To inspire school-age children to explore their living environments with all their senses, the EPA and the Ministry of Education jointly held the third competition for creative environmental maps. Elementary school students are encouraged to collaborate with their classmates, parents, or teachers to make their maps by observing, digging around, and documenting their surrounding areas. Participants can submit their maps between now and 2 December to win a top prize worth up to NT$200,000.

The previous two competitions received a good response, receiving a total of 356 submissions. The submissions showed the full range from good to bad of Taiwan from different perspectives and through the eyes and minds of children. The event welcomes pupils who will be in second to sixth grade this September to compete. There will be two age groups: middle classmen (from second to fourth grades) and upper classmen (fifth and sixth graders). Participants are allowed to team up with students from different schools so that children of different ages and schools can exchange ideas on environmental topics. With parents and teachers accompanying them to observe living environments, children will learn more about various environmental issues in their daily lives and use their enhanced understanding to make maps.

Submitted maps are to incorporate one of the five environmental education themes: environmental ethics; sustainable development; climate change; disaster prevention and rescue, and; sustainable use of energy and resources. There are also manuals on how these maps are to be created to enable competitors to express their motives and messages behind making individual maps, as well as to express more reflections about caring for one’s own living environment.

To help students better understand the making of environmental maps, from July to November this year a series of promotional events were held, including meetings and workshops for children, teachers, and parents. Attendees were able to learn more about the competition via fun games and by chatting with winning team members from the two previous competitions. In addition, they toured the sites on which the previous winning maps were based, to learn about the map creators’ motives, choice of themes, and on-site investigations. The goal was to inspire potential participants and help them understand the basics of making environmental maps.

Mother nature is the best teaching material in a child’s journey to grow and learn. Making environmental maps allows kids to visit their communities, explore new people and things, discover unexpected wonders, and naturally identify with and love their neighborhoods. The EPA sincerely invites parents and children to embark on environmental education and environment-friendly practices in their daily lives by teaming up, exploring, creating, and sharing. Detailed information on competition rules and relevant events can be found on the event website at: https://www.environmentalmap.com.tw/.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, August 2022