【Reported by Bo-jun Zhuang, Tamkang Times】Last May from the 21st to the 24th the Graduate Institute of Future Studies headed to Laoag City in the Philippines to attend the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) workshop themed, “Sustaining a City of Vitality with a Bright Future.” Five Tamkang University representatives attended the forum including Dean of the Graduate Institute of Future Studies, Jian-bang Deng, Associate Professor Kuo-hua Chen, Assistant Professor Shun-jie Ji, Assistant Professor Mei-mei Song, and Research Specialist Sohail Inayatullah.

The workshop had over 80 attendees with desires of being able to closely network, cooperate and share experience in order to sustain active development in international concepts pertaining to the future. Jian-bang Deng shared the experiences of promoting futurization at Tamkang University along with the rest of the representatives of different institutions. The workshops contained skits, drills and role playing activities to show new ways of future-oriented cultivation. The activities revolved around 5 different strategies of development: Advancement of the System, Organized Critical Thinking, Using Framework from Every Countries Experiences, Finding Self Your Niche, and Utilizing your Own and Developing Your Own Resources. Jian-bang Deng, stated, “This activity not only helped us have a better vision of what we aim to develop, but it also let us see how to resolve issues from multiple angles.”