NCKU and NSCT Collaborate to Blueprint Ocean Sustainability – Hosting the 2023 Taiwan Ocean Alliance Conference-國立成功大學永續發展SDGs

NCKU, in collaboration with the National Science Council (NSC), hosted the "2023 Taiwan Ocean Alliance Conference" on November 24. The conference, held for the first time at NCKU, brought together experts and scholars in the fields of ocean engineering, marine science, and humanities and law. The participants discussed the establishment of ocean engineering disaster prevention data, promotion of ocean territorial data sharing, construction of long-term biodiversity observation stations, and shared insights into issues such as the results of ocean blue carbon field surveys and existing legal and political challenges. The goal was to collectively outline the future blueprint for Taiwan's oceans.


The opening ceremony of the third Taiwan Ocean Alliance Conference took place at the Chong Hua Hall on NCKU's Lixing Campus. This venue, the "Sun Yun-hsuan Green Building Research Building," was selected as one of the seven iconic low-carbon green buildings worldwide in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in April 2022. It was mentioned that the building, generously donated by distinguished NCKU alumnus Zheng Chong-hua, aligns with the conference's theme of environmental sustainability and carbon reduction.


The Taiwan Ocean Alliance was established with the assistance of the NSC to integrate efforts in production, government, academia, and research. It aims to foster collaboration across different generations of professionals in the ocean-related fields, addressing future challenges and concerns. The alliance includes members from NCKU's Department of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering, National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Ocean University, National Sun Yat-sen University, and Academia Sinica. The focus areas span ocean engineering, environmental sustainability, observation technology, databases, and maritime law, emphasizing interdisciplinary integration across engineering, science, and humanities to enhance Taiwan's capabilities in marine research.


Continuing the consensus established in previous conferences, this year's event centered around the core theme of "2030 Maritime New Century – Ocean Management Now and in the Future." Topics of discussion included exploring deep-sea clean energy development, optimizing renewable energy in Taiwan's technology sector, using big data models as a cornerstone for predicting data observation scales needed for disaster prevention in ocean engineering, introducing satellite remote sensing applications in ocean engineering, applying artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze ocean engineering data for predicting potential regions affected by climate change, and developing and applying national-level long-term observation stations in ocean engineering and science. The conference also focused on the deployment of ocean buoys for real-time data transmission, linking to a cloud-based open distributed data platform to safeguard information security and sustainably manage Taiwan's ocean territory resources.


The year 2050's net-zero carbon emissions is a globally significant environmental sustainability issue. NCKU, celebrating its 92nd anniversary, is dedicated to promoting education, research, industry collaboration, and international advancements towards its centennial. Various colleges within the university are actively addressing environmental sustainability issues, including net-zero carbon emissions, renewable energy, and energy storage. For instance, Professor Hsiao Shih-chun from NCKU's Department of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering is part of the interdisciplinary team involved in the Taiwan Ocean Alliance. Besides proposing crucial sustainable strategies for the field of ocean engineering, he has also assisted the NSC and the university in concrete actions toward achieving Taiwan's net-zero carbon emissions. The research projects conducted by the Nearshore Hydrology Center and Disaster Prevention Center under NCKU's Industry Liaison and Innovation have also been focused on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. Through this conference, participants hope to encourage continued attention to ocean-related issues, fostering collaboration across sectors and creating a better future together.