Industry-university Co-creation and Local Integration- Developing Cooperative Empowerment and Extension Service

USR X CSR - the Best Design of Local Sustainability

Professor Jui-Kun Kuo, the project investigator, explained: “The term university social responsibility (USR) no longer means what the university should do to 'help' the society; and, instead, the term is taking on a new meaning as to create an environment of 'public governance' with the society. Universities collaborate with corporations (university social responsibility and corporate social responsibility; USR X CSR) to not only make the corporate social responsibility (CSR) a charity and public welfare, but also include different shareholders to expand social participation and influence together." During the event, with occasional smile on a face of genuine seriousness, professor Jui-Kun Kuo, the USR project investigator of College of Management, National Sun Yat-sun University (NSYSU), talked with ease and fluency on how universities fulfill their social responsibility. In addition to curriculum design and talent cultivation, universities must also emphasize on offering students with participation in actual situations that allow students to proactively provide care for local communities. Students are no longer in an ivory tower but intellectuals with social actions. Knowledge is transformed into a form understood by the public and of practicality through the cooperative empowerment and extension service (CEES); the USR X CSR is promoted by universities and local enterprises jointly through the design of social action plans in order to assist enterprises in connecting with local communities; by promoting sustainable development empowerment courses, students can apply knowledge to action integration, combining courses with actual actions. The USR team positioned as a ferryman to link industry, government, and academic resources in order to bring different momenta to places where there is a demand.

Entering the community. Gathering a sense of local identity

Chun-Yun Hsiao, a student of the Institute of Marketing Communication of NSYSU recalled: "At the beginning, I was scared and embarrassed, and worried that I could not blend into the local community. I worried that my Taiwanese dialect was not good enough and unable to engage in dialogue with an old grandma. However, I still gathered courage and tried to focus on the process together with the old grandma. We completed a satisfactory project."

For many enterprises, how to enter and truly connect with the local community has always been a difficult and challenging issue. Taiwan Hopax Chemicals has been implementing CSR for many years. Through the cooperation with the USR team on organizing the "Sticky • Heart ‒ LOHAS and Childhood Fun of Sticky Notes DIY" event, the company and university faculties and students together arrived at the "community care station" to create a piece of art work with the elders who live in the "Daliao District" nearby the company and the "Dashu District" where many colleagues reside. Using the company product " Stick'N " as a medium, the nourishing elements such as native land, memories and affection are transformed into images that emerge in their hearts. The event helped people not only complete an art piece together, but also build trust and identity among people in this field that spans three generations of old, middle and young people, as well as across corporations, students and communities; it truly took people to the heart of the community.

Love without obstacles. Dream realization for devotees to the disadvantaged

The project proposer Mei-Chi Chen said: "For a long time, I felt disappointed and was afraid of people, and gradually retrieved myself into self-isolation until I met the group of less advanced children. They helped me understand that being the real me is not such a bad thing."

For a person who is in the process of realizing her dream, Mei-Chi Chen may be wll blessed. As an educare giver, Chen explores life through painting, intends to bring artistic talent of less advanced children to the public, and yet faces a lack of social resources. The USR team and Laser Tek Taiwan Company jointly launched the "Flip Over • Dream Building • Kaohsiung" Dream-Come-True Project, providing channels for the project proposers to start from themselves and to speak up on social issues related to themselves personally.

By combining her own work and interest, Mei-Chi Chen guides less advanced children to paint together, motivates them to use their hands, feet and limbs to draw a blueprint of dreams, one stroke and one spiral at a time. Allowing one to find oneself from the painting, Chen was touched and accepted by the less advanced children at the same time. Together, they rediscovered natural imagery such as the "sky", "earth" and "sun" from the painting. They conveyed the spirit of "love without obstacles" through art and narrowed the distance between the less advanced children and the society.

Regional Revitalization Finding those who really care about the land

For the university social practices, in addition to actively developing the practice field strategically and seeking collaborative partners, it also needs to work in concert with the national policies in order to achieve high effectiveness during the implementation. To extend the promotion of Regional Revitalization project in Qishan District and Daliao District, the project team assists the local community in planning the vision of future developments, and consolidates development plans that are in line with local features. The project investigator, professor Jui-Kun Kuo, pointed out: "Regional Revitalization represents a group of people who care about their homes and communities in this land. They hope to make their homeland a better place and create a place suitable for living."