Page 54 - 2019 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

Gestation: Enjoying the richness of the land Unit Three: Improving the Basic Environment
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The awards presentation ceremony for the "Taiwan Rural Elite Awards" (October 8, 2019).
integration, and diverse participation, thereby creating synergy in rural development. Major accomplishments in 2019 were as follows:
(1) Continued support for the program "Social and Cultural Survey of Rural Taiwan"
The COA partnered with the Academia Sinica to continue the program to do a survey of rural Taiwan based on the four main aspects of "the environment," "making a living," "society," and "culture and daily life" and 24 fundamental topics. The program has collected more than 3,000 questionnaires, conducted in-depth interviews engaging more than 40 people, and investigated more than 25 locations for field research. Results of the survey will contribute to policy advice and constitute fundamental investigative work for the COA’s policy decision process.
(2) Promoting rural manpower training and education extension programs
In order to deepen the supply of skilled people at the local level, the COA has offered training to 159,912 participants in 2,614 communities, which is more than half (62%) of all rural communities in Taiwan. Moreover, the COA has managed programs such as the "Rural Up" competition for college and university students returning to rural communities and
the "Rural Young" program for young people to return to rural communities to innovate, providing young people with opportunities to participate in rural communities. Of these, the "Rural Young" program has assisted a total of 525 young people to create new value in rural communities by using innovative operating models.
(3) Managing the "Cross-regional Rural Industry Plan and Regional Shining Spot Plan in Rural Area"
The COA has approved 39 "Shining Regions" for themed development, combining resources of rural industry, academia, communities, and government for rural development, including 143 environmental improvement projects, eight agricultural production technology projects, and 255 software projects.
(4) Holding the "Taiwan Rural Elite Awards"
The COA held the 2019 "Taiwan Rural Elite Awards" to praise the contributions made by 30 local leaders in rural community development and to draw public attention to community learning and management models in Rural Regeneration. In order to build up winners’ global vision, the COA sent them to Japan in November, 2019 to learn about important issues like rural development, regional revitalization, and rural regeneration.