Sustainability education and practice at universities should go beyond helping students “understand sustainability.” More importantly, students should have opportunities to participate in real-world settings, put sustainability into practice, and take long-term responsibility for their actions. On the afternoon of September 16, the Department of Digital Media Design at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (YunTech) held the “Growing Together for Four Years: One Tree, One Legacy” Freshman Tree-Planting Activity, officially launching the “One Freshman, One Tree: Sustainability Literacy and Urban Forest Demonstration Project.”

Initiated by the Department of Digital Media Design and supported by the university’s Center for Sustainable Development and Social Practice and other internal and external partners, the project initially focuses on first-year students. It integrates tree planting, student learning, digital media design, urban forest management, and intergenerational legacy into a long-term educational initiative.

The project also responds to the climate adaptation and green-environment priorities addressed by the Ministry of Environment’s “National Greenery and Climate Adaptation Program and Woody Resource Circularity Promotion Program.” Starting from the campus, the project aims to establish a sustainability practice model that can be continuously tracked, integrated into courses, and referenced by other educational settings.

At its core, the project combines “One Person, One Tree × Education First × Alumni Legacy × Digital Creativity × Urban Forest Management,” transforming tree planting from a one-day activity into an integral part of students’ four-year university experience.

From a One-Day Activity to Four Years of Sustainability Learning

The most important feature of “Growing Together for Four Years” is its redefinition of campus tree planting. Traditional tree-planting activities often conclude once the seedlings are planted. This project, however, proposes the concept of “establishing a care system before planting the trees,” incorporating the site, tree species, adoption, student stewardship, digital documentation, and long-term tracking into a unified system.

The goal is for every tree to have a clearly defined stewardship responsibility and a long-term life record from the moment it is planted.

Beginning in their first year, students will learn about and plant their own “learning companion tree,” taking responsibility for routine care, observation, photographic documentation, and reflection. In their second year, they can further accumulate seasonal images, soundscapes, growth measurements, and ecological observations. In their third year, they may incorporate AR, AI, data visualization, and interactive design into their work. By their fourth year, they can integrate four years of accumulated data and creative work into their graduation projects and exhibitions.

This creates a cross-generational cycle:

Freshman tree planting → Four years of stewardship → Digital documentation → Professional creative work → Graduation exhibition → Intergenerational handover → The next cohort takes over

“Students Graduate, but the Trees Remain”: Learning and Life Growing Together

The Center for Sustainable Development and Social Practice noted that the greatest value of university sustainability initiatives lies not simply in the number of activities organized, but in whether sustainability can become a genuine learning experience for students.

During their four years at YunTech, students accompany their trees as they grow. When students graduate, the trees remain on campus and are entrusted to the next generation of students. Through successive cycles of stewardship and documentation, each tree gradually develops its own “intergenerational record.”

Campus trees are therefore no longer simply landscape plantings. They become educational mediums that carry student learning, campus memories, and relationships across generations.

For students in Digital Media Design, the project also creates opportunities to incorporate professional expertise—including imaging, animation, sound, AI, AR, interactive design, and data storytelling—into the life records of the trees. This creates a connection between “the life record of a tree” and “the learning record of a student.” As digital works grow alongside living organisms, they may even evolve into Living Artworks—sustainable works of art that continue to exist and develop on campus.

One Tree, One Code: Leaving a Traceable Record of Sustainability in Action

Another distinctive feature of the project is the integration of digital technology into campus tree management.

Each tree will be assigned a unique Tree ID, recording basic information such as its GPS location, species, planting date, and photographs. A QR Code will provide a long-term digital portal through which this information can be accessed.

Throughout their four years of stewardship, students can continue documenting the tree’s growth, maintenance activities, photographs, and personal observations.

Therefore, “One Person, One Tree” does not simply mean that each person plants a tree. It establishes a long-term and traceable relationship of responsibility between people and trees from the day each tree is planted.

Connecting Campus Tree Planting with the SDGs, USR, and Climate Adaptation

The Center for Sustainable Development and Social Practice explained that the significance of “Growing Together for Four Years” extends beyond tree planting itself. The project transforms the campus into an authentic learning environment for sustainability.

Through hands-on participation, students can transform abstract issues—including climate change, biodiversity, environmental governance, and sustainable cities—into a concrete learning process of “field investigation → assessment → action → documentation → reflection → communication.”

The project aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 15: Life on Land, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

From the perspective of University Social Responsibility (USR), the project demonstrates the potential for universities to connect teaching, campus governance, corporate and alumni participation, nonprofit organizations, and environmental action.

The project is not about “planting trees for the sake of indicators.” Instead, it emphasizes long-term, verifiable educational action and comprehensive documentation, enabling university sustainability outcomes to be understood, examined, and further extended into the wider community and society.

Alumni, Students, the University, and Society: Growing a Forest Together

The project also incorporates mechanisms for alumni and broader community participation. Tree adoption is primarily supported by alumni, alumni-affiliated businesses, partner companies, and nonprofit partners, while students assume responsibility for four years of learning and stewardship.

The project aims to establish a sustainable cycle:

Alumni adoption → Freshman stewardship → Four years of growth → Students graduate and become alumni → Continued support for the next cohort → A campus forest continues to grow

Freshmen who receive support today may become alumni four years later and, in turn, support the next generation of students.

As this cycle accumulates year after year, it is not only the trees that grow. Students’ sense of connection to their alma mater, alumni relationships, and the university’s culture of sustainability can also grow together.

Starting with Digital Media Design: Developing a Scalable Campus Sustainability Model

The Center for Sustainable Development and Social Practice noted that “Growing Together for Four Years” can be regarded as a campus sustainability experiment originating at the department level.

The Department of Digital Media Design integrates design education, digital technology, and tree-planting action to establish an initial, practical demonstration model. As data on student participation, tree growth, microclimates, ecological observations, and course outcomes continue to accumulate, the project may provide an educational and urban-forest practice model for other departments, higher education institutions, and even community settings.

The first phase of the project includes establishing a campus demonstration site, selecting native tree species, developing alumni and corporate tree adoption, implementing four-year freshman stewardship, creating TreeProof—One Tree, One Code digital records, and conducting a public tree-planting demonstration. Together, these efforts aim to establish a minimum viable model capable of sustained operation.

Four years from now, when the first cohort of participating students graduates, the project will also complete its first full cycle connecting “students, trees, creative works, campus, and the next generation.”

This is precisely the transformation YunTech hopes to achieve through sustainability education: sustainability should not exist only in course titles, reports, or performance indicators. It should become something students have genuinely done, cared for, documented, and chosen to pass on during their four years at university.

Event Information

Event: “Growing Together for Four Years: One Tree, One Legacy” Freshman Tree-Planting Activity

Objectives: Education First, Responsibility in Action, Data Documentation, and Intergenerational Stewardship

Date and Time: September 16, 2026 (Wednesday), 1:30–3:00 p.m.

Organizer: Department of Digital Media Design, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology

Supporting/Partner Organizations: Center for Sustainable Development and Social Practice, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology; YunTech Green Carbon Public Welfare Project Office; Green Ji-Quan Social Enterprise; Yunbo Lions Club; and other partners.

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