Core Philosophy – Promoting Local and Global Economic, Social, and Environmental Sustainability through the Power of Education and Knowledge

YunTech’s core sustainability principle is to “promote local and global economic, social, and environmental sustainability through the power of education and knowledge.” Our strategy is to “Combine Generation and Digital Advancement, Literacy, and Sustainability” to develop a new science- and technology-integrated literacy education generation. We aim to use digital technology to advance local and global sustainable development, comply with the 17 SDGs, and cultivate talents with the necessary skills to promote local and global sustainable development.

YunTech has focused on real-world community problems to fulfill its core concepts. We have gathered the strength of teachers and students from multinational, interschool, and interdisciplinary teams as well as the school and social support systems to promote sustainability by helping to resolve the local and global environmental, economic, and social sustainability issues. We have accumulated knowledge through practical experience and passed it onto inspire teaching innovations and fulfill the core sustainability concepts by “promoting local and global economic, social, and environmental sustainability through the power of education and knowledge.”

The School Governance Vision

Short-term goals:

YunTech has promoted the university’s social responsibilities according to the higher education cultivation plan. Our teachers are expected to engage in continuous innovation and research breakthroughs in their respective professional fields; actively collaborate with local communities, industries, public sectors, and other organizations through teaching integration; and drive the prosperity and creation of local industries through problem-solving. YunTech’s objectives are to integrate knowledge, technology, and resources and use them for the public good; strengthen local connections, attract talents, promote the application and dissemination of innovative knowledge; and drive the growth momentum while fulfilling the university’s social responsibilities.

Mid-term goals:

Focus on urgent and important issues such as healthy Yunlin, green economy, and extreme climate topics from the school governance, environment, society, and economy aspects; and use the energy of education and R&D innovation to promote the sustainable development of Yunlin, Taiwan, and throughout the world. We can transform from a regular university into a think tank for local and sustainable growth while enhancing the overall sustainable development of the nation by deeply improving YunTech’s smart technology, industrial innovation, interdisciplinary cooperation, and talent cultivation.

Long-term goals:

“Promoting economic, social, and environmental sustainability through the power of education and knowledge.” Implement Top → Down & Bottom → Up dual connection from the school to the various departments → centers → colleges → units → institutes. Continue to make outstanding local and global sustainability contributions from Yunlin, Taiwan, to the entire world.

Strategic Direction

The school’s sustainable development principle uses the five-oriented framework as the basis for developing sustainable promotion strategies:
Specialization: Actively participate in regional cooperation through teaching introduction and integrating knowledge, technology, and resources across fields to develop “Yunlin Local Studies.”
Academicization: Focus on basic sustainability issues and deepen academic research results.
Industry-academia collaboration: Combine industry-academia with public welfare and sustainability. The business community issues questions and YunTech solves them.
Internationalization: Promote sustainable international exchanges and cooperation and implement transnational talent cultivation in academics and industries.
Smartization: Cultivate smart computing ideas in sustainable industries and develop smart teaching innovation and research development trajectories.

In addition to the ongoing cultivation of sustainable specialization, academicization, industry-academia collaboration, internationalization, and smartization, YunTech’s Sustainable Development and Social Practice Research Center has combined the forces of internal and external teachers and students to focus on real-world community problems. The Sustainability and Social Responsibility Committee has promoted various industrial settlement and community cultural innovation actions to achieve environmental, economic, and social sustainability through the dual support of teaching and social support systems. The goal is to use social innovation as the driving force for local growth, promote regional revitalization, and fulfill the university’s social responsibility.

Sustainability and Social Responsibility Committee

In 2019, YunTech’s president convened the school’s administration, academic unit directors, teachers, and student representatives to form the “Sustainability and Social Responsibility Committee” as the school’s highest sustainable governance decision-making unit. Its mission is to plan and manage sustainability and social responsibility, create a sustainable campus culture, and integrate the SDGs proposed by the United Nations into education, R&D, operations, and social services. The committee meets once a year with the school president as the convener, reports directly to the highest governance unit, and unscheduled meetings can be held at any time.