Although Taiwan is surrounded by the sea, due to its climate and geographical conditions, the available freshwater resources are insufficient, making water resource the most significant element on Taiwan’s social and economic development. In recent years, countries all over the world have become aware of the importance of sustainable development, which highlights the maintenance of biodiversity, and ecological conservation, and water resources play the crucial role. NCUE’s Environmental Education Center, and Center for General Education are responsible for the planning and implementation of environmental programmes related to the freshwater ecosystem. We provide free education to nationwide communities, NCUE’s students, and junior and high school teachers by applying for programmes funded by the Taiwan government. The courses include observing freshwater ecosystems, freshwater organisms, and indicator organisms in freshwater, freshwater water quality parameters, freshwater ecosystem water quality parameters, and testing the water quality in the campuses and communities, water for industrial use, which includes irrigation, industrial water, energy water, agriculture, and fisheries. In addition, the courses also explore the water pollution issue in sightseeing, individuals, and enterprises to promote water conservation. These programmes aim to improve the knowledge of NCUE’s students, junior and high school teachers, and nationwide communities on water conservation and their awareness of freshwater environment protection.

1. NCUE’s Environmental Education Center

The Environmental Education Center offers programs, including “24-hour, 100-hour courses for the certification of environmental education personnel”, the "Beautiful and Treasured Clams in Fangyuan and Dacheng: Sustainable Industry and Environment Project of Changhua’s Two Cities Amid Climate Change," Department of Biology’s “Changhua Coastal Hard Clam Habitat Survey and Conservation Education Promotion Project”.

(1) 24-hour, 100-Hour Courses for Environmental Education Personnel Certification

The Environmental Education Center’s duty is to nurture environmental education talents. In conjunction with the project “Beautiful and Treasured Clams in Fangyuan and Dacheng: Sustainable Industry and Environment Project of Changhua’s Two Cities Amid Climate Change” project, EEC provided relevant education courses for the local and nationwide communities from July to October 2024, with the details shown in Table 1 and the activities shown in Figure 1-2:

Table 1. Environmental education course activities

Figure 1. Special Program for Environmental Education Personnel at NCUE

Figure 2. Environmental Education Personnel 100-Hour Program: outdoor instruction

(2) Course Information Link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1080081833905178&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1082290977017597&type=3

2. "Beautiful and Treasured Clams in Fangyuan and Dacheng: Sustainable Industry and Environment Project of Changhua’s Two Cities Amid Climate Change", “Changhua Coastal Hard Clam Habitat Survey and Conservation Education Promotion Project”:

Under these projects, the University offered the courses “Coastal Biological Resources” and “Sustainable Development and Practices of Coastal Biological Resources,” which integrate theories and practices. The curricula covered coastal biodiversity, eco-friendly aquaculture techniques, water and sediment quality testing, fish consumption culture, and the promotion of low-carbon aquaculture. In collaboration with local communities, the courses also advanced marine conservation and sustainable fisheries. In the same year, NCUE carried out the industry–academia collaboration project “Changhua Coastal Hard Clam Habitat Survey and Conservation Education Promotion Project,” conducting a series of marine citizen science courses at Xinbao Wetland and Wanggong Fishing Harbor. Activities included:

(1) Habitat surveys of hard clams (winter, spring, summer, and autumn; four sessions in total, including sediment improvement trials)

(2) Volunteer training for habitat surveys (4 sessions, 41 participants)

(3) “Seed Teacher Training” (3 sessions, 91 participants)

(4) “Little Clam Detectives” educational activities (4 sessions, 185 participants)

The training and practical sessions encompassed water quality testing, biodiversity surveys, bivalve classification, coastal tourism, and conservation education promotion. NCUE also collapsed with Cao-Hu Junior High School, Hanbao Elementary School, and Lukang Elementary School to integrate scientific investigation with local education. Project results show that sediment improvement effectively promotes the growth of coarse-sediment indicator species such as hard clams and corbicula, suppresses the dominance of ring clams, and enhances carbon sequestration potential and benthic biodiversity. In addition, the participation of citizen scientist also effectively increases survey data and strengthens community water resource safety and conservation awareness, successfully establishing a demonstration model that combines scientific research with educational promotion. Activities photos are shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. “Little Clam Detectives” Water Quality Investigation Workshop, Caohu Junior High School

3. Center for General Education

In 2024, the Center for General Education offered one class of the related general education course “Water Resources and Human Civilization.”

Link for reference information:
https://webap0.ncue.edu.tw/DEANV2/UploadDEAN/SUBJECT/1131/00243_0CCGE0175120.pdf