Sustainability Literacy Survey in Taiwan

This project involves multi-disciplinary researchers to develop a survey system for measuring the sustainable literacy for 3 groups of population in Taiwan: (1) school children aged 11-12, (s) senior high school student aged 15-18 and (3) adults aged 18-65. We propose that sustainability is not a fixed concept but reveal the complex dynamic between social life and environmental impacts. In order to design a survey system that reflects both the challenges of global change and the local realities of Taiwan, we will emphasize two perspectives in our approach: (1) trans-disciplinary dialogues between different groups of “stakeholders”, and (2) involving local school teachers and education officers to deliberate over the initial survey proposal. For (1), opinion leaders of 6 major groups (government, NGO/NPO, research institutes, industry, media, and education professionals) will participate in forums to debate over the definition, function, and purposes of measuring “sustainability literacy”. For (2), the local educators will investigate the initial survey design proposed by the expert forums and take due correction and adjustment to reflect the local particularities in different parts of Taiwan. We also like to stress the knowledge and engagement with risk and international affairs should play an important role in the debate over “sustainable literacy”.