Professor Jing-Ying You Brought Taiwan’s Sustainability Practices onto the International Stage

In August 2025, Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford, in collaboration with ASIA SDG ACTION EDUCATION, hosted the “Visiting Expert Programme: IFRS, TNFD, and Carbon Finance.” The nine-day program focused on major issues such as sustainable finance, energy transition, carbon markets, and ecological conservation.

It invited global experts and COP scholars to engage in cross-disciplinary dialogue, serving as an important platform for Asia and Europe to jointly advance sustainability education.

Professor Jing-Ying You from Yuan Ze University was invited as a visiting expert, bringing Taiwan’s humanitarian and educational practices into the Oxford classroom. Centered on the themes of the “Malaysia Bajau Humanitarian Aid Case” and “Oxford Debate Techniques,” she guided participants to reflect on how to transform ideas into action at the intersection of education, humanitarian assistance, and sustainability. As part of her course design, she organized an Oxford-style debate on “Human Rights and Justice vs. Economic Development.” Through group discussions and impromptu speeches, students directly experienced the dilemmas often faced in international energy policy. The interactive approach not only trained critical thinking but also highlighted the value of debate techniques in sustainability education.

The course also featured several distinguished Oxford scholars. Dr. Abrar Chaudhury analyzed the strategic role of carbon finance in global net-zero policies while cautioning students about potential risks. Dr. Injy Johnstone explored responsible investment trends in relation to ESG and carbon market mechanisms. Dr. Tina Fawcett focused on carbon offsetting and nature-based solutions, emphasizing the need to balance social equity with ecological integrity in the pursuit of net-zero. Professor You further engaged in cross-disciplinary exchanges with Dr. Neven S. Fučkar, a climate extremes researcher; Dr. Bhavya Gupta, an expert in carbon finance; Dr. Isamar Marie Cortés, a forest governance scholar; and Prof. Stefan Enchelmaier from Oxford’s Faculty of Law. Together, they offered students a comprehensive perspective on the complexity of sustainability challenges from scientific, financial, legal, and social dimensions.

After completing the Oxford program, Professor You traveled to London, where she delivered a keynote lecture to the Kenyan government and academic representatives. She highlighted Taiwan’s innovative ReSync™ water recycling technology, which uses the resonance of magnetic, electric, and light energy to restructure water molecules, enhancing crop growth and disease resistance while significantly reducing pesticide use. She emphasized that this technology had great potential in drought-prone regions of Africa, improving food security and providing clean water in refugee camps when combined with portable purification devices. Drawing on the Bajau experience in Malaysia, she illustrated how a model of “Technology × Education × Social Equity” could advance climate action while supporting humanitarian aid. Her insights deeply inspired Kenyan and British scholars, who also proposed potential avenues for future collaboration.

Professor You then continued to Prague, where she engaged in discussions with Newton University to establish an international collaboration project titled “Resilience in Sustainability.” The initiative emphasized a multi-level framework “from enterprises to universities to individuals,” integrating academic research, industrial needs, and youth talent development. Both sides agreed to pursue practical cooperation in areas such as co-published research, joint projects, and faculty–student exchanges. They planned to structure the collaboration into three clusters—management and business innovation, engineering and technology, and humanities and society—while using online platforms for cross-disciplinary brainstorming. Over time, this was expected to form an “International Research Alliance on Sustainability and Resilience” to attract more academic and industrial partners.

Professor You remarked that although Taiwan was not a member of the United Nations, it could still play an active role in global sustainability efforts through education, humanitarian aid, and technological innovation. She stressed that her journey from Oxford to London and then to Prague not only expanded cooperation networks between Asia and Europe but also showcased Taiwan’s sustainability practices on the international stage. “Sustainability education cannot remain at the theoretical level,” she emphasized. “It must integrate with technology, diplomacy, and humanitarian action. Only then can we cultivate a new generation with global vision and the capacity to act, bringing real change to the world’s future.”