Food and Agriculture Cultural and Creative Bamboo Education Brings Hands-On Experience to University Students

In her course "Cultural and Creative Industries," Chang Wei-chi, associate professor at National Hsinchu University of Education, emphasizes that cultural and creative work must start from real-life domains, leading students to take part in communities and engage with industry, planning cultural and creative products with a food and agriculture theme, and holding a simulated consumer vote at the end of the semester to select the best work. The work that ultimately won the vote was not the top choice of the expert judges. Chang Wei-chi believes that the essence of cultural and creative work is still a commodity, and being critically acclaimed does not necessarily mean being commercially successful; this is a situation the cultural and creative industry must face.

Going deep into the textures of the field and grasping the client's needs

This is not the first time Chang Wei-chi has taught the course "Cultural and Creative Industries". This semester she took "promoting a virtuous cycle in society" as the theme, asking students to first define what "virtue" means, and then design a system and cultural and creative products that promote a virtuous cycle in society.

As for the origin of the course, Chang Wei-chi believes that Taiwan has many small acts of virtue, such as donating money, donating supplies, or giving directions to foreigners on the street. Many foreigners who come to Taiwan also feel the strong warmth of human kindness here, but how to gather and transform this virtue is the entry point for cultural and creative products.

A good cultural and creative product is not conceived out of thin air; it requires a deep understanding and grasp of the current situation. Chang Wei-chi arranged four organizations - Hsinchu City Shuiyuan Community, Hsinchu City Dongxiang Community, Nantou Huixiang Herb Shop, and Tainan Tangchi Canteen - as the "fields" where students grasp the current situation, and also as the "clients" for whom they conceive cultural and creative products.

Long-term field observation and conceiving cultural and creative products