There are three environmental education programs at NCUE in collaboration with NGOs. Each is described in detail, below, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Serial No., Program Title

No.	Program
1	Ecological Homelands and Urban-Rural Sustainability：A Changhua Ecological Art Project
2	Beautiful and Treasured Clams in Fangyuan and Dacheng: Sustainable Industry and Environment Project of Changhua’s Two Cities Amid Climate Change
3	Taoyuan International Airport Corporation Programme/Commissioned Planning and Design for Invasive Red Fire Ant Control Operations

1. In response to the ecological crisis of global warming, NCUE launched the “Ecological Homelands and Urban-Rural Sustainability: A Changhua Ecological Art Project” project under the Department of Arts' University Social Responsibility (USR) initiative in 2023. With "Local Care" as the main focus, this project aimed to realize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: "Climate Action." NCUE has organized various free activities, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Free Activities and Number of Participants in 2023

No.	Activities	Number of participants
1	Green Companionship - Ecological Art Exhibition	300
2	Horticultural Therapy [Experience] 2023 Five Senses Gardening Workshop for the Elderly	30
3	Changhua City Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park Ecological Guide Training Workshop I	48
4	Changhua City Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park Ecological Guide Training Workshop II	48
5	Changhua City Xiangshan Community Ecological Guide Training Results and Family Picnic Event	78
6	"Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park" Ecological Mini-Tour	12

(1) Linking NCUE's USR with Changhua Christian Hospital's CSR, we organized the “Green Companionship - Ecological Art Exhibition.” This exhibition increased green recreational spaces near urban areas while allowing students to connect with local communities and contribute to ecological sustainability, forming an alliance for the local ecosystem. The opening day attracted 50 participants, and attracted over 300 people throughout the event. Participants included hospital staff, patients, families, and community residents.( Figures 1-2)

Figure 1: "Green Companionship - Ecological Art Exhibition" venue setting

Figure 2: Group photo at the opening ceremony

(2) The project emphasized healing the ecological environment through urban greening and supports elderly individuals with horticultural courses. Thus, in collaboration with the Changhua Senior  Learning Center, we organized the “Horticultural Therapy [Experience] 2023 Five Senses Gardening Workshop”, which had 30 participants.(Figures 3-4)

Figure 3: Participants happily sharing their works

Figure 4: Group Photo of Participants

Project Activity Link: https://www.youtube.com/@USR-ew5yk

(3) In collaboration with the Xiangshan Community Development Association, we organized four events, including the "Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park Ecological Guide Training Workshops" and ecological mini-tours, as shown in Table 3. All activities were provided were free of charge. (Figures 5-6)

(a) Two training workshops for ecological guides on the Xiangshan Trail Eastern Park, in which 48 volunteer guides were trained.

(b) On the training and picnic event, participating tour guides were divided into four groups. They were required to cover six stations, each with ecological information boards. The event showcased community volunteer guiding results and invited young farmers from Changhua City to introduce bee ecology and coffee grounds green circular economy DIY experiences, such as making coffee grounds deodorizers, mosquito coils, and incense pagodas. The event had 78 participants.

(c) We also led students on an “Ecological Mini-Tour” to the collaborative venue "Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park," allowing them to observe plants in the field and expand their teaching methods through ecological guidance, complementing their classroom learning about plants.

Table 3: Overview of "Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park Ecological Guide Training Work shop" Activities

Event Name	Date	Number of Participants
Changhua City Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park Ecological Guide Training Workshop I	2023/8	48
Changhua City Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park Ecological Guide Training Workshop II	2023/9	48
Changhua City Xiangshan Community Ecological Guide Training Results and Family Picnic Event	2023/9	78
"Xiangshan Trail Oriental Park" Ecological Mini-Tou	2023/12	12

Figure 5: Exploring the Xiangshan Trail

Figure 6: Group Photo of the Team

2. Beautiful and Treasured Clams in Fangyuan and Dacheng: Sustainable Industry and Environment Project of Changhua’s Two Cities Amid Climate Change Project: This project promoted environmental education, introduced eco-friendly practices, air pollution awareness, beach cleaning and wetland conservation, energy conservation and carbon reduction, product packaging, and marketing research and practical experiences to assist in addressing local environmental protection and aquaculture development issues.

(1) The research project included collaboration with the Changhua County Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Association to develop strategies for climate change adaptation. In addition to serving and surveying the Changhua County Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Association's fish ponds, coastal water intake channels, and groundwater wells, the project has expanded its scope based on stakeholder feedback from the USR project. This included serving golden clam producers and surveying additional areas, such as the upper, middle, and lower reaches of rivers that serve as water sources for fish ponds. The project aimed to maintain and monitor the safety of water resources for aquaculture operators and coastal areas. All these services were provided free of charge. Related activity photos are shown in Figures 7-8.

Figure 7: Conducting on-site investigation activities

Figure 8. 2023/06. In 2023, the water quality investigation team from the Department of Biology, as part of the USR program, conducted water quality surveys of rivers upstream, midstream, and downstream.

(2) “Sustainable Development and Practices of Coastal Biological Resources”: The course included a workshop on “The Use of Beneficial Bacteria in Aquaculture” and a class on “Aquaculture and Greenhouse Gases.” Participants included students, faculty members, local aquaculture professionals, and community groups, all working together to maintain the health and sustainability of local aquatic ecosystems. Photographs of related activities are shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9. 2023/04. The course on “Aquaculture and Greenhouse Gases” was designed to educate students, faculty, local aquaculture professionals, and community groups. It promoted environmentally friendly production strategies and aims to collectively maintain the health and sustainability of local aquatic ecosystems.

(3) Aquaculture production of Asian hard clams is environmentally friendly as carbon dioxide is absorbed in the process, thus curbing greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. Polyculture based on ecosystem functions can reduce the use of baits, save water, and decrease waste. Risks can be lowered, and quality and quantity of products can be improved with the use of intelligent aquaculture, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data analytics. New technologies form the core of the project, which helps implement innovative teaching that combines research courses, and teacher-student learning services, together with in-depth development and operation of aquaculture tourism in the fishing village to create and exploit new values of urban and rural development for both NCUE and the local industries, related event photos as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10. NCUE’s teachers and students partnered with members of local groups to conduct a survey on the ecosystem and organisms in the coastal wetlands to establish a marine ecological database and monitor information related to economic fishery resources.

Facebook fan page of project-related activities:

https://www.facebook.com/NCUEUSR/photos/?tab=album&ref=page_internal

3. Taoyuan International Airport Corporation Program/Commissioned Planning and Design for Invasive Red Fire Ant Control Operations (Figure 11).

Figure 11: The NCUE-Taoyuan International Airport fire ant control team searches for imported red fire ants at Taoyuan Airport with the assistance of a fire ant detection dog.