Environmental Management Administration

With the gradual development of the economy and society, industrial activities have been increasing day by day, and the ASEAN region is facing increasingly severe environmental pollution issues, with soil and groundwater governance being particularly challenging. To promote experience exchange and cooperative dialogue between countries, the administration held the “2025 ASEAN Regional Forum on Soil and Groundwater Challenges, Sustainable Remediation Strategies, and the Awards Ceremony for the Investigation and Remediation Research Competition” on March 26, 2025.

The event invited government and academic representatives from countries from the ASEAN region such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia to convene with Taiwan’s industry, government, and academia circles as well as foreign graduate students in Taiwan. The number of registered participants exceeded 200, including 65 international students in Taiwan. Through in-depth exchanges with various ASEAN countries, industry-government-academia partnerships were strengthened, laying a solid foundation for the promotion of regional soil and groundwater resource’s sustainable management and technical exchange.

Over the past 20 years, Taiwan has accumulated rich experience in pollution investigation and remediation techniques, continuously aligning with international standards and enhancing professional capacity through the organization of regular international workshops, technical seminars, and guidance committees. In the forum, representatives from Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia shared the status and strategies of soil and groundwater management in their respective countries, promoting knowledge exchange and technical dialogue, and moving toward the goal of environmental sustainability in the ASEAN region through partnership and cooperation.

The competition attracted 29 teams and 79 students from domestic and international backgrounds to register. International students covered countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mauritius, and India. After preliminary and final reviews, ten teams were shortlisted, and finally five teams with outstanding performance stood out and received commendation at the award ceremony, demonstrating diverse results and innovative thinking in soil and groundwater investigation and remediation research.

The competition centered around “soil and groundwater investigation and remediation concepts” and encouraged students to propose innovative techniques or policy management strategies as practical responses to environmental pollution issues. The roundtable invited experts and academics from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Taiwan, providing competing teams with a platform to demonstrate research results. This facilitated deep dialogue between the academic and practical, further exploring innovative strategies and application potentials of pollution governance.