Rural and local creation 09 / the National Development Commission gives priority to promoting local creation in 134 villages and towns, and mountain villages and original villages come first.

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Taiwan is facing the crisis of an aging population and fewer children, and the local traditional culture and skills are gradually disappearing. Chiu Hsing-Wei, head of Gengshan Agricultural Innovation Company, who has been back in his hometown for ten years, laments, "I never know what we have lost. This is the most regrettable place." What does it mean for a local town to disappear? Chen Ching-ting, an associate researcher at the Agricultural Policy Research Center of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said, "it is the place where you grew up. Kindergartens have become residential accommodation, primary schools have been merged, and hospitals, post offices, and shops have gradually disappeared."

In order to solve the crisis of local disappearance, the Executive Yuan has designated this year as the first year of local birth, dedicated to the policy of local birth creation, striving for the return of population and balanced local development, from the proposal of local township and township offices to the platform of the Executive Yuan's local health association report, and then mediate the resources of the relevant ministries. It was originally expected that there would be the first batch of application plans by the end of March this year, but the National Development Commission pointed out that the application plan had not yet been received. "We have not set a time limit and respect the progress of local public offices, and some places reflect that if we make plans in a hurry, we still have to change them." At present, it is known that some township public officials have all their wishes, but they are still at the stage of discussion. (how do I apply for the scheme? For extended reading, please click here)

Qiu Xingwei, head of Gengshan Agricultural Chuang Co., Ltd. (photo / Liu Yixin)

"people won't come back without industry, but they can't just have money."

Qiu Xingwei believes that the purpose of local creation is not only to maintain the original appearance of the place, but to grasp the local situation and find a running-in mechanism. Local construction methods such as baking, kiln burning, weaving, as well as traditional industries such as tea, peanut oil, camphor, pottery, etc., "these are very important, they are local adhesives." We should use these ancient skills to weave places together to see what opportunities these crafts have in the contemporary era to become a cultural ark.

Local creative people have a lot of things to do, and they must adjust measures to local conditions. "people who don't have industries won't come back, but they can't just have money. They should grasp the core and conceive a good possibility." But what exactly is the core of the place? Qiu Xingwei believes, "in my experience, the kitchen, tools, and surrounding environment of Hakka life can be maintained, so that the place can be a place." "I will look forward to my child becoming a native of Nanzhuang, leading oxen with my grandfather, going to the river to catch fish and birds, because these are the things that nourish me and hope that my children can also experience it."

(in order to have a deep grasp of rural development and local creation in the context of Taiwan's reality, "upstream and downstream" and "consortium legal person Rural Development Foundation" cooperate "Rural Development Topics" to explore the current situation in Taiwan and the policy trends in Japan with a series of articles. Please click here to read the full series of articles.)

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