In Pursuit of Campus Sustainability:

National Chi Nan University

Esther Tseng　/　photos Jimmy Lin　/　tr. by Brandon Yen

May 2026

中文

Blessed with a beautiful campus, NCNU’s commitment to the ideals of governance and local practice demonstrates to the world what it means to be a green university. (courtesy of NCNU)

The UI GreenMetric World University Rankings in 2025 placed National Chi Nan University first in Taiwan and 30th globally, among 1,745 higher education institutions from 105 countries. This university in Central Taiwan has recovered from the devastation of the Jiji Earthquake of 1999 and transformed itself into a local intellectual hub, transmitting ideas of sustainability from its rooftops to every corner of the region.

As we drive into National Chi Nan University (NCNU) in Nantou County’s Puli Township, we find ourselves embraced by mountains. Here, golden trumpet trees, raintrees with blossoms that turn from purple to white, snow-white fringetrees, and pink shower trees bloom in succession. Boasting 148 hectares of green space, the campus—Taiwan’s third largest—offers the world a model of sustainable development.

Sustainability and happiness

NCNU’s path to sustainability begins with the dual pursuits of energy saving and energy generation.

Everywhere on campus—from car parks and sports fields to rooftops—we see solar panels shimmering in the sunlight. Wuu Dong-sing, president of NCNU, who specializes in optoelectronics, tells us that thanks to its special location, his university is able to derive greater value in the form of surplus energy than installations elsewhere, and over longer periods.

“I manage sustainability like a business.” Wuu, who previously served as an independent director for a listed company, points out that sustainability is not just about the beauty of nature: it holds economic value.

“To put it in a more idealistic way, we want to enhance the happiness of our teachers and students,” Wuu says. The solar panels have helped reduce energy bills, and the money saved is used to upgrade to energy-saving equipment such as inverter-drive air conditioners and low-energy lighting.

Solar panels are installed on the rooftops of NCNU’s student dormitories. (courtesy of NCNU)

Wuu Dong-sing, president of NCNU, believes that sustainability, far from being just about natural beauty, offers economic value.

Cultivating resilience

NCNU pursues green energy not only to cut electricity bills and reduce its carbon footprint, but to build resilience as well.

As part of an effort to repair the long-term damage caused by the Jiji Earthquake to both the university and the wider region, NCNU has put sustainability into action, seeking to reestablish links with local communities. Wuu says that NCNU has entered into an agreement with the Nantou County Government whereby the campus is designated as a shelter for precautionary evacuations, serving four local administrative areas including Ren’ai Township.

Created by recycling wastewater, NCNU’s Sun Pool provides an excellent habitat for wildlife. (photo by Li Rongfang, courtesy of NCNU)

A green campus

NCNU has further plans for public engagement, aiming to turn itself into a site of environmental education. The first step is to transform the guardhouse at the entrance into a visitor center.

“Nature” and “governance” are two vital concepts informing NCNU’s commitment to building a sustainable campus. Tseng Yung-ping, honorary vice president of NCNU, says that from the university’s earliest days, plans were already in place to create sites of seasonal beauty, including a boulevard of flamegold rain trees and an avenue lined with Taiwan incense cedars. The campus has since become a permanent habitat for protected species such as the pangolin, an icon of NCNU.

Home to some 3,000 cherry trees, NCNU attracts 200,000 visitors a year who come here to admire the cherry blossoms. The university uses a portion of the parking fees paid by visitors to subsidize its students’ bus journeys, including shuttle services between Sun Moon Lake and the Taichung high-speed rail station. The scheme benefits both students and tourists.

NCNU’s coffee course opens a window onto carbon accounting, waste reuse, and green packaging design. (courtesy of NCNU)

Members of NCNU are committed to putting the idea of university social responsibility into practice. As well as providing education, the campus serves as a think tank for local sustainable development.

A local think tank

Tseng emphasizes that good governance is fundamental to NCNU’s sustainable development.

NCNU plays the role of local think tank. Faculty members each adopt a specific locality, helping the townships of Guoxing and Puli promote local revitalization. The university has also founded Shui Sha Lian College to cultivate talent for local regeneration. NCNU academics have contributed their expertise to the establishment of Hehuanshan Dark Sky Park, the first of its kind in Taiwan and the third in Asia. The Nantou County Government’s regulations on the management and autonomy of the park, which serve to formalize sustainable tourism, are equally groundbreaking.

NCNU has designed 36 sustainability courses with a view to integrating the social responsibility of tertiary education into the actual curriculum of each discipline. When a university becomes a driving force for regional development, the label “green university” ceases to be merely a matter of ranking. Rather, it represents the institution’s commitment to forging a mutually beneficial relationship with the environment.

NCNU uses a portion of its visitor parking revenue to subsidize students’ bus travel, benefiting both tourists and students.

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Examples of Local Revitalization

Green technology

A research team from NCNU’s College of Science and Technology has developed red-and-blue LED lighting to replace traditional high-pressure sodium lamps on farmland where Manchurian wild rice (Zizania latifolia), is grown in Puli Township. Liu I-chung, director of the university’s Environmental Protection, Occupational Safety, and Health Center, says that this technology generates exactly the right wavelengths of light required for plant growth, maintaining the same yields while reducing electricity consumption by 75%. It is anticipated that the initiative will apply to be recognized as the first carbon credits case under NCNU’s university social responsibility scheme.

Training locals

In view of the shortage of medical resources in remote areas, NCNU has established the College of Nursing and Health Welfare, which works with Puli Christian Hospital to train local Indigenous nursing and long-term care professionals from the Seediq and Bunun communities, aiming to address the challenge of retaining healthcare workers in the region. (courtesy of NCNU)

Education safari

The College of Education requires its undergraduate students to take a course called “Safari of Education” before their first semester begins, giving them an opportunity to observe frontline education in remote areas. The course also feeds into NCNU’s commitment to university social responsibility.

Anna Guo, a student in the College of Education, tells us that through long-term engagement with underprivileged children in Puli and through volunteering in Malaysia, she has gained insights into the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4: how to overcome resource inequalities and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. (courtesy of NCNU)

Healthy aging

In response to the increasing demand for long-term care, NCNU plans to develop five hectares of its campus into a model site for healthy aging. Based on a public–private partnership, the initiative will invite elderly people to come for long stays. Retired academics will be able to teach here. The site will also provide internship opportunities for students in nursing, social work, long-term care, counseling, and related disciplines.