【Sustainable Campus Initiative at National Taiwan Normal Univeristy】

Dr. CHOU, Ju has taken initiative to deepen the area of environmental education and ESD in Taiwan as pioneer of the field. He has been also active in international context as UNESCO Chair on Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability since 2002. In this open forum, he introduced the current status and the history of the developmental process of ESD in Taiwan, and also introduced the project, Sustainable Campus Initiative he carried on at National Taiwan Normal University.

<Taiwan Sustainable Campus Program (TSCP)>
The “Taiwan Sustainable Campus Program” (TSCP), a government-supported and nationwide endeavor, has been implemented since 2002 to reform school campus to be a learning space of safety, health, education and sustainability. The TSCP also emphasizes the implementation of ESD which consists of the core development of ecological thought, humanistic concern and active learning.

<National Taiwan Normal University’s involvement in TSCP>
National Taiwan Normal University has long time involvement in developing Environmental Education (EE) and promoting ESD in Taiwan. As the leading teacher preparation university in Taiwan, NTNU has also actively involved and provided consultation to the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the TSCP. NTNU has also implemented the TSCP project since 2003. In order to create a platform for first-hand teaching and learning experience for sustainability in NTNU, a series of efforts have been launched including converting an old administration building and the surrounding school garden at College of Sciences into a Sustainable Campus of NTNU since 2004. The transforming of the campus old facilities to better ones which address sustainability were financially supported mainly by MOE, and also including funding support from Department of Interior, and NTNU. The Sustainable Campus Initiative of NTNU has gradually become a demonstration base for many varieties of university courses teaching. Moreover, GIEE has developed ESD teaching materials and interpretive media for the university students, neighboring school students, teachers and community residents.

<The features of NTNU Sustainable Campus Initiative>
The sustainable campus initiative at NTNU consists of the following four perspectives:
　　1. Rainwater Harvesting and Black Water Treatment and Recycling System
The process for conserving water which is designed for the sustainable campus initiative of NTNU, is collecting rainwater at the beginning, then reusing it for watering vegetables on the green roof and flushing toilet, and finally recycling the sewerage water purified by a constructed wetland system to water a garden.

　　2. Increasing the Campus Biodiversity
Seated in a modernized and tensed inner city, NTNU is eager to demonstrate her ambition to maintain a well balanced ecological environment. The major efforts are to offer more green spaces for animals, plants and people, and increase the varieties of ecological habitats to attract more creatures as a result to increase biodiversity. A green roof system, constructed wetland, and aquatic ponds are established in this initiative to increase more green spaces and ecological habitats.

　　3. Energy Conservation System
The mechanism of energy conservation for the NTNU sustainable campus initiative is both passively using green roof system and special sun-shade design to avoid direct sunlight, and actively installing solar voltaic panels and wind mill to generate energy.

　　4. Environmental Education and Interpretation System 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 The sustainable campus initiative of NTNU has been recognized as a learning center for ESD. Educational materials and interpretation system have been developed for EE and ESD.

<The impact of NTNU Sustainable Campus Initiative>
The sustainable campus project of NTNU has been an EE platform for both formal and non-formal education and for elementary schools students, teachers and principals since its beginning stage of planning and designing. It demonstrates how to actualize the concept of sustainability in our surrounding environment through actively taking environmental actions. Above all, all the endeavors for infrastructure works, system maintaining, and networking with local communities have been theories laden. Appropriate knowledge has been applied during the whole process, which not only has made certain the correct guidance for the project but also enriched the teaching and learning of the GIEE. More than thousands of school students and teachers have visited the facility. Based on the fact that the number of visitors is increasing gradually, the effect of the project is quite positive.

<Conclusion>
The NTNU Sustainable Campus Initiative has been a demonstration site for the TSCP of Taiwan. Alternative energy, water conservation, recycling, healthy environment, and biodiversity are the main features promoted and funded by the MOE every year. How to realize the above features in the school campuses has always been the concern of MOE and schools principals who may have already got the funding from MOE or be interested in requesting funding in the future. The sustainable campus initiative of NTNU presents the answers to these concerns very well. Workshops funded by MOE and field trips organized by schools to visit NTNU sustainable campus initiative are quite frequent. The NTNU Sustainable Campus Initiative has a great influence on Taiwanese schools’ practices of the sustainable campus program.