Cabinet-level Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling said June 23 that the agency is committed to expanding exchanges with partners while empowering Taiwan’s younger generation to engage in global ocean governance.
Kuan made the remarks while hosting an OAC-organized experience-sharing event in the southern city of Kaohsiung, at which young academics who attended the third edition of the U.N. Ocean Conference and One Ocean Science Congress were invited to present. A number of the event’s participants are set to take part in the annual National Marine Educators Association conference and its affiliated International Ocean Literacy Workshop taking place in late June in the U.S.
Among the highlights was a session by Tseng Hsiao-chun, associate professor at National Taiwan Ocean University in the northern city of Keelung. Tseng and experts from the global Ocean Knowledge Action Network (Ocean KAN) submitted a proposal to the OOSC advocating for global ocean governance to place greater weight on the voices of coastal communities, island nations and Indigenous peoples.
The experts set to attend the NMEA conference and workshop said the goal of their trip is to conduct in-depth discussions with marine educators from around the world, adding that they hoped to gain insight into different marine education concepts and measures to inform related education in Taiwan.
According to the OAC, Taiwan’s young representatives participated in UNOC with support from the Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative proposed by President Lai Ching-te, highlighting the government’s efforts to promote youth engagement in international marine affairs. The council is also promoting more exchanges, it said, adding that a delegation led by Ocean Conservation Administration Director-General Lu Shiau-yun departed June 22 for France to explore ways to manage marine chemical and oil pollution.
Kuan further stressed that Taiwan focuses on security, sustainability and prosperity in its maritime development, citing the Marine Conservation Act that takes effect July 1. A four-year initiative to promote ocean literacy education has also been launched by the council, which includes training 200 teachers who will travel overseas for exchanges with international counterparts during the first year, she added. (YCH-E)
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