The speaker begins with a seemingly small issue: the topic of light pollution control is a niche subject without mandatory enforcement. If this is the case, why should Taiwan respond to it? This question cleverly points to the essence of the course on "Global Governance," with the answer relating to the field of social practice, making it a valuable reference for our university's USR program team. The dark sky initiative originated in the 1980s in Arizona, USA. Initially, it was about controlling light sources to observe astronomy. Later, it was discovered that urban light pollution also impacts animals and plants such as birds, sea turtles, and tree buds. Therefore, this international initiative encourages humans to limit the scope and duration of lighting to allow nature to restore its behaviors under darkness. However, creating a dark sky environment requires local efforts, with the key being whether the non-enforceable values of the international initiative can be integrated into local communities to form collective action. In 2012, the light pollution problem emerged in Taiwan's Hehuanshan, which led to the establishment of the Taiwan Dark Sky Protection Alliance. While it was a good first step, from 2016 to 2019, the alliance lacked a strong strategy for promotion. As a result, the Qingjing area, with only 12,000 residents, saw 6 million visitors annually due to farm tourism, which worsened the environmental issues. In 2019, Taiwan entered the era of local revitalization, and Ren'ai Township Government, in collaboration with National Chi Nan University, promoted the innovative social design of "Starlit Mountain City." This project combined dark sky parks with surrounding tribal cultural stories and forest ecological conservation within the existing tourism economic model. On one hand, this approach successfully aligned a variety of heterogeneous stakeholders and provided clear action incentives. On the other hand, it allowed multiple organizations to collaborate and produce synergistic effects, improving the past unjust development model.

Implemented by Center for Teaching and Learning Development
Date: 2024/10/30