On 30 October, the MOENV held its first environmental education certification review meeting after its organizational restructuring. The meeting was convened by Ms. Shih Wen-chen, the MOENV’s first female deputy minister. Three environmental education facilities were certified during the review, including the Marine Life Propagation Station in Penghu County, the Neihu District Wastewater Treatment Plant in Taipei City, and the Kaohsiung City Seafront Water Resource Center. The MOENV stated that these certified environmental education facilities have a social responsibility to promote environmental protection, resource conservation, environmental social and corporate governance (ESG), providing the public with enjoyable environmental education experience in a safe and professional environment.

The Marine Life Propagation Station in Penghu County is the only facility in Taiwan that produces seaweed seedlings for aquaculture farmers. In recent years, it has been involved in coral reef restoration and facilitating cultivation of various marine organisms and resources. As part of these initiatives, it has developed related programs and courses promoting marine ecological restoration and conservation. The course on coral protection and restoration is the most distinctive one among these programs.

The next is the Neihu District Wastewater Treatment Plant in Taipei City, which primarily handles sewage from Neihu District and Dazhi neighborhood in Taipei City, as well as part of Xizhi District in New Taipei City. The plant employs a secondary biological treatment method, and after final disinfection with sodium hypochlorite, the treated wastewater is discharged into the Keelung River. With environmental education programs, the plant aims to help students understand the concept of household wastewater and its treatment process, as well as eventually raise their awareness about the importance of water resources by demonstrating production and utilization of both recycled and reclaimed water.

Finally, the Kaohsiung City Seafront Water Resources Center is mainly responsible for transforming wastewater generated from people's daily lives into reclaimed water through the wastewater tertiary treatment. The final product is then supplied to corporations such as China Steel for use in their industrial manufacturing processes. Additionally, the center has developed innovative educational content using virtual reality technology, immersing the audience in a virtual journey of a small water droplet. The public is thus able to gain firsthand understanding of the importance of water resources.

The Environmental Education Certification Review Committee consists of 21 members. The MOENV’s first female deputy minister, Ms. Shih Wen-chen, and Acting Director Chang Shun-chin of the National Environmental Research Academy act as the lead and deputy conveners, respectively. The rest of the committee is composed of experts and scholars, 14 of whom representatives of non- governmental organizations and five of whom officials from various government agencies. Facilities seeking environmental education certification must first undergo preliminary review by a subcommittee formed by members of the Environmental Education Certification Review Committee, and only those that pass the preliminary review will enter final evaluation by the entire committee.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, November 2023