NTUST encourages students to apply their technical expertise in volunteer service, working with NGOs, local communities and international partner universities to bring engineering, design and education capacity to rural areas, disaster-hit communities and developing countries.
One of NTUST's flagship USR programmes, EIA brings together faculty, Taiwanese students and international students who work with local non-profit organisations, partner universities and residents in Indonesia, Vietnam, Nepal, Japan and rural Taiwan. In 2025, teams restored a greenhouse and built a crop dryer and composting system in Pacet Village, Indonesia, with Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) and Osaka Institute of Technology; repaired roofs, plumbing, electrical systems and installed automatic irrigation in the Gubug Lazaris community with Widya Mandala Catholic University; installed a post-earthquake rapid building safety assessment system and multilingual evacuation signs at a shelter in Kawakami Village, Nara, Japan; and built an outdoor reading corner and sports field at Long Tuyen 2 Elementary School, Can Tho, with Can Tho University. In Taiwan, the programme has served the Atayal community of Dongyue, Nan'ao (Yilan) for six consecutive years since 2020; in 2025 about 60 students and teachers from NTUST, Songshan Agricultural and Industrial Vocational High School, Osaka Institute of Technology and Widya Mandala restored the Snake Mountain trail and produced community guide signs. EIA is an international-collaboration project in the MOE's 4th-phase USR programme, was invited to present at the 2025 Osaka World Expo, won the Sustainable Curriculum Excellence Award at the 2026 Global Views USR Awards, and has trained nearly 1,000 students.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-06-30] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST Engineers in Action join Japan and Indonesia to serve Dong'ao tribal community https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138039,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-06-30] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech engineers team up with Japan and Indonesia to empower rural communities https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138260,r1182.php?Lang=en
▸ [2025-10-08] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST Engineers in Action serve communities in Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140988,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-12-03] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST USR gains international visibility as Engineers in Action is invited to Osaka Expo https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-142778,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-12-03] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech USR Program, Engineers in Action, gains global spotlight at Osaka World Expo https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-143617.php?Lang=en
▸ [2026-04-30] NTUST News (Chinese)｜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
▸ [2026-04-30] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech wins two top honors at 2026 Global Views Monthly USR Awards https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-148245,r1182.php?Lang=en
▸ [2026-09-21] Central News Agency (Chinese)｜NTUST brings together USR practice from Taiwan, Japan, the US and Indonesia: from local revitalization to international co-creation https://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/chi/444750
Associate Professor Po-Chien Hsiao (Department of Civil and Construction Engineering) leads students in a long-term partnership with the Taipei Jhu Jhu Mama Children's Education and Care Association (珠珠媽媽兒童教育關懷協會), working in the Himalayan mountain town of Pisang, Nepal, on orphanage slope stabilisation, post-earthquake housing reconstruction and a storytelling house. In July 2024, when heavy rain washed out the road to Pisang, 13 students went instead to the Bodhichitta Development Society orphanage in Pharping, south-west of Kathmandu, levelling the slope and building a hand-laid slate pathway using traditional Paiwan techniques, and teaching Chinese to the children. In summer 2025 the team returned to Upper Pisang to convert a century-old house into a "Story Café", build a retaining wall, install signage and guide maps, plan evacuation routes, deliver earthquake-preparedness education at Manang School, and supply and repair facilities at two Kathmandu orphanages.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2024-07] NTUST News (English)｜USR Beyond Borders: Taiwan Tech Students Build a Pathway for an Orphanage in Nepal https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-127813.php?Lang=en
▸ [2025-09-23] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST deepens engagement in Nepal's mountain town for local revitalization and disaster education https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140536,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-09-23] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech empowers Nepal's mountain communities with local revitalization and disaster education https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-141506.php?Lang=en
From 28 to 30 October 2024, NTUST, the Social Impact Investment Fund (SIIF) and the New Taipei City Chinese Youth Growth Foundation held the UN SDGs Forum in Okinawa, Japan, together with the USR "I-Villages" project. Nearly 100 university and high-school youth ambassadors from 30 countries took part, and more than 32 youth representatives received pre-departure online training and field training. Groups proposed solutions on climate change, environmental protection and social development, compiled into the "Okinawa Declaration", which was submitted to COP29 in Azerbaijan.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2024-11] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST hosts international SDGs Forum gathering youth ambassadors from 30 countries for the Okinawa Declaration https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-130897,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2024-11-07] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech hosted the international SDGs Forum for Okinawa Declaration on Global Sustainability https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-132601.php?Lang=en
▸ [2024-12] Taiwan News｜Taiwanese youth contribute to COP29 statement https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5989096
The "Sweet Potato Ball" Volunteer Team of the Bachelor Program of Applied Science and Technology delivers STEAM maker education (3D printing, laser engraving) to rural schools in seven cities and counties (New Taipei, Miaoli, Hsinchu, Changhua, Nantou, Yilan, Hualien), with 22 customised courses serving over 510 people. It received the MOE Youth Development Administration's Youth Volunteer Award (Rising Star) in 2025, was received by the President, won a further Youth Volunteer Excellence Award in 2026, and held an exhibition with free workshops at Bopiliao, Wanhua.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-05-20] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST Sweet Potato Ball Volunteer Team brings STEAM maker courses to rural areas and wins Youth Volunteer Award https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-136716,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2026-04-08] NTUST News (Chinese)｜Turning technical skills into impact: Sweet Potato Ball Volunteer Team exhibition https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-146363,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2026-04-08] NTUST News (English)｜From Technical Skills into Social Impact: Taiwan Tech Sweet Potato Ball Volunteer Team https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-148257,r1182.php?Lang=en
On 4 October 2025, the NTUST Student Association and the EMBA/EDBA Alumni Association mobilised nearly 100 volunteers (about 60 students and 34 alumni) to help clear silt and restore homes in Guangfu Township, Hualien, with the Alumni Association and partner companies providing funding and supplies.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-10-14] NTUST News (Chinese)｜Nearly 100 NTUST students and EMBA alumni volunteer in Hualien flood clean-up https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-141169,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-10-14] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech Student Association and EMBA alumni join Hualien Cleanup https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-142263,r1182.php?Lang=en
Through the Center for General Education's Social Practice Courses, NTUST students carry out action research with NGOs, foundations and communities on real-world social issues, while USR teams conduct applied research with local organisations and return the results to the field.
The Center for General Education operates a Social Practice Course System in which students submit individual or group proposals and complete social practice projects with external NGOs, communities and institutions. A cumulative 8,350 projects have been completed; SDG 4 (Quality Education) accounts for the largest share (55%), and the group-proposal participation rate is 53.85%. The courses are linked with USR projects (e.g., the One-Ping Landowner project, Spark+, Engineers in Action, Vital Creative Aging) as a practice-based research platform.
Related news and web links:
▸ Website: CGE Social Practice Course System https://sp.cge.ntust.edu.tw/
▸ Website: Social Practice Course statistics https://sp.cge.ntust.edu.tw/news/chart
The first Social Practice Week (5–9 May 2025) partnered with the Spring Sprout Social Innovation Development Association (春芽公益創新發展協會) and the Reed Women Power initiative (蘆葦女力) on "Handmade × Empowerment", a bilingual workshop upcycling coffee-bean burlap sacks to explore the circular economy and women's empowerment, and with the Mekong Cultural Hub on "Voices from Mekong", featuring speakers from Laos and Thailand (Blue Chair Film Festival, Prayoon for Art Foundation) on environmental change in the Mekong basin. The second edition (May 2026) focused on energy, with nine exhibitions, talks and site visits and an expected 1,000+ participants.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-05-14] NTUST News (Chinese)｜Upcycled burlap bags and a Mekong film showcase: NTUST Social Practice Week https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-136525,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-05-14] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech Social Practice Week promotes eco action and global dialogue https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-137262,r1182.php?Lang=en
▸ [2026-05-19] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST launches Empathy Social Lab – CGE Social Practice Week https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-147817,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2026-05-19] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech launches "Empathy Social Lab – CGE Social Practice Week" https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-149104,r1182.php?Lang=en
On 5 December 2025, the Center for General Education, the MOE USR project Spark+ and the NTNU Social Practice Center co-hosted the Chengnan Forum and 2nd Social Practice Expo on "Repositioning General Education: Knowledge, Action and Social Impact". The Taitung County Sustainable Development Association shared fishing-village sustainability research, and student teams presented practice-based research on the restoration of Guoben Farm, Dong'ao culture and sustainability, mental health, urban–rural technology and renewable-energy education.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-12-26] NTUST News (Chinese)｜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
▸ [2025-12-26] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech's Chengnan Forum and Social Practice Expo turn knowledge into influence https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-143608,r1182.php?Lang=en
ECO 4TUNE, a team of master's students from Indonesia, Kenya, Vietnam and Taiwan in the Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, competed in the 10th "Explore Taiwan 120h" (theme: "Sustainability in Action"), co-organised by the CTCI Education Foundation and the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), a leading sustainability NGO in Taiwan. Over five days the team explored sites mapped to the 17 SDGs (e.g., TCC DAKA Circular Park, Luanshan Forest Museum, New Taipei Metropolitan Park) and won third place.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2024-05] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST international student team designs a Taiwan SDGs exploration tour https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-124911,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2024-05] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech forms international student team for customized Taiwan SDGs exploration tour https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-126348.php?Lang=en
▸ [2024-05] United Daily News (Chinese)｜NTUST international student team shines at Explore Taiwan 120h with SDGs https://udn.com/news/story/6928/7959958
Associate Professor Ho's team (何嘉浚) (Department of Civil and Construction Engineering) runs "Clean Water, Fragrant Tea, Shared Prosperity", working with Pinglin tea farmers, nine companies and Rotary Clubs to develop slow-release low-phosphorus fertiliser and bioretention (LID) facilities that reduce phosphorus runoff into Feitsui Reservoir, cutting about 500 kg CO2 per hectare per year. Rotary and corporate partners purchase low-carbon tea, and the project has built an international research platform involving experts from nine countries. It won the Industry Co-creation Model Award at the 2026 Global Views USR Awards.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2026-04-30] NTUST News (Chinese)｜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
▸ [2026-04-30] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech wins two top honors at 2026 Global Views Monthly USR Awards https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-148245,r1182.php?Lang=en
Since 2024, the USR team of Distinguished Professor Chiou (邱建國) has worked with the Daxue Village Office in Da'an District, Taipei, on structural testing and risk assessment, converting an idle old building into a Resilient Community Disaster Prevention Center with a disaster education room, supplies room, evacuation route maps and an inventory system. Opened in 2025, it provides disaster-preparedness training for residents.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-11-13] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST USR team and Daxue Village revitalize an old building into a Resilient Community Disaster Prevention Center https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-142185,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-11-13] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech USR Team transforms old building into Resilient Community Disaster Prevention Center https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-142930,r1182.php?Lang=en
NTUST faculty and students co-develop teaching materials, learning tools, courses and exhibition resources with foundations, community organisations and rural schools, bringing SDG knowledge into communities, Indigenous villages and schools.
The USR "Vital Creative Aging" team works with community senior-learning centres, with students designing art-based creative ageing courses and activity materials that help elders recall "the four seasons of grandparents' memories" through painting and co-creation, supporting healthy ageing and intergenerational inclusion (SDG 3, SDG 4). The materials are featured in the USR column of the Social Practice Course platform.
Related news and web links:
▸ [—] NTUST USR website｜NTUST USR "Vital Creative Aging": blending art into grandparents' memories of the four seasons https://usr.ntust.edu.tw/news/26
▸ Website: CGE Social Practice Course System https://sp.cge.ntust.edu.tw/
Since 2023, the Spark+ team has run a science summer school at Tongmen Elementary School, Hualien, and signed an MOU with Taipower's Eastern Power Plant. It developed the interactive board game "Energy Monopoly" (simulating wind power with blowing balls and hydropower with PET bottles), course modules "Where Does Green Energy Go?" and "Saving Power Starts with Me", interactive displays for the Mugua River Story Museum, and a planned local power and culture video documentation project, bringing energy education into Indigenous classrooms.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-08-21] NTUST News (Chinese)｜From tribal classrooms to engineering sites: NTUST Spark+ builds a bridge for energy education https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-139425,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-08-21] NTUST News (English)｜From Indigenous Classrooms to Engineering Sites: Taiwan Tech's Spark+ energy education project https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140045,r1182.php?Lang=en
▸ [2024] NTUST USR website｜Spark+ | 2024 Summer School Special Issue https://usr.ntust.edu.tw/news/30
In the course "Introduction to Green Energy and Sustainability Education", Associate Professor Sen-Tung Wu (Graduate Institute of Energy and Sustainability Technology) led 35 university students to develop safe, engaging energy lesson plans and problem-based experiments (e.g., a light-up Lunar New Year card circuit, water rockets), delivered to about 40 pupils at Yutian Elementary School, Jiaoxi, Yilan, during the winter break.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2026-03-12] NTUST News (English)｜Professor Sen-Tung Wu from Taiwan Tech bridges urban–rural learning gap through science outreach https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/16-1000-146727.php?Lang=en
In 2026 the Center for General Education signed an MOU with the Taipei Culture Foundation, using Huanmin New Village at Toad Mountain as a teaching base for courses such as "Chengnan Mini-Tours", "Art and Public Environment" and "Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development", with planned on-site courses, workshops and exhibitions linking nearby sites (e.g., Treasure Hill Artist Village) into a "Chengnan Learning Network". The 2nd STREAM Immersive Summer School (2025) also used Treasure Hill, Jiahe New Village and Huanmin New Village as field sites, where university students guided senior-high students to design local "social prescriptions".
Related news and web links:
▸ [2026-08-31] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST partners with Huanmin New Village (Toad Mountain) to bring general education into the Chengnan cultural corridor https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-151078,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2026-08-31] NTUST News (English)｜Taiwan Tech partners with Huanmin New Village to bring general education into the community https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-151734,r1182.php?Lang=en
▸ [2025-08-05] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST STREAM immersive summer school: 'the community as classroom' https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-138994,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
The Indigenous Student Resource Center and Indigenous youth club conducted fieldwork in the Atayal community of Jinyue, Nan'ao, curating the exhibition "hata – Still on the Road". The Nepal volunteer team, with the Jhu Jhu Mama association, designed a tri-fold disaster-preparedness leaflet, and Engineers in Action produced multilingual evacuation signs in Kawakami, Japan, turning disaster knowledge into locally usable educational resources.
Related news and web links:
▸ [2025-09-25] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST 'hata – Still on the Road' exhibition goes into an Atayal community https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140656,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-09-23] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST deepens engagement in Nepal's mountain town for local revitalization and disaster education https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140536,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
▸ [2025-10-08] NTUST News (Chinese)｜NTUST Engineers in Action serve communities in Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam https://www.ntust.edu.tw/p/406-1000-140988,r167.php?Lang=zh-tw
