The Ministry of Culture (MOC) has announced the winners of the 2nd Community Empowerment Awards, honoring individuals and groups who have made extraordinary contributions to their communities.
Minister of Culture Li Yuan noted that as 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the start of community empowerment movements in Taiwan, the MOC is launching the “100 Cultural Bases” project, which aims to unite and showcase three decades of efforts on community empowerment through the collaboration between the government and the private sector.
After multiple rounds of discussion and voting, 11 winners stood out from 134 applicants. Apart from one jury prize, there are four major awards, namely the Community Empowerment Contribution Award (社造貢獻獎), Community Empowerment Innovation Award (社造創新獎), Youth Action Award (青年行動獎), and Community Empowerment Administration Award (社造行政獎).
The Community Empowerment Contribution Award goes to the Hualien NiuLi Community Interchange Association (花蓮縣牛犁社區交流協會), Louyoung Cultural and Educational Foundation (螺陽文教基金會), and Tsai Chiu-lin (蔡秋霖), chairman of the Tachuangkuan Community Development Association (大壯觀願景發展協會).
The Community Empowerment Innovation Award recipients include the Zunhuai Living Water Cultural Association (尊懷活水人文協會) and Lai Chau-hsu (賴昭旭), chairman of the Yuan Cyuan Community Development Association (源泉社區發展協會).
Chuang Kai-yung (莊凱詠), founder and CEO of Big Hill North Moon (大山北月), Yang Chi-hsi (楊七喜), founder of Chihsi Kitchen (七喜廚房), and the Changping River Cultural Art Foundation (漳平溪文化藝術協會) are honored with the Youth Action Award (青年行動獎).
And finally, the Community Empowerment Administration Award will be given to Chuang Peng-yeh (莊鵬燁) of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Yilan County and the Shitan Township Office of Miaoli County (獅潭鄉公所).
In addition to the above awards, the jury prize will be presented to Japanese professor Kiyoshi Miyazaki (宮崎清), who has played an influential role in Taiwan’s community empowerment since 1990s.
The awarding ceremony is set to take place on Dec. 20 at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei.
