Recently, the tremendous changes of all aspects in the world have brought an impact to university education. The relationship between the universities and society has undergone revolutionary change, many have started to re-examine the role of universities in society.

Aimed to enlighten academics and students on how universities can play a more active role in supporting youth participation in driving sustainable development, a collaborative Guest Talk was jointly organised by Taiwan National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (YunTech)’s Centre for Sustainable Development & Social Practice and UTAR’s Division of Community & International Networking (DCInterNet). The Guest Talk titled “USR transformation of university governance: a shift from community building to sustainable-driven development” was conducted on 2 December 2021 via Zoom. The webinar saw more than 120 participants.

The webinar was conducted by Taiwan YunTech Department of Digital Media Design Professor-cum-Center of Sustainable Development and Social Practice Director Dr Wen Huei Chou. The webinar was moderated by UTAR DCInternet Deputy Director Dr Chen I-Chen.

Invited to deliver the opening remark was UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong. He thanked Dr Wen for sharing her insights and said, “When we talk about USR (University Social Responsibility), it is more than a responsibility to serve the community, because it takes into account the commitment and effort poured out to bring significant impacts to the communities and drive sustainable transformation that will enhance the lives of society. Added with the emphasis on sustainability, USR also highlights the need for universities to commit to environmental sustainability, embed diversity, ensure equity, promote inclusivity and achieve the targets outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

He added, “UTAR as a university ‘by the people, for the people’ was awarded the Sin Chew Business Excellence Award (SCBEA) 2017 in the CSR Excellence Award category. The award is given based on UTAR’s continuous USR projects and initiatives. These initiatives, conducted under the UTAR New Village Community Project (UNVCP) cover a diverse spectrum of activities ranging from research, R&D projects, consultation, training, conferences, talks and seminars, to voluntary community services in New Villages and rural areas, health campaigns, gotong-royong, free health services, financial aid and scholarships, leadership and youth camps, and teaching and learning support.”

Dr Wen kick-started her talk by introducing the term “University Social Responsibility (USR)”. She said, “There are different interpretations of USR. In my opinion, USR is a strategy of talent cultivation for  university students, which focuses on local connection and revitalisation. It also means that universities will collaborate with the community to solve problems. In USR projects, students and academicians could put the theories they have already known into practice.”

Speaking on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Dr Wen enthused the need to consider SDGs in USR projects. She said, “We are more proactive to build the connection with the concept of sustainable development in our USR’s strategy. We are trying to be more conscious of sustainability in university education. When we think of the future, we have to put our activities into a bigger framework. We have to analyse not only the problem in front of us, but also think of the further future. Besides that, USR projects are not limited to looking for the future of human kinds, but also the future of everything on this planet. We need to bear in mind that we are actually living in a connected world, our today is the past decision. So, the decision we make today will be our future tomorrow.”

She added, “YunTech is a technology and science university which means it pays more attention to the practical education of knowledge and skills. In our USR’s goals, we aimed to facilitate communication and cooperation between transdisciplinary teams, enhance the quality and quantity of teachers and students participating in USR, widen the field of cooperation and problem dimensions and implement the practical ability to solve issues with professional knowledge. Compared to most universities in Taiwan, YunTech invests a lot of the budget on USR projects. We got the fund inputs from three sources, namely the YunTech’s Center of USR, the resources investment and also from the Ministry of Education (MOE).”

She then continued her talk by introducing YunTech’s goals in 2021, the AEAT. The “AEAT” stands for agriculture, environment, ageing services and technology. In order to reach their goal, YunTech’s students and academicians work on various activities including, consensus workshop, transdisciplinary workshop, pitching-open space technology, story-telling, seminar, participatory budgeting: call for projects, field trips and other interesting activities.

“YunTech call for special projects in 2021. Any professor who has his or her interest in any issues that are under the big umbrella of social impact and social innovation, can group their own teams and submit the projects. These can be an individual project or a transdisciplinary team project. Topics can be but not limited to the themes such as protection and inheritance of cultural assets, wellbeing, industrial technology upgrade, community building, health care and improving rural education,” explained Dr Wen.

Throughout the talk, Dr Wen shared her insights on how universities can play a more active role in encouraging and supporting students’ participation in driving sustainable development. She also presented many other USR projects that have been organised by YunTech.

Before she ended her session, she said, “As the most important goal for all of us, we should make USR as a paradigm of our education and the foundation of the university’s academic philosophy. As long as we take the USR as the supreme governance for our universities, it will become like faith and belief. I believe this is the best moral education in higher education because, in the end, we will all benefit from this decision.”

The webinar then saw an active interaction between the speaker and the participants. The talk ended with an extensive yet insightful Q&A session.