“Taiwan in My Eyes 120H - SDGs Festival,” A Sustainable Journey Starts from the Heart

Having been held through the manner of online visit for the 8th session in 2022, the 9th “Taiwan in My Eyes 120h－the SDGs Festival” jointly organized by the CTCI Education Foundation (CTCI EF) and Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE) has finally been able to be conducted through field exploration as the pandemic began to decline in 2023. Following the opening ceremony on February 6, a heart-oriented journey for sustainability has officially begun, unveiling a 5-day visit to a total of 5 designated enterprises and 6 self-selected venues for participating students.

To unveil the event, the first stop was visiting the second headquarters building of CTCI. Vice President Shyi-Yun Jean and engineer Jacky Lin at CTCI took the students for an actual visit to the second headquarters of CTCI—a green building—where they conducted a guided floor tour and  shared observations on ESG and CSR-related topics, allowing the students to learn about how CTCI adopts core expertise while persisting on the brand spirit of “being the most reliable global engineering services provider,” catering for the economic, social, and environmental development to make a contributions to the sustainability of the Earth.

Vice President Shyi-Yun Jean and engineer Jacky Lin at CTCI lead a guided tour at the second headquarters of CTCI.

The second stop was the Taipei Fubon Bank (Chengdong e-Family Branch), where there are a total of 5 elementary schools and 11 nurseries in the immediate vicinity due to geographical relationship. Accordingly, the Taipei Fubon Bank embraces its core values of “Commerce in Life, Life with Commerce” to establish the first smart family branch in Taiwan, which is established on the principle of family education and family financial management. The e-Family branch is centered around three main characteristics, including parent-child interaction, financial education, and green environmental protection. A 5-meter high indoor smart aquarium that spans across two floors is created that allows for a close-up interaction with abundant green ecology, thereby letting the participants know by sight the results of implementing environmental sustainability through the promotion of “Green Financial Development” by the Taipei Fubon Bank.

Visiting the Chengdong e-Family Branch, Taipei Fubon Bank in the afternoon of the first day.

The third stop was the “Green Dream Plant in Miaoli County,” an incineration (energy-from-waste) plant BOT project in Miaoli County jointly developed by Miaoli County Government and ECOVE, a CTCI company, and officially in operation in 2008. In addition to resolving the garbage treatment issue, the Green Dream Plant connects the operating conditions of EfW plant and the environmental protection concept through various multi-media functions of the exhibiting spaces with featured themes. Also, Green Dream Plant combines the topic of Zhunan Wetland close by, allowing the visiting public to learn about the ecological environment for the restoration of the brush-footed butterflies, thereby developing a sense of mission towards environmental protection and fulfilling corporate social responsibility.

Students visit the Green Dream Plant in Miaoli County.

The fourth stop was the “TSMC Southern Taiwan Science Park Water Reclamation Plant (CTCI Water-Green-Energy Reclamation Center),” this plant is the first water reclamation plant in the global industry to successfully re-use industrial wastewater in the semiconductor manufacturing process with the application of innovative green technology. CTCI invested in design, build, own and operate the plant for the next 20 years (Design, Build, Own and Operation, DBOO). Since the official operations in September 2022, it has effectively relieved the water-supply pressure in the greater Tainan region and further set a significant milestone for global water resource recycling.

Students pose for a group photo at TSMC Southern Taiwan Science Park Water Reclamation Plant.

The last destination for the enterprise visits was the “TSC Dong Hai Feng Agricultural Circulation Park,” which adopted closed negative pressure water curtain barns, deodorizing water curtains and closed pipeline pig feces transportation design via the construction of a circular economy and environment, thereby improving the odor issue caused by the conventional pig- farming approach. Green energy facilities such as biogas power generation and solar energy have also been introduced into the park, transforming waste into energy. By promoting environmental education, stressing the importance of bringing circular economy model in agriculture, it pioneers the domestic livestock industry, and is the world’s first livestock park to attain the international certification for BS 8001 Circular Economy Standards.

Yeong-Ren Chen, Committee Member at CTCI EF and Chair of the Department of Health and Welfare, University of Taipei presented a certificate of appreciation to Yen-Ju Tsai (left), Deputy Director at TSC.

With the event coming to an end, a total of 12 teams with 48 participants from 12 universities and 22 countries made their 5-day field exploration into slides and videos, and made presentations at the award ceremony on March 25 to share what they saw in Taiwan in their eyes.