Opening speech by the Environmental Protection Bureau

A picture of all participants at the event

　The Environmental Protection Bureau held a teacher workshop for the second time this year. This time, participants went to the Nantou City Water Recycling Center as portrayed in the picture book Water! Water! Going where?. On August 18, 2022, the Nantou City Water Recycling Center held a running water ceremony. Participants in the workshop had the honor to become the first group of visitors to take part in this instructional event at the Water Recycling Center.

　A Water Recycling Center tour guide and board game lesson were arranged for the morning session. The factory director introduced sewage treatment facilities for participants to observe the sewage treatment procedure. Many participants expressed that it’s a rare chance to visit the Water Recycling Center and they learned a lot. The Soil and Water Conservation Section of the Environmental Protection Bureau used a themed board game, “Land Defender,” to teach about soil and underground water pollution. By playing this game, participants will cherish the environment more in daily life. Participants won two rounds in a row, and discussed how their use and viewpoint of soil and water quality and use varied depending on the role they played.

　In the afternoon session, associate professor Zhi-Qi Yang and Dr. Chong-Chi Chen of the Department of Civil Engineering, National Chi Nan University, interacted with groups of participants. Through the practice of deliberative democracy, they worked with participants to brainstorm lots of ways to solve water resource problems. One participant said that more teacher workshops and speeches could be held to introduce environmental concepts in schools. Another suggested that picture books could be used to implement environmental education beginning with younger students.

　Each group came up with solutions for water resources in a short time. It might have seemed challenging at the beginning, but all groups presented their results on the poster after discussion and actively shared the idea of water resource issues from each group. With the lecturers’ guidance, participants discussed and shared with each other. They clarified misunderstandings about soil and underground water and came to understand problems and solutions.

　The Environmental Protection Bureau hopes to start environmental education from the picture book based on this field. Although picture books are for young children, lots of courses and activities can be derived from the environmental issues in the book. Young children are not the only ones who can learn from this picture book. Through different teaching methods, everyone can learn about environmental problems and come up with solutions.