22 teams travelled to Silicon Valley between 2017 and 2025 (no teams are listed for 2020-2022 due to the pandemic), including Anx.IO Bio, Ergonome and Boring AI in 2025 and MIT Studio, COTWO and B-ECO in 2024. The programme gives students from all backgrounds access to international markets, investors and mentors that would otherwise be hard to reach.📰 News and evidence links for this section [Indirect] NTUST Business Incubation Center (Not stated) NTUST Silicon Valley Program highlights (teams 2017-2025): https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/%e8%87%ba%e7%a7%91%e8%b5%b4%e7%9f%bd%e8%b0%b7%e8%a8%88%e7%95%ab%e6%88%90%e6%9e%9c%e8%8a%b1%e7%b5%ae [Indirect] NTUST Business Incubation Center (2026/03/31) Hey entrepreneurs, how far is Silicon Valley? 15 April briefing on the 2026 NTUST Silicon Valley Program for campus start-up teams: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11347/3. Pre-employment Training: ESG Sustainability Management Practice Class3.1 Job training for unemployed peopleThe School of Continuing Education runs the government-commissioned ESG Sustainability Management Practice Class, now in its fourth cohort. It is open to unemployed people aged 20 or over with at least a high-school education who want to work in ESG-related jobs. Applicants register through Taiwan Jobs, the national employment portal, and are selected by written test and interview. Cohort 4 runs for 300 hours from 30 November 2026 to 17 February 2027.The course brings together NTUST experts in environmental engineering, green energy and management with ESG practitioners from industry, following a full training map to prepare "green-collar" workers. It gives unemployed people the skills they need to enter green industries and improves their job prospects.📰 News and evidence links for this section [Direct] NTUST School of Continuing Education (Not stated) Pre-employment Training: ESG Sustainability Management Practice Class, Cohort 4 (enrolment notice): https://sce.ntust.edu.tw/p/404-1074-152093.php?Lang=zh-tw4. General Education and Sustainability Courses: Understanding Social Structures and Disadvantaged Groups4.1 Social Practice Week and community partnershipsThe Center for General Education offers cross-disciplinary courses that deepen students' understanding of social structures, media access, sustainable development and care for disadvantaged groups. The first CGE Social Lab Social Practice Week in May 2025 worked with the Spring Bud social-innovation association to promote the circular economy and women's empowerment by upcycling coffee burlap bags, and with the Mekong Cultural Hub to explore climate and social challenges in Southeast Asia. The second edition in May 2026, "Re:Power", partnered with Taiwan Power Company on nine exhibitions, talks and visits about energy literacy and a USR project with the Tongmen Power Plant in Hualien, with more than 1,000 visits expected.The Chengnan Forum on 5 December 2025 brought in scholars and local practitioners from National Penghu University of Science and Technology, the Taitung Sustainable Development Association and others to discuss how general education can create social impact. The 2025 Social Practice Expo held the same day showed student projects such as "Dong'ao Culture and Sustainable Action" and "Technology Empowering Rural Areas for Urban-Rural Prosperity". In August 2026, the Center's Chengnan College signed an MOU with the Taipei Culture Foundation's Huanmin New Village at Toad Mountain, making the settlement a field site for general-education courses and USR.4.2 Summer schools open to high-school studentsThe Center runs the annual Chengren STREAM Immersive Summer School. The second edition, on 2-5 July 2025, invited high-school students from across Taiwan to try mBot programming, 3D printing and green energy, and to do fieldwork in the Treasure Hill, Jiahe New Village and Toad Mountain communities, where they proposed "social prescriptions". On 7-10 July 2026, 13 high-school students from across Taiwan learned alongside 15 NTUST students, giving young people outside the university access to its teaching resources.📰 News and evidence links for this section [Indirect] NTUST Official Website (2025/05/14) Upcycled burlap bags and an international film showcase: NTUST Social Practice Week links bilingual teaching and cross-disciplinary skills: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-136525,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Direct] NTUST Official Website (2025/08/05) Technology × humanities × public issues: NTUST immersive summer school makes "the community a classroom": https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138994,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Indirect] NTUST Official Website (2025/12/26) NTUST "Chengnan Forum" and Social Practice Expo turn knowledge into impact: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-143391,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Indirect] NTUST Official Website (2026/05/19) NTUST launches the CGE Social Lab Social Practice Week (Re:Power, with Taipower): https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-147817,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Direct] NTUST Official Website (2026/08/13) Chengnan as a classroom: NTUST builds young people's cross-disciplinary practice skills: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-150646,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw [Indirect] NTUST Official Website (2026/08/31) NTUST partners with Huanmin New Village at Toad Mountain, taking general education into the Chengnan cultural corridor: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-151078,r167.php?Lang=zh-twSummary of News CoverageThis indicator is supported by 15 news reports and evidence pages covering four programmes: Engineers in Action (6), the Silicon Valley Program (2), ESG pre-employment training (1) and general education and sustainability courses (6). Following the THE scoring criterion "Existence of programmes: maximum one point for directly supplied, only 0.25 points for indirect programmes", they are grouped by the impact of the action each item reports: Directly supplied: NTUST staff and students carry out the work themselves and supply basic services or training directly to communities or the public. Examples: Engineers in Action building trails, solar power, drinking-water and sanitation facilities and teaching in rural and overseas communities (including reports of its Expo exhibit and award), the School of Continuing Education's ESG pre-employment training for unemployed people, and the Center for General Education's summer schools for high-school students across Taiwan. 9 items. Indirect: NTUST does not supply a basic service to a community directly, but promotes access indirectly by training campus teams, raising student awareness, hosting forums or forming partnerships. Examples: the Silicon Valley start-up training, Social Practice Week, the Chengnan Forum and the Toad Mountain MOU. 6 items. A. News on directly supplied programmes B. News on indirect programmesSummary: The coverage shows NTUST using its engineering and technical-education strengths to promote access to basic services for all. Engineers in Action builds trails, solar power, drinking-water and school facilities in rural Taiwan and in communities in Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan. The Silicon Valley Program gives campus teams access to international start-up resources. ESG pre-employment training helps unemployed people gain green skills and jobs. General education and sustainability courses deepen students' understanding of social structures and disadvantaged groups and open NTUST's teaching to high-school students and local communities.

In line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 1 "No Poverty", NTUST treats poverty reduction as long-term work to protect the right to education, narrow urban-rural and digital divides, and build the capacity of disadvantaged groups. NTUST acts through campus support systems, general education, University Social Responsibility (USR) projects and international service, from the local to the global level: Financial support for disadvantaged students: NTUST provides a full aid system for students with financial need, including need-based scholarships and grants, emergency relief funds and on-campus work-study jobs, supplemented by corporate scholarships. These ease financial pressure and safeguard students' right to education and basic living. General education and sustainability courses: The Center for General Education and the Language Center offer courses such as "Introduction to Sustainable Development" and "Sustainable Development and Society", which bring SDG 1 and social-justice issues into teaching and build students' social responsibility. USR and local practice: NTUST runs USR projects such as healthcare outreach for elderly people in rural areas, community science and environmental education, mentor-led tutoring in students' home towns, and camps for new-immigrant families. These reach under-resourced communities and narrow gaps in information, learning and professional skills. International and transnational service: Through teacher education and transnational student teams, NTUST brings digital education, life education and international social responsibility to Kenya and the Philippines (Manila and Cebu), extending poverty relief and educational equity to the region and the world. The table below summarises NTUST's main actions at each level and the supporting news: 1. Local Level: Campus Financial Support and Disadvantaged Children in Taipei 1.1 Financial support system for disadvantaged studentsNTUST maintains a complete aid system for students with financial need, covering need-based scholarships and grants, emergency relief funds and on-campus work-study. It helps students from low-income families, or whose families face a sudden crisis, to stay in school, which helps break the cycle of poverty across generations.NTUST also brings in corporate support for disadvantaged students. In July 2025, Taiwan Fertilizer Co. donated nearly NT$2 million in scholarships, of which NT$600,000 went to NTUST for 20 students in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and the Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology. The awards go to high-achieving students from families in financial difficulty, and international students from New Southbound Policy countries are especially encouraged to apply.1.2 Green-energy education for disadvantaged children: flywheel power at Bethany Children's HomeUnder NTUST's USR "Sustainable Green Energy and Carbon Reduction" project, Associate Professor Cheng-Jhe Lin (Industrial Management) and Assistant Professor Hung-Lung Chou (Applied Science and Technology) led students to install a rooftop solar system and flywheel generators with storage at Bethany Children's Home. They also ran game-based lessons, such as flywheel contests and quizzes, to teach the children how flywheel and solar power work.The Rotary Club of Taipei Chung An and Ho An Insurance Agency donated two flywheel generators. Each has an output of about 500 W and generates about 4 kWh over 8 hours of use, directly lowering the home's electricity bills while providing environmental education.📰 News and evidence links for this section NTUST Official Website (2025/07/21) Industry-academia partnership: Taiwan Fertilizer scholarships support sustainable chemical-engineering talent at NTUST: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138593,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw NTUST Official Website (2024/09/23) Learning green energy through play: NTUST brings flywheel power generation to disadvantaged children: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-129038,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw2. Regional Level: Rural and Indigenous Communities in Eastern Taiwan 2.1 EMBA Alumni "Dream Come True in Taipei": narrowing the urban-rural gapOn 4-5 July 2024, the NTUST EDBA/EMBA Alumni Association brought 68 pupils from three rural primary schools in Hualien County (Guanyin, Changliang and Mingli) to Taipei, supported by nearly 300 alumni volunteers. The children saw NTUST's Formula Student electric race car and robots, tried VR/MR at the Department of Design, joined career tours, and visited Taipei 101 and the zoo. A thank-you dinner encouraged gratitude and social responsibility.The trip followed the previous year's "Gift of Love for Hualien", in which 104 alumni donated and 41 travelled at their own expense to deliver 253 gifts to pupils at six rural schools. This long-term support responds to the way the urban-rural gap limits children's sense of what their future can be.2.2 Engineers in Action: the Atayal community of Dong'ao, YilanThe Ministry of Education (MOE) USR project "Engineers in Action" has worked in Dongyue (Dong'ao) village, Nan'ao Township, Yilan County, for six years since 2020. From 7 to 16 June 2025, about 60 students and teachers from NTUST, Osaka Institute of Technology (Japan), Widya Mandala Catholic University (Indonesia) and Songshan Agricultural and Industrial High School rebuilt the Snake Mountain Trail with eco-friendly methods. They also installed a solar-powered guide wall at Dong'ao Station with audio in five languages (Mandarin, English, Japanese, Korean and Atayal), set up an Indigenous-language information board at Dong'ao Elementary School, and designed eight STEAM lessons.By combining infrastructure, tourism guidance and education, the project strengthens the community's ability to develop local tourism and improves both economic and educational conditions in a remote Indigenous village.📰 News and evidence links for this section NTUST Official Website (2024/07/08) NTUST EMBA Alumni help rural Hualien children "Make a Dream Come True in Taipei", opening up future choices: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-126794,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw NTUST Official Website (2025/06/30) NTUST Engineers in Action partner with Japan and Indonesia to revitalise rural Dong'ao: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138039,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw3. National Level: Curriculum, Policy Alignment and Multi-County Rural Service3.1 SDG 1 in general education and sustainability coursesThe Center for General Education and the Language Center offer courses such as "Introduction to Sustainable Development" and "Sustainable Development and Society". These cover poverty, inequality and social justice so that students across the university understand the structural causes of poverty and go on to service learning and USR work.3.2 USR and educational equity in line with national policyIn line with the MOE University Social Responsibility policy and the "I-Villages: Mobility for Change" programme, NTUST runs projects including healthcare outreach for rural elderly people, community science and environmental education, mentor-led tutoring in students' home towns, and camps for new-immigrant families. These bring university knowledge and people to under-resourced communities across Taiwan.3.3 Sweet Potato Ball volunteer team: technology equity in seven countiesThe Sweet Potato Ball volunteer team was founded by skills-competition students in the Bachelor Program of Applied Science and Technology and is advised by Chia-Wen Hu. Guided by the idea "from rural areas, giving back to rural areas", the team has since 2023 brought hands-on STEAM lessons such as 3D printing and laser engraving, combined with local culture, to New Taipei, Miaoli, Hsinchu, Changhua, Nantou, Yilan and Hualien. Participants range from 8 to 88 years old. By April 2026 the team had run 22 tailored sessions with 96 volunteer shifts, serving more than 510 people.The team received the MOE Youth Development Administration's 2nd Youth Volunteer Award (Rising Star) in 2025 and met the President, then received the Youth Volunteer Excellence Award in 2026. One team leader founded a science-education company after graduating to continue this work in rural areas, showing the long-term value of technical education in building capacity in disadvantaged regions.📰 News and evidence links for this section NTUST Official Website (2025/05/20) NTUST "Sweet Potato Ball" volunteers bring hands-on STEAM to rural Taiwan and win national Youth Volunteer Award: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-136716,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw NTUST Official Website (2026/04/08) Turning technical skills into impact: NTUST Sweet Potato Ball volunteer team showcases results: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-146363,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw4. Global Level: Transnational Educational Equity and International Social Responsibility4.1 Kenya digital-education volunteers and the Transnational Service Co-learning CourseIn summer 2023, with MOE support, Professor Shelley Shwu-Ching Young of the Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education ran the "Equation of Love" Kenya service project, leading 17 student volunteers (mainly from NTUST, with others from National Tsing Hua University and National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences) on a 20-day trip to Nyeri, Kenya. At Christ the King Girls' Secondary School and St. Mary's Boys' Secondary School they taught SDG-themed drawing, social-emotional learning, information literacy and AI picture-book creation, and they visited Gititu Secondary School. The aim was to "internationalise rural Taiwan and digitalise education in Kenya".The team then launched the Innovative Transnational Service Co-learning Course, which brings together 75 Taiwanese secondary students, 75 Taiwanese university students and 75 Kenyan secondary students for online learning. Rural Taiwanese children gain international experience and Kenyan students gain access to digital learning, narrowing digital and resource gaps on both sides.4.2 Life education and social-responsibility exploration in the slums of Manila, the PhilippinesUnder NTUST's USR project led by Professor Young, teacher-education students from a partner university, NTUST students and students from Sanchong Commercial and Industrial Vocational High School formed a joint team for the first time. They spent a week in Manila and Cebu on life-experience lessons, community service and cultural exchange. Working with the global humanitarian organisation Metro World Child, the team visited a Manila slum beside a garbage mountain, where more than half of the families live in less than about 6.6 m² (two ping). They joined children's Sunday school activities, handed out supplies and played games with the children.Facing extreme poverty first-hand helps future teachers and young people build empathy and a will to act on poverty, extending NTUST's concern for poverty relief and educational equity to Southeast Asia.4.3 AI life-education workshop with African studentsIn February 2025, Assistant Professor Tsai-Ju Lee and Professor Young ran an online "Life Review" workshop for 71 participants from Malawi and Kenya studying medicine, education and law. Participants used AI to write scripts, generate images and edit videos, producing more than 60 life-review videos while building AI literacy and cross-cultural understanding.📰 News and evidence links for this section NTUST Official Website (2023/09/17) Volunteers fly 9,000 km to promote digital education; NTUST to launch transnational digital co-learning with Kenyan students: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/404-1000-117070.php?Lang=zh-tw (also published on the NTUST USR website: https://usr.ntust.edu.tw/news/23) NTUST Official Website (2024/10/24) NTUST teacher-education students join vocational high-school students for the first time to bring life education to slums in the Philippines: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-130371,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw NTUST Official Website (2025/02/18) AI meets humanistic care: NTUST and African students create AI videos for cross-cultural life education: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-133525,r167.php?Lang=zh-twSummary of News Coverage This indicator is supported by 9 news reports covering the local, regional and national levels (2 each) and the global level (3):Summary: The news coverage shows NTUST's poverty-reduction work reaching from campus to the world. Locally, the aid system and corporate scholarships protect disadvantaged students' right to education, and a children's home has lower electricity bills. Regionally, NTUST gives long-term support to rural and Indigenous communities in Hualien and Yilan. Nationally, general-education courses and volunteer service across seven counties narrow technology and learning gaps. Globally, digital education, life education in slums and AI life education connect NTUST with Kenya, the Philippines and Malawi. Together these show NTUST's strategy of using education and technology to address SDG 1.

NTUST supports financially, socially and environmentally sustainable start-ups on campus and in the surrounding community through its Business Incubation Center (Taiwan Tech Innovation Incubator, Tii), the School of Continuing Education, academic departments, and its University Social Responsibility (USR) projects. With more than 26 years of incubation experience, the Center runs the "Taiwan Tech Industry Accelerator", which brings together distinguished alumni, industry mentors and NTUST's technical expertise in a model where established companies help smaller ones grow.NTUST's resources fall into two groups, depending on whether participants pay:Free resources: entrepreneurship talks, start-up resource briefings, hands-on workshops, the Global Talent Entrepreneurship Program (GTEP), the U-start Acceleration Camp and application coaching, start-up competitions, local USR collaboration, and pre-employment training that is fully subsidised for eligible trainees.Paid resources: professional courses for employed workers offered by the School of Continuing Education (e.g. the Carbon Inventory Practice Course), with government subsidies that greatly reduce the trainee's share. Incubator residency is provided under a tenancy agreement.1. Mentorship & Training Workshops1.1 Global Talent Entrepreneurship Program (GTEP) [Free]In 2022 NTUST launched the Global Talent Entrepreneurship Program (GTEP), a free, English-language, roughly six-month programme open to international students across Taiwan. It offers lean start-up courses and one-to-one expert mentoring, and ends with a Demo Day competition. The first cohort drew 10 teams from 8 universities and 13 countries. Winners included sustainability-focused ventures such as AFA, which recycles plastic bags into eco-friendly bags.The 4th GTEP Demo Day was held on 28 November 2025 in NTUST's International Building. After about six months of training and mentoring, teams from five countries competed alongside international teams from partner universities in Thailand. The total prize pool was NT$270,000, including a Special Excellence Award (NT$100,000), an Excellence Award (NT$50,000), Merit Awards and shortlist prizes.1.2 Silicon Valley and Overseas Training [Free / Funded]Working with its alumni, NTUST set up the "NTUST Silicon Valley Center" in the United States in 2016 and launched the "Taiwan Tech to Silicon Valley" programme. The programme selects campus spin-off teams with international market potential and funds them to train in Silicon Valley, visit companies, and meet investors and experienced entrepreneur-mentors. When they return, teams share what they learned and take up residency at the NTUST incubator for continued support.1.3 Entrepreneurship Talks and Hands-on Workshops [Free]The Business Incubation Center holds free, open talks and workshops in its Micro Garage, where founders share practical experience from the first idea through product development to a working business model1.4 Sustainability and ESG Professional Training [Free] / [Paid]The School of Continuing Education brings together NTUST experts in environmental engineering, green energy and management with ESG practitioners from industry. Its sustainability courses help job seekers and employed workers bring sustainability and carbon-management skills into their businesses:Pre-employment training: ESG Sustainability Management Practice Course, Cohort 4 (free): 20 Nov 2026 to 29 Jan 2027, 300 hours, for job seekers who want to work in ESG roles, training future green-collar professionals. Eligible trainees receive a full subsidy.Industrial talent course: Carbon Inventory Practice Course, Cohort 1 (paid): 9 to 23 May 2026, 18 hours, taught through case studies and hands-on exercises by an instructor specialising in ISO 14064, ISO 50001 and carbon footprinting. The fee is NT$3,510. Eligible employed workers receive a subsidy of at least 80% and pay NT$702.📰 News and evidence links for this section • CNA (5 Dec 2022) NTUST builds a cradle for international talent, pioneers start-up training for foreign students: https://www.cna.com.tw/Postwrite/Chi/330653 • Tii (Nov 2025) 4th GTEP Demo Day international competition concludes: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11194/ • Tii, 4th GTEP Demo Day event page: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11168/ • Tii, 2018 "Taiwan Tech to Silicon Valley" call for applications: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/4067/ • AI-Driven Business Innovation workshop: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/10982/ • "Entrepreneurs Are Here": Qunqingji https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11131/ | Mingtian Design https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11163/ • ESG Sustainability Management Practice Course: https://sce.ntust.edu.tw/p/404-1074-152093.php?Lang=zh-tw • Carbon Inventory Practice Course: https://sce.ntust.edu.tw/p/404-1074-146434.php?Lang=zh-tw2. Financial & Start-up Assistance2.1 Ministry of Education U-start Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program [Free]The Business Incubation Center coaches current students and alumni who graduated within the last five academic years as they form teams and apply to the Ministry of Education's U-start programme. U-start provides basic start-up funding in Stage 1 and additional grants for outstanding teams in Stage 2. Over five years, 37 NTUST teams received U-start funding, the most of any university in Taiwan. In 2022 alone, 8 teams passed Stage 1 (NT$4 million in total), and 3 of them were named outstanding teams and received another NT$1.1 million, for NT$5.1 million overall.To help teams write their proposals, the Center held briefings on the 2026 U-start Stage 1 application (9 to 11 Dec 2025). It also ran the free 4th U-start Acceleration Camp (10 Jan 2026, Micro Garage), with courses on pitching, product design and market strategy, start-up financial planning, and IP and patent strategy. Past U-start teams mentored participants one to one on their proposals. The camp was open to university students, recent graduates and young people aged 18 to 35, including foreign nationals with residence visas.2.2 Taiwan Tech Rising Star Start-up Competition [Free]The NTUST Distinguished Alumni Association runs this competition together with the university's start-up support system. Distinguished alumni mentor each team one to one, and the champion receives a NT$1,000,000 start-up fund. The 4th final took place on 19 September 2025 and was won by Boling Intelligent Control, an AI workflow-automation platform. Each finalist received NT$30,000 and each semi-finalist NT$20,000. Six coaching mentors and a panel of alumni and industry judges took part.📰 News and evidence links for this section • CNA (16 Nov 2022) NTUST start-ups win NT$5.1 million in U-start funding, the most teams funded nationwide: https://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/chi/329122 • Tii, 4th NTUST U-start Acceleration Camp: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11226/ • Tii, 2026 U-start Stage 1 application briefing: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11179/ • Tii, 4th Taiwan Tech Rising Star selection concludes: https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11204/ • NTUST News: NT.1,000,000 for Rising Stars to Shine: https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-106531.php?Lang=en3. Access to University Facilities3.1 Accelerator Residency and Co-working Space [Briefings free] / [Residency by agreement]The Business Incubation Center offers office space, the Micro Garage co-working space and company residency, and links early-stage teams with NTUST laboratories, faculty expertise and industry mentors. With listed company Liontek (撼訊科技), the Center runs a joint R&D centre that hosts start-ups on campus. It also helps teams apply for government grants, matches them with partner companies and promotes their products.To make these resources easier to reach, the Center held the free "2025 Taiwan Tech Accelerator Call for Applications and Start-up Resource Briefings":Session 1: 27 Mar 2025, Glass House, 1F International Building. Besides presenting incubation space and coaching services, outside agencies explained the Taipei City industry incentive programme, government policy resources for registered international incubators, the AI start-up investment programme, and the Startup Island TAIWAN overseas programme.Session 2: 16 Oct 2025, online, on start-up funding, financial planning and AI R&D resources.3.2 Technology Transfer and Industry-Academia CollaborationThrough the technology transfer function of the Office of Industry-Academia Collaboration and its specialist research centres, NTUST licenses patented technology and arranges industry partnerships, so that start-ups and local businesses can use university research. In 2025 the value of NTUST's industry-academia contracts topped NT$530 million, and IP income in 2024 reached NT$130 million, both record highs. With 73 invention patents in 2025, NTUST ranked fourth among Taiwanese universities. Its "steel side-brace buckling-restrained member" is licensed non-exclusively and has been licensed 89 times, so many small and medium-sized firms can use it.📰 News and evidence links for this section • Business Today (24 Dec 2024) NTUST Business Incubation Center focuses on technology and engineering, accelerating a big-helps-small incubation model: https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/183030/post/202412240021/ • 1111 Job Bank News (17 Mar 2026) NTUST ranks 4th in patents; industry-academia contracts top NT$530 million: https://www.1111.com.tw/news/jobns/164956 • 2025 Accelerator Call and Start-up Resource Briefing (Session 1): https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/10945/ • 2025 Accelerator Call and Start-up Resource Briefing II (online): https://www.bic.ntust.edu.tw/11134/4. Local Community & USR [Free]Through its University Social Responsibility (USR) projects, NTUST takes faculty and students into local communities. They work with residents, local governments, farmers' associations and community groups to build sustainable models that combine social benefit with regional revitalisation:Chengnan Unlimited: Sustainable Co-creation of the City and the Unlimited University: set in Taipei's Chengnan district, where NTUST is located, this project plans a cultural and environmental corridor linking the Gongguan campus, the Huizi Building, the Toad Mountain settlement and the Chengnan Academy. It returns what the project has built up to the community to support local sustainable development and revitalisation."From Fields to Stage: A Regional Revitalisation Experiment" (Guanshan, Taitung): in February 2026 NTUST's Department of Architecture signed an MOU with Waseda University, the University of Shiga Prefecture, the Guanshan Township Office and the Guanshan Farmers' Association. Together they are redesigning the association's "Mi Guo School" public space, reusing driftwood from Typhoon Morakot as building material. Students interview residents and contribute designs, Supporting local agritourism and food-education businesses.Engineers in Action: an international-collaboration project in the Ministry of Education's fourth USR phase. It works with universities in Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan on sanitation and water needs in remote communities.2026 MOE USR Joint Capacity-Building Event: on 18 September 2026 NTUST hosted "New Horizons for Sustainability: Innovation, Diffusion and International Cooperation". Scholars and practitioners from Taiwan, Japan, the US and Indonesia shared experience in regional revitalisation, smart governance and community resilience.📰 News and evidence links for this section • CNA (26 Feb 2026) NTUST Architecture partners with Japan in Guanshan, Taitung, to transform rural public space for regional revitalisation: https://www.cna.com.tw/Postwrite/Chi/426734 • CNA (21 Sep 2026) NTUST brings together USR experience from Taiwan, Japan, the US and Indonesia: https://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/chi/444750 • CommonWealth Magazine: NTUST "Chengnan Unlimited" project: https://www.cw.com.tw/article/5123189 • LINE TODAY: "Chengnan Unlimited" USR project: https://today.line.me/tw/v2/article/nXgeNEKSummary of News CoverageSummary: Media coverage shows that NTUST's start-up support covers four areas: talent training (GTEP, talks and workshops, ESG training), funding (the most U-start teams funded nationwide and a NT$1 million start-up fund), facilities and technology (the accelerator and record technology-licensing income), and local engagement (USR work in Chengnan, Guanshan and remote communities overseas). Most of these resources are free to students, alumni, job seekers and local communities, and government subsidies cut the trainee's share of paid professional courses to 20% or less. Together they show NTUST meeting SDG 1.4.1 by supporting sustainable local start-ups.

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST, Taiwan Tech) actively supports and organises events and programmes that promote the conservation and sustainable use of land, including forests and wild land. Coordinated by the Center for Sustainable Development and Institutional Research, together with the Environmental Safety Office, the Center for General Education, the Departments of Architecture and Civil & Construction Engineering, the Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, and several University Social Responsibility (USR) teams, NTUST brings land conservation into campus events, local communities and international learning, in line with UN SDG 15 (Life on Land). 1. Sustainability Week Series and Campus ActionEach year the Center for Sustainable Development and Institutional Research, with the Environmental Safety Office and USR teams, organises the NTUST Sustainability Week and the Aspire Higher Festival. These combine talks on sustainability in higher education and campus ESG action, promote ecological protection and the sustainable management of natural resources among students and staff, and reach out to neighbouring schools and communities to build an inclusive sustainability network.1.1 Sustainability policy and land practice: 2025 NTUST Sustainability WeekFrom 17 to 21 November 2025, NTUST held its Sustainability Week under the theme “Next and Tomorrow, United for Sustainability Together”, co-organised by the Center for Sustainable Development and Institutional Research, the Environmental Safety Office and USR teams. Events included a lecture on international trends in higher-education sustainability and ESG standards, a talk on marine waste and sustainable renewal, and the 2025 International Symposium on Intelligent Net-Zero Buildings with speakers from Hongik University (Korea), the University of Tsukuba (Japan), an Indonesian institute and Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior. Together they helped students and staff understand the sustainable stewardship of land and natural resources, from policy and the built environment to daily life.Related news and websites:▸ [2025-11] NTUST Center for Sustainable Development & Institutional Research | 2025 NTUST Sustainability Week series (Next and Tomorrow, United for Sustainability Together) https://po.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1059-141845,r763.php?Lang=zh-tw▸ [2024-12-20] Commercial Times | Embedding sustainability and social responsibility in campus DNA: NTUST wins the 2024 National Sustainable Development Award https://www.ctee.com.tw/news/20241220700579-4312041.2 Cross-school and community links: green education and workshopsThe Sustainability Week’s school series took workshops off campus: a board-game workshop and environmental disaster-prevention class at Fanghe Experimental High School (19 November), and “Sustainable Living” and “Sustainable Diet” classes at Gongguan Elementary School (21 and 27 November). The 2nd NTUST Aspire Higher Festival (2023) focused on sustainability, running seven workshops that invited nearby primary and secondary schools, borough chiefs and residents, alongside the “Let’s Travel Sustainable Campus” exploration activity. In September 2026, NTUST hosted the Ministry of Education’s USR co-empowerment event “New Horizons for Sustainability: Innovation, Diffusion and International Collaboration”, bringing together practitioners from Taiwan, Japan, the US and Indonesia.Related news and websites:▸ [2023-11-09] Commercial Times | 2nd NTUST Aspire Higher Festival opens with sustainability as its theme https://www.ctee.com.tw/news/20231109701290-431202▸ [2023-11] NTUST Campus Bulletin | 2023 NTUST Aspire Higher Festival – Let's Travel Sustainable Campus https://bulletin.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1045-118466.php?Lang=zh-tw▸ [2026-09-21] Central News Agency (CNA) | NTUST gathers USR practitioners from Taiwan, Japan, the US and Indonesia: from local revitalization to international co-creation https://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/chi/4447502. University Social Responsibility (USR) and Local Ecological ConservationThrough its USR teams, NTUST works in Indigenous communities, mountain forests and farming villages across Taiwan, turning academic expertise into concrete action for land conservation and sustainable use: environmental education in Indigenous areas, regeneration of farmland and rural public space, and land-friendly management in a reservoir catchment.2.1 Indigenous ecology and forest conservation: Project LET'S Go!Led by Associate Professor Ying Wang of the Center for General Education, the USR project “Project LET'S Go!” is built on “Local Engagement × Citizen Science × Sustainable Action” and works with Indigenous communities at Tongmen Elementary School (Xiulin Township, Hualien), Chishang Junior High School (Taitung) and Dong'ao Elementary School (Yilan). In August 2025 the project signed an MOU with Taipower’s Eastern Power Plant; with the Mugua River and Mt. Qilai as its setting, it promotes green-energy education, local video documentation and revitalisation of the Mugua River Story House, helping children understand the links between forests, rivers and energy. Working with the Dongyue Atayal community, it also brings traditional Atayal houses and culture into the curriculum so students learn first-hand how Indigenous people live with the land. The 2026 summer programme continues at sites in Hualien and Taitung.Related news and websites:▸ [2025-08-21] Taiwan Tech News (EN) | From Indigenous Classrooms to Engineering Sites: Project LET'S Go! partners with Taipower's Eastern Power Plant https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140045,r1182.php?Lang=en▸ [2022-09-30] NOWnews | NTUST USR co-learning: university volunteers introduce Atayal traditional houses to schoolchildren https://www.nownews.com/news/5943420▸ [2026] STUST forwarded announcement | 2026 NTUST x Project LET'S Go! Summer Program (Tongmen Elementary, Hualien; Chishang Junior High, Taitung) https://news.stust.edu.tw/id/932812.2 Sustainable landscape and farmland regeneration: “From Field to Stage” in Guanshan, TaitungThe Department of Architecture leads the USR-Hub project “From Field to Stage: A Place-making Experiment”. In 2026 it signed an MOU with Waseda University, the University of Shiga Prefecture, Guanshan Township Office and Guanshan Farmers’ Association to plan the public space of the “Rice School”, a former wartime granary. Besides renovating the existing granary stage, the plan adds an outdoor “Autumn Stage” in the rice paddies south of the site, so farmland serves both as agricultural landscape and cultural venue, and reuses driftwood left by Typhoon Morakot as circular building material. A related adaptive-reuse proposal won the Gold Award (Sustainable Revitalisation and Reuse) in the 2025 Taiwan Sustainable Architecture Design Student Competition. In 2023 the department had already held a 50-person East Asian Urban and Architectural Design International Workshop at Guanshan’s Riverside Park, the Rice School and the old street.Related news and websites:▸ [2026-02-26] Central News Agency (CNA) | NTUST Architecture partners with Japan in Guanshan, Taitung to transform rural public space https://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/chi/426734▸ [2023-08-14] Central News Agency (CNA) | NTUST international workshop in Guanshan inspires place-based architectural thinking https://www.cna.com.tw/news/ahel/202308140028.aspx▸ [2023-08-14] United Daily News (udn) | NTUST international workshop in Guanshan inspires place-based architectural thinking https://udn.com/news/story/6885/73673362.3 Land-friendly, low-carbon farming: Pinglin tea gardens in the Feitsui Reservoir catchmentAssociate Professor Chia-Chun Ho’s team (Civil and Construction Engineering) works in Pinglin, New Taipei, inside the Feitsui Reservoir catchment that supplies about six million people, addressing the land-use conflict between watershed protection and tea farming. The team developed slow-release, low-phosphorus fertiliser and installed vegetated retention (low-impact development, LID) facilities that cut phosphorus runoff and reduce carbon emissions by about 500 kg per hectare per year, and provides technical support and training for tea farmers. In November 2024, NTUST, the Taipei Water Management Branch (Water Resources Agency), tea farmers and companies held a results conference on water-quality conservation and low-carbon tea and signed a letter of intent. The project won the Excellence Award (Industry Co-Creation) at the 2026 Global Views USR Awards.Related news and websites:▸ [2024-11] Money Weekly | Water-quality conservation & low-carbon tea results: Taipei Water Management Branch, NTUST, Pinglin tea farmers and companies https://www.moneyweekly.com.tw/_Article?AID=161110▸ [2026-04-30] Taiwan Tech News (ZH) | NTUST wins two 2026 Global Views USR Awards https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-147199,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw▸ [2026-04-30] Taiwan Tech News (EN) | Taiwan Tech wins two top honors at 2026 Global Views Monthly USR Awards (Feitsui Reservoir project details) https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-148245.php?Lang=en3. International Student Engagement and Field-based Ecological ExplorationNTUST encourages multinational student teams to go beyond campus into Taiwan’s forests, protected areas and local communities, to learn how wild land is conserved and used sustainably, and to carry those lessons back to their home countries.3.1 ECO 4TUNE: Luanshan Forest Museum and New Taipei Metropolitan ParkMaster’s students from Indonesia, Kenya, Vietnam and Taiwan at the Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education formed the team “ECO 4TUNE” and designed their own five-day SDGs journey for the 10th Explore Taiwan 120h competition (2024), co-organised by the CTCI Education Foundation and the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy, winning third place. Their most memorable stop was the Luanshan Forest Museum in Taitung, where a Bunun guide led them along traditional hunting trails and they shared Bunun meals and made mochi, gaining insight into how Indigenous people live in harmony with the forest; the site links nature and culture to SDGs on quality education, sustainable communities and life on land. The team also studied New Taipei Metropolitan Park, which integrates flood prevention with ecological protection and recreation (SDGs 11, 13, 15), and visited the Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station. Through NTUST’s Digital Fellowship Program, team members shared Taiwan’s sustainability practices with schools in Kenya and Indonesia.Related news and websites:▸ [2024-05-13] CNA / United Daily News (udn) | NTUST multinational student team shines in Explore Taiwan 120h SDGs competition https://udn.com/news/story/6928/7959958▸ [2024] Taiwan Tech News (EN) | Taiwan Tech forms international student team for customized Taiwan SDGs exploration tour https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-126348.php?Lang=en▸ [2024] NTUST Secretariat News (EN) | ECO 4TUNE visits Luanshan Forest Museum and New Taipei Metropolitan Park https://www.secretariat.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1063-126101.php?Lang=en3.2 International students in local land-based fieldworkNTUST’s Engineers in Action programme regularly takes local and international students into rural communities. In summer 2025, NTUST formed its first joint international team with partner universities from Japan and Indonesia for a 10-day field programme in Dong'ao, Yilan, combining local environmental improvement with Indigenous culture so that international students take part directly in caring for Taiwan’s land and communities.Related news and websites:▸ [2025-06-30] Taiwan Tech News (ZH) | NTUST Engineers in Action join Japan and Indonesia to empower rural Dong'ao https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138039,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw▸ [2025-06-30] Taiwan Tech News (EN) | Taiwan Tech engineers team up with Japan and Indonesia to empower rural communities https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-138260.php?Lang=en