About Us
The objective of environmental education in Taiwan is to cultivate citizens’ environmental literacy, enable people to understand the importance of environmental protection, enhance their awareness and appreciation of nature and the artificial environment, acquire knowledge of the natural environment and ecology, develop active environmental attitudes and behaviors, and acquire positive environmental attitudes and values, thereby facilitating responsible environmental behaviors to solve environmental problems and fulfill a sustainable life.
To promote the lifelong environmental education policy to all citizens, the Ministry of Environment (MOENV) provides channels for learning, including classroom-based courses, digital courses, outdoor teaching, and videos on the Environmental Education Lifelong E-learning Website (Elearn). The MOENV also encourages certified environmental education facilities and organizations to offer courses for the public. The videos, freely available to the public, cover various topics including environmental education in schools and society, climate change, nature conservation, public nuisance abatement, environment and resource management, cultural preservation, and community participation. Elearn is a channel that provides diverse options for people to participate in environmental education. Elearn constantly collects and updates learning information and contents so that people can choose and participate in the environmental education activities according to their requirements. Elearn enables the public to gain fruitful environment related knowledge, adopt the correct attitudes and values, and further change their lives and behaviors to achieve the goal of sustainable development.
About Article 19 of the Environmental Education Act
To promote environmental education, Article 19 of the Environmental Education Act stipulates that “institutions, state-run business institutions, high schools and secondary schools, and foundations with over 50% of the funds provided by the government shall formulate environmental education programs every year to promote environmental education. All employees, teachers, and students shall attend an environmental education program for more than four hours.” The Environmental Education Lifelong E-learning Website (Elearn) is the management system to which the aforementioned entities should report.
Since the implementation of the Environmental Education Act in 2011, more than 7,000 reporting entities and three million people have completed more than four hours of environmental education each year. Moreover, these learners acquired knowledge through diverse methods, including courses, lectures, discussions, online learning, experiential activities, experiments, outdoor learning, film viewing, practice, and other activities. Elearn is a platform that integrates learning outcomes, allowing the contractors of reporting entities listed in Article 19 to effectively trace all learners’ learning conditions and improve the promotion efficiency.
