Course Introduction

The International Program for Sustainable Development (IPSD) is designed to be hands-on, interactive, and student-centered. In the IPSD, students have to immerse themselves in real-world issues and work on solving sustainability problems with local communities and NGOs.

The IPSD students are expected to study on the CJCU campus during the first three years: they will take core courses related to sustainable development during the first year, and then select one out of the 3 modules provided by the program during the second and third years. In the fourth year, they will finish the program with a Roots & Shoots Internship at other locations in Taiwan or abroad.

The three modules, including "Watershed Management", "Climate Change and Adaptation" and "Community Development", are selected to meet local community and environmental needs, which are also in sync with the world sustainable development trend in recent years.

The teaching objectives of the modules are as follows:

1. Watershed Management

• Students can identify environmental problems, discuss solutions, and plan and implement action plans.

• Students know how to reach out to people for river pollution cleanup projects.

• Students are able to design and carry out environmental education activities to promote water resource protection.

2. Climate Change and Adaptation

3. Community Development

• Students can identify community issues affected by / influential to the world.

• Students know the methods and skills of gathering opinions of a community.

• Students can facilitate and carry out community events/campaigns based on the issues of communities.

• Students are able to carry out environmental surveys.

• Students know how to conduct environmental planning and design.

• Students are able to identify sustainability issues in landscaping and solve environmental problems.

• Students know how to practice landscaping in a cooperative and sustainable way.