Prof. Chen Yu-Ching of the department of the Adult and Continuing Education led the program of “2021 Universities and Colleges’ Practices and Co-creation in Rural Areas”, held by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau. Students participating in this program can experience rural life, discover local issues, such as the lack of labor force in the rural areas.

In turn, the program can nurture their abilities to solve problems of multigeneration living in aging societies and design services accordingly. The students can also learn the concepts of self-help, mutual aids, and the co-living between young and older generation, then help the local communities find ways to sustainably develop their areas and to create happy homelands.

This program aims to integrate different generations and bring young people back to rural areas. Our program, led by prof. Chen has already achieved followings goals: (1) A group called “Little Vegetable Seedlings” has been organized to empower college students and community members in agricultural and social enterprises; (2) The

“Community Co-creation Base for Young and Older Generations” has been created and a health room, abandoned and unused for a long time, was renovated to serve as a spot where the elderly can rest and children in the community can study, as well as a center for student community entrepreneurship and service. At the same time, it has become a base for college students to work in the village and provide services to the community; (3) Through courses, the students learn how to plan and organize plans for all ages in communities and to improve the communication and interaction of the community members. Therefore, local young people also have opportunities to care and participate the development of their own communities. The program will be continued by our PhD students to conduct community participation mode research and to analyze models of school mentoring, companionship, growth and community-based learning outcomes at the Tengliao Community, Chiayi County. 

Videos of our spot at the Tengliao Community: https://reurl.cc/2ZEavE