Empowering a Sustainable Future through Education and Technology
Every action is the starting point of change. Sustainability is not a single achievement, but a series of changes accumulated through education, technology, and action.
In response to the critical challenges of global climate change and sustainability transformation, National University of Tainan (NUTN) continues to advance its core development strategy of "sustainability driven by education, research linked to industry, and practice responsive to society." The University is deepening its institutional governance and sustainability initiatives, demonstrating higher education's pivotal influence on sustainable development through concrete performance.
In terms of environmental sustainability, NUTN has established a comprehensive greenhouse gas inventory system, using 2024 as the baseline year for carbon accounting, and continues to monitor campus carbon emissions as a foundation for advancing energy conservation, carbon reduction, and the transition toward net zero. At the same time, through measures such as optimized energy management, equipment upgrades, and the development of a low-carbon campus, the University has gradually reduced its carbon intensity, demonstrating concrete actions and outcomes in its net-zero transition.
In teaching and research, NUTN has long integrated sustainability concepts into its curriculum and research development. Through interdisciplinary learning, industry-academia collaboration, and social practice, the University cultivates talent with sustainability literacy and practical capabilities. In 2025, NUTN actively responded to educational transformation in the AI era by promoting cross-disciplinary integration and the incorporation of technology into teaching, offering courses that help students without an information technology background learn programming and artificial intelligence applications, comprehensively enhancing students' digital and AI literacy.
In terms of social responsibility, NUTN continues to advance its University Social Responsibility (USR) programs, extending its educational capacity to local communities and rural areas. Through a dual-track model combining "after-school support for rural areas" and "environmental education and science outreach," the University has established a co-learning mechanism between the campus and the community. In addition to learning theory in the classroom, students gain hands-on experience with forward-looking issues such as the circular economy, deepening their practical capabilities while enhancing public understanding of and participation in sustainability issues, further expanding NUTN's local impact on sustainability.
In 2025, NUTN's sustainability efforts were once again widely recognized. The University received the Grand Prize in the Well-being and Symbiosis category and the Model Award in the Talent Co-learning category of Global Views Monthly's University Social Responsibility Awards, ranked third among public medium-sized universities in CommonWealth Magazine's USR Civic University Award, and was awarded the Bronze Award in the Sustainability Report category of the Taiwan Sustainable University Award. These honors fully demonstrate NUTN's overall performance across the three dimensions of environmental, social, and governance (ESG). In addition, in international rankings, NUTN's performance in the SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) indicator of the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings placed the University in the 301–400 global range, reflecting NUTN's growing international influence in green energy research and net-zero action.
Looking ahead, National University of Tainan will continue to deepen its sustainability governance mechanisms, strengthen the connections among teaching, research, and industry, and expand its local and international influence. Through the joint efforts of all faculty, students, and stakeholders, NUTN aspires to build a resilient and exemplary sustainable university, contributing key strength to Taiwan's net-zero transition and to global sustainable development.
President
Hui-Ping Chen