"Environmental Planning and Design Studio" is a compulsory course for the first year students of our institute. In the 109 school year, the course is conducted together by Prof. Liling Huang, Liang-Chih Chen, and Huang Shu-mei Huang. The core value of is public interest, community empowerment and local knowledge. In this course, students learn the basic concepts and techniques of participatory planning, and work with local residents, organizers, policy makers, and professionals to develop plans and actions.
In response to changes in urban society,the two major orientations of the curriculum are Green Transformation and Civic Urbanism. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are our action coordinates for reviewing local development plans and teaching. Our institute has continuingly collaborated with communities in Nangang since 2018. This year, in cooperation with Nangang Community University, Jiuzhuang Elementary School, and Jiuzhuang Community Office, we launched projects including the Dianzaikou Community Farm, Jiuzhuang Elementary School’s Nature Exploration Playground, Nangang Tea Mountain Responsible Tourism and so on. In Zhongnan Street, the Old Street of Nangang, students engaged community people through the topic of neighborhood economy. In addition, our students brought two new plans for Nangang Community Office, including the space regeneration plan of the Taiwan Railways and the revitalization of a small piece of Taifei Company's land. Both these two projects are continued to be sponsored by enterprises to open up community public spaces.