Taitung County Dawang Elementary School — 『ㄊㄢˊ』Food Between — Abundant Flavors Future

Nature is sending a warning signal: returning to the table and choosing food from the heart is the starting point for us to reconnect with the land and the sea.
In 2025, a typhoon devastated southern Taiwan, destroying a custard apple orchard in Taitung, causing the Shalun River to collapse, and threatening the livelihoods of Dawang Village with a landslide dam. In Kaohsiung, schools were flooded, streets were inundated, and farmland was damaged. The impact of climate disaster spread from the mountains and sea to urban areas. This typhoon not only wiped out a year's harvest but also revealed a deeper crisis—as climate change continues to impact the land and sea, the food chain is breaking down, and our most authentic connection with the land and sea is disappearing.
After the typhoon, the land sent us a warning.
This warning became the starting point for three schools—Taitung Dawang Elementary School, Kaohsiung Linyuan Elementary School, and Kaohsiung Zhuangjing Elementary School—to embark on a joint journey. The same typhoon struck southern Taiwan; three schools, three different crisis scenarios, yet all pointed to the same dining table. The innovative aspect of the "Food Between Us—Abundant Future" curriculum lies in using "food" as a language of advocacy to guide children in finding hope amidst crisis and seeing possibility in loss. The three schools collaboratively prepared courses, jointly following the narrative of crisis → hope → action: stepping into the typhoon disaster site and hearing the real stories of ecological guardians, exploring how to rebuild value from loss, and then using artistic action to convey this hope to society.
Cross-disciplinary arts nurture children for the future.
Arts education teaches us not only how to create art, but also how to perceive the world. The three schools' curriculum deeply integrates diverse art forms such as visual creation, musical performance, theatrical acting, and digital audiovisual works, guiding students to use their imagination, creativity, and critical thinking to deepen their perception and understanding of the environmental crisis. The curriculum accompanies students in using art as a mirror, encouraging them to see the crisis, contemplate change, and engage in critical thinking—not just asking "what happened," but also "what can we do," cultivating resilience and wisdom to face future environmental challenges. Here, "food" is no longer just about sustenance, but becomes a form of civic expression—speaking out our responsibility to the land, our commitment to the ocean, and our expectations for future generations. Students from the three schools converge in a joint exhibition at the Taitung Art Museum, using their respective artistic languages to transform "food" into a deeply moving civic initiative.
Food is the medium; conversation is action; and abundant food is our deepest promise to our future home.
Starting from a rural elementary school, the three schools joined hands to help children learn critical thinking in times of crisis, find strength in art, and enable this land to demonstrate true resilience and abundance in the face of climate change. The three schools collaborated and learned together, launching an art advocacy initiative.