NTU Can Help! Fighting Climate Change Together with Tuvalu
Tuvalu is a low-lying island nation in the South Pacific. The threats from climate change include submergence, lack of freshwater, and soil salinization that makes farming difficult. The livelihood of local fishermen is impacted by lagoon eutrophication. NTU actively has helped Tuvalu survive through times of hardship. The NTU research team is made of researchers from the College of Science, College of Engineering, and College of Bioresources & Agriculture. Funded by Delta Electronics Foundation, the team developed a decentralized solar driven wastewater system that can purify domestic wastewater and produce nutritious salt for hydroponic vegetables, forming a Water-FoodEnergy Nexus solution. In November 2021, NTU participated in the UN Climate Change Conference in Scotland (COP26) to present this new technology, which makes NTU the first higher education institution participating in a UN Climate Change Conference on behalf of Taiwan.
The Northern River Restoration Center
The entire aqua environment, including rivers, creeks, reservoirs, riverbanks, lakes, oceans, etc., needs and relies on the entire community’s efforts to maintain it. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency rolled out a policy plan, recruiting citizens, communities, schools, and civil groups to form water environment patrol teams in every city and county. The job of these water patrol teams is to reserve the rivers. NTU professor Chih-hao Fan was commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency to establish the Northern River Restoration Center. The Northern River Restoration Center is responsible for the communication between the water environment patrol team, assisting Hualian County, Yilan County, Keelung City, New Taipei City, Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Kinmen County, and Lienchiang County in formulating the water environment patrol teams’ management strategies. At the same time, the Northern River Restoration Center provides an inter-communication platform for cross-city exchanges, recruitment training, knowledge sharing, and strategic planning.
NTU and Taipei City Transform Historic Canal
into Pleasant Water Landscape
Along one side of Section 3 of Xinsheng South Road was a drainage canal built during the Japanese rule. The canal was concealed in 1973 and later buried under the cement culverts beneath Shinsheng South Road. Taipei City worked with NTU to rediscover the waterway image along Xinsheng South Road Section 3. NTU pulled down part of the campus wall and offered a piece of land to restore a pleasant water landscape in an urban environment with waterway as the core image of design. The construction was completed in June 2021. Since then, people have been stopping by, taking photos, or just appreciating the view. Local animals have been spotted walking through this new space as well, such as red-bellied tree squirrels and Malayan night herons. It has become the new landmark in Gongguan area. The canal stretches from NTU’s main entrance to NTU Sports Center near Section 1, Xinhai Road. The parking space for scooters and bicycles were remodeled into pedestrian-only space in a green and sustainable way. Besides permeable pavement, lots of shrubs and ground cover plants are grown in this new space. Based on the image of an agricultural waterway, this beautiful canal can also retain floodwater. It really has reshaped the relationship between human, space, and life. The restored canal along Xinsheng South Road Section 3 connects the green belts outside and inside of the campus. The landscape is spacious and bright, and it provides a recreational area of historical and ecological significance for the public, the faculty, and students alike.
