The Analysis of SDGs Initiatives of National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan

Abstract

National Cheng Kung University is located in the southern area of Taiwan.  Founded in 1931 during Japanese rule period as an engineering college. Now, it is famous for its research in science, engineering and Taiwanese literature and history. According to statistics from Ministry of Education in Taiwan, Cheng Kung University’s annual total revenue does not rank the first place among all universities. However, their efforts and results in promoting the SDGs have made them become one of top universities pursuing sustainable development goals. On the basis of Times Higher Education’s “University Impact Rankings for 2024”, Cheng Kung University has achieved the 25th place among universities in the world, and it has been ranked in the first place among universities in Taiwan for five consecutive years (2020-2024) as well. Therefore, it is worth doing an in-depth analysis of their initiatives on promoting SDGs in their campus in recent years. The efforts and practices they put in can have important reference value for other schools. In addition, through such research, on the one hand, we can specifically understand the decisive factor about how Cheng Kung University could become the highest position of SDGs promoting university in Taiwan region. Also, we can obtain alternative inspiration by comprehending the process of their endeavors as well. As Times Higher Education’s “University Impact Rankings for 2024” mentioned, Cheng Kung University received high evaluations, especially in UN SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (9th), UN SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production (24th), UN SDG 3: Good health and wellbeing (18th) and UN SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals (101-200th). Furthermore, after years of efforts to promote SDGs, they have also received very good results in putting the concept of building an eco-campus into action. While analyzing the definite achievements of Cheng Kung University, the author also attempts to compare their results with the instances of Chiang Mai University in Thailand through his own observation and experience in March, 2024. By doing so, it is expected to achieve the effect that we can obviously realize about what universities in many different regions focus on for the issue of creating an eco-campus.