In order to help students understand the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to encourage them to participate in sustainable issues, the NPUST Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainability Office, Herlin Chien, organized the “2022 Youth Rooted in Sustainability – SDGs Training Workshop”. The October workshop, which took place at the university library, was held in cooperation with President Chain Store Corporation and Unity Sustainability Services. The aim was to help students become more versed in cross-disciplinary issues and sustainable thinking, and to teach them to put the “new values” of sustainable living in to action by practicing them in daily life.

Eighty-seven students from an elective course on Systematic Thinking and Public Issues participated in the workshop under the guidance of Chien. The activity was opened up by Wei-shan Chang, the director of Unity Sustainability Services, who shared on suitability trends and introduced the students to SDGs. Starting from the topic of Global Warming, and describing the relationship between us and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the students learned that sustainability was not some distant concept, but is something that begins with daily activities—every little change that people make, can bring about big change for the world.

President Chain Store Corporation public affairs representative, Si-Yan Hsueh, shared on examples of corporate SDG applications, from the reduction of plastic packaging to the encouragement of consumer adoption of eco-friendly cups, showing everyone that with corporate determination, consumers and companies can respond to these issues together.

In the second half of the activity, a board game was used to help the students understand the SDGs better and introduce them into ESGs. Through small-group discussions and role playing, students worked to overcome risks and create a comprehensively sustainable city.

The three-hour workshop used rich and exciting content related to 17 sustainable development goals to help students focus on sustainability issues in the field of ESG and inspire them to integrate sustainability practices into daily life. They learned that small changes in life can bring about great changes to the world—and that by working together, they can all contribute to the sustainability of the planet.