【Report by the Office of University Social Responsibility】

The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, bringing together 198 Parties to discuss how to implement the goals of the Paris Agreement. At this critical moment for humanity's sustainable development, the NCCU Office of University Social Responsibility, the Higher Education Sprout Project Office, and the Sustainable Development Task Force jointly organized the “USR × Sustainable Development International Conference,” inviting experts from Taiwan, the U.S., Japan, and Thailand to gather at the Da Hsian Library to share perspectives on sustainability through social practice and humanistic innovation.

Themed “Flowing Rivers, Tracing Origins: Toward the Next Decade of USR and Sustainable Development,” the conference reviewed NCCU’s social practice journey, starting with the large-scale interdisciplinary Lokah project in Wulai in 2013. Today, NCCU’s USR efforts have expanded from the Greater Wenshan area to other regions including Northern Taiwan, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, and Central Taiwan. The scope of service has grown to include rural, disadvantaged, agricultural, indigenous, and new immigrant communities.

President Li Tsai-Yen emphasized that talent cultivation and knowledge innovation are core missions of a university. Extending professional services beyond campus while addressing student learning needs and supporting local communities embodies the university's value as a public good.

The conference also responded to COP28 themes such as “Adaptation and Resilience,” “Climate Technology,” “Cooperative Activities and SDGs,” “Education & Youth,” “Gender,” “Innovation,” “Land Use,” “Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform,” and “Market and Non-Market Mechanisms.”

Facing Sustainability Challenges: From Knowledge Sharing to Nature-Based Solutions

Echoing the university’s role as a public good and COP28’s call for “innovation” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate resilience, keynote speaker Solomon Darwin, Director of the Center for Open Innovation at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, delivered a talk titled “How to Think Like the Earth’s CEO? How Can We Restore the Earth’s Declining Balance Sheet?” He explained how nature fosters new life through pollination and reproduction, using this as a metaphor for “open innovation,” a system of knowledge sharing and integration that can inspire solutions to today’s sustainability challenges.

Darwin noted that the Earth is a complete umbrella ecosystem made up of interdependent life systems, natural cycles, and life-sustaining elements. In the absence of human interference, the Earth naturally recycles waste, repairs damage, reuses by-products, and replenishes resources. However, human greed has disrupted and damaged these delicate systems.

Technological breakthroughs have not curbed greed. The human pursuit of convenience led to inventions like cars, ships, railways, airplanes, highways, and factories—relying on the consumption of finite underground resources and releasing increasing amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Since the industrial era, corporate wealth has grown exponentially, but the Earth can no longer sustain this growing demand. As a result, the Earth’s green balance sheet has declined by over 50%.

He urged the need for better methods to collectively manage the Earth’s balance sheet, rather than expanding individual corporate ones at its expense. By drawing lessons from nature's systems, open innovation can quickly harness collective intelligence to find solutions to climate challenges.

Complementing Darwin’s emphasis on open innovation, Ho Jih-Sheng, Deputy CEO of Tzu Chi Foundation, introduced the concept of an “Economy of Goodness,” asserting that economic behavior should be inherently altruistic and socially harmonious—responding to COP28’s “Market and Non-Market Mechanisms” topic.

Building a University-Centered Regional Innovation System through USR

Also addressing innovation, former Minister of Education SE-HWA WU delivered a keynote titled “The Practice of Humanities Innovation 3.0 in Higher Education,” calling for the co-construction of technology and humanities and the co-creation of knowledge between universities and communities. His proposal echoes COP28’s “Education & Youth” focus, advocating for the development of regional innovation systems centered on universities.

WU explained that since the Industrial Revolution, Innovation 1.0 and 2.0 emphasized market monopolies and technological expansion for profit. As economic and technological globalization progressed, humans were forced to deepen their relationship with technology. However, with the rise of intelligent technology challenging human roles, we must ask: “Has technology improved well-being? If humans can be replaced by AI, what is the meaning of life?”

He argued that new technologies have become excessive, and values must be restructured. Sustainability, inclusion, and safety should take precedence over profit and efficiency. With demographic shifts like aging populations and declining birthrates, the role of universities must be redefined. Education should shift from “knowledge-based” to “life-based,” emphasizing interdisciplinary learning that builds future-readiness, imagination, design thinking (for ecosystem governance), and storytelling (for advocacy).

“Only when people strongly imagine the future will they imagine how to change it,” WU added. Humanities Innovation 3.0 does not aim to overthrow the past but builds upon previous innovations. With digital technology as a foundation, it starts with the local environment and returns to caring for society. He proposed the H-EHA model: Humanities, Ecosystem, Hub, and Asterism—essential components for a successful platform.

Humanistic concern, WU emphasized, is the soul of Humanities Innovation 3.0. It must tell compelling stories with legitimacy—such as Taiwan’s recent local revitalization projects—to inspire wider participation. He encouraged professors to conduct interdisciplinary research based on real-world issues, proposing solutions for community improvement. Universities should position themselves as hubs for regional innovation, integrating institutional resources.

A Decade of Action-Oriented Academia: NCCU's Expanding USR Network

In addition to keynote speeches on “humanistic innovation” and “sustainable development,” the conference also emphasized “Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Local Knowledge Systems,” a theme recognized at COP28 as key to addressing climate change. Ten years ago, NCCU’s Lokah Project in Wulai already highlighted the importance of preserving such knowledge through action-oriented academia and social engagement.

The Lokah Project planted the seeds for USR, extending NCCU’s social engagement internationally and laying the foundation for broader University Social Responsibility initiatives. Vice President Chen Shu-Heng likened NCCU’s USR system to a professional baseball league and farm system: supporting both early- and advanced-stage teams through Higher Education Sprout funding, preparing them to apply for Ministry of Education USR grants.

Over the past decade, NCCU’s USR initiatives have expanded in scope and focus. Topics now include place-based studies, young farmers returning home, local revitalization, social enterprise, and climate resilience. Internationally, projects address Austronesian exchanges, new immigrant and migrant labor communities, and connections to Southeast Asian countries. Cultural engagement remains a key feature of NCCU’s USR, aligned with the SDGs and COP28 themes.

From November 15 to 17, the conference featured sessions such as “Reviewing NCCU’s Lokah and USR Projects,” “Community Well-being in Cities, Rural, and Remote Areas,” “Social Practice Cases in Remote Regions,” “Social Practice and International Engagement,” “Social Enterprise and University Involvement in Thailand,” “Local Revitalization in Northern Thailand,” “Local Engagement through Communication and Digitalization,” and “Social Practice in Taiwan’s Indigenous Communities,” gathering scholars and youth from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand for cross-sector collaboration.

Chairperson Teruki Tsunemoto of Japan’s Foundation for Ainu Culture delivered a speech on “UPOPOY and the Cooperation between Universities and the Ainu Community,” receiving praise from Vice Chairperson of Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples, Hsing-Hua Chung. Tsunemoto fondly recalled his collaboration with NCCU’s Indigenous Studies Center and the Lokah Project during his time at Hokkaido University, which contributed greatly to academic and policy progress for indigenous peoples in both countries.

The conference also included the “Youth Forum on Sustainable Development,” where students from Taiwan, Japan, and Thailand shared sustainability efforts in their respective countries. Representing Taiwan, NCCU Economics student Chien Wei-Cheng presented the local revitalization project “Returning to Yongan, Shiding – Reimagining Rural Futures,” in which a cross-disciplinary team conducted fieldwork in Shiding’s Yongan Community near the Feitsui Reservoir to address economic, cultural, environmental, and social issues—leaving a deep impression on the audience.

Forum moderator Chao Ching-Chi, Vice Dean of the College of Foreign Languages and Literature, praised the project’s creativity and comprehensive perspective, commending the forum for uniting young people from diverse backgrounds to share unique insights and solutions. This cross-disciplinary innovation, she said, not only highlights youth potential but also their ability to bring real change to the world.

USR Toward the Next Decade: Starting with Local Sustainability

As COP28 tackles global sustainability challenges, what should be the next steps for university social responsibility? In his keynote, SE-HWA WU posed a reflection: What is higher education innovation for in the next decade? He argued that disruptive innovation should begin from the margins, with freedom and flexibility, aiming ultimately to enhance well-being—starting from one’s own community and neighbors.

He emphasized that USR should not treat students as cheap labor or merely class assignments. It must redefine industry-academia KPIs—from 1.0 (academic breakthroughs), to 2.0 (community care), and now 3.0 (hands-on projects)—encouraging students to confront global challenges and become global citizens by solving real-world problems.