Pictures by Ason Chang, Huang Lianying - Text by Huang Lianying
In university campuses, what learning approaches can cultivate future talent? How can students imagine more for themselves and the future and gain the ability to put ideas into practice? Since 2017, the Atelier Future (AF) project at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) may have some answers. AF combines industry partnerships with organizations like FabCafe, Loftwork, and SinoPac Bank to operate various themed working groups that propose ideas and experiment with action.
In 2022, AF launched the "Future Dynamic Program," linking industries and cross-national resources. This program allows NCKU students to experience a cross-disciplinary exploration that differs greatly from traditional classrooms. This co-creation mechanism has supported 15 working groups so far, with SinoPac Bank’s corporate accelerator program further supporting student entrepreneurship. AF’s achievements have won it the "1st Taiwan Education Impact Award" in 2024 and selection for the "PwC Sustainability Impact Award." This recognition has instilled great confidence in AF’s future. This interview delves into the experiences and insights of a student team collaborating on food security issues in Thailand.
Cross-National Collaboration – Delving into Thailand's Rice Issues
FabCafe Bangkok has long collaborated with local groups in Thailand concerned with rice and food issues. The cooperation between FabCafe Taipei and AF led to this action project involving NCKU students and faculty in Thailand. For Thailand, rice is not only an essential staple but also a major export. Thailand is the world's second-largest rice exporter, boasting about 20,000 varieties, though only 200 varieties make it to farms and tables. Additionally, about 40% of Thailand's workforce is in agriculture, yet over 66% of farmers are in debt. Multiple factors make farming less appealing to the younger generation, which could impact the global food crisis.
For people in Taiwan, this reality can be hard to imagine. AF's Executive Director, Leslie Tsai, explains why they chose a cross-national exploration in the Future Dynamic Program: "Why should we step out of Taiwan to understand other countries' issues? A key reason is that we need to understand the urgency of issues on a larger scale, like in Thailand, and consider future impacts. This scale is difficult to grasp in Taiwan's market." Leslie sees this as a valuable learning opportunity.
A team of Thai students and three groups of NCKU students, using remote learning, in-person classes, and a one-week visit to Thailand for proposal presentations, spent nine weeks in this cross-national course. The NCKU teams were formed from the committees in the university’s Hult Prize competition, an international business contest focusing on innovative social enterprise solutions. The students had prior experience in collaborative project proposals, which helped them extend their ideas to a global perspective in this exploration.
Composed of diverse backgrounds, three NCKU student groups embark on a journey through Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, and finally Thailand to explore rice
Within the university, groups were randomly formed, each with two to three students from different nationalities and fields of study. Initially, each group began by researching the current state of rice cultivation and consumption in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Japan as a kind of warm-up. This also allowed them to observe if they had a deeper interest in any particular aspect. After a month, they then shifted their focus to an in-depth study of Thailand, the main topic country.
Rice Rich: Crowdfunding Platform to Solve Farmers' Financial Issues
Natalie Tanjaya, a student from NCKU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Peggy Lin from the Department of International Business began by studying Japan, particularly impressed by the country’s use of advanced technology for pest control. Later, they formed the "Rice Rich" team. “Our proposal emerged after we understood the issues in Thai agriculture and developed a solution,” Natalie explained. The two proposed a finance-related solution to address farmers' debt problems, ultimately presenting it as a crowdfunding platform. With an engineering background, Natalie was responsible for designing the platform interface, while Peggy, with expertise in finance, handled statistical calculations. Since their team had one less member than the other two groups, they met almost daily, working late into the night to refine their proposal.
Peggy explained that Thai farmers often need initial capital to start farming and thus turn to banks for loans. However, due to unfavorable conditions, they often struggle to obtain loans or must mortgage their land. If they face a poor harvest, their income is affected, and they may be unable to redeem their land. “To address the vicious debt cycle Thai farmers face, we proposed an equity crowdfunding solution.” This model, combining elements of stock and crowdfunding, allows for equity- or debt-based crowdfunding where contributors can fund farmers and share in a portion of the profits from the harvest. Executive Director Leslie added, “Their challenge was finding business models for reference, but these kinds of platforms are still rare or underdeveloped worldwide.”
Rice Rich: Concept interface of the online crowdfunding platform. Left photo by Huang Lianying; right image courtesy of NCKU Atelier Future
Nee Sin Sin: A Board Game Design to Educate Farmers about Debt Challenges
Indonesian student Renata Selma Tanan from the Department of Energy Engineering, along with Chiawei Zhang from the Department of Foreign Languages and Aitong Lin from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, initially researched Taiwan’s agricultural subsidy policies, drones, and agricultural technology. They named their project "Nee Sin Sin" in Thai, a phrase with a double meaning of reversing debt and fate. This game was designed to help players experience the debt challenges Thai farmers face.
Before finalizing this idea, the team was initially interested in creating something inspired by the "Farmer’s Superstition." Renata mentioned that their mentor, Paul, was enthusiastic about this concept, saying, “It's like embracing the culture of the Thai people.” This approach, rooted in local culture, was exciting. However, after deeper research, the team found it challenging to thoroughly develop the concept and complete it within the limited project schedule.
Nee Sin Sin: A board game designed to help farmers understand debt challenges and find solutions. Photo courtesy of NCKU Atelier Future
“We thought that if we chose something more familiar to college students, like board games or games, it might be more feasible,” said Chiawei. “We found that local farmers struggle with debt because they lack financial management skills and tend to invest in machinery without proper planning, leading to a debt cycle. We wondered if a board game could help farmers easily understand the causes of this cycle and how to escape it.” Initially, they considered modifying Monopoly, and later incorporated elements from board games like Stone Age and Cashflow, along with a Russian roulette concept. “Nee Sin Sin has four players and starts with buying seeds, then progresses through purchasing tools, insurance, land, and negotiating with the bank,” Renata added, explaining the inspiration and gameplay that resulted from multiple rounds of brainstorming and iteration.
Turn Rice：An Innovative Rice Proposal Focused on the Health Needs of the Younger Generation
Indonesian students Saddha Khanti Devi, Lidwina Hannah Salim, and Taiwanese student Kay Chang, with backgrounds in biotechnology, business administration, and accounting, respectively, initially researched rice cultivation in Indonesia. Khanti noted that traditional methods are still widely used for rice farming in Indonesia. The team initially aimed to explore combining traditional rice farming with modern technology but later shifted their Turn Rice proposal to focus on health. Executive Director Leslie explained, “They wanted to answer the question, ‘Why aren’t young people eating rice anymore?’” From the Rice Bank website, the team discovered rice varieties with high protein content and designed packaging and promotion to introduce these quality rice varieties to fitness-conscious young people, highlighting their nutritional benefits.
Turn Rice: Selected nutritious rice variety for the fitness-concerned generation. Photo courtesy of NCKU Atelier Future
Khanti shared that three weeks before going to Thailand, the team focused on helping transition traditional crops to organic agriculture. However, after meeting with relevant individuals in Thailand, “we found that reality differed significantly from our expectations. First, the cost of transitioning is very high, and second, switching to organic may mean no income for up to three years.” With limited time, the three team members divided tasks to investigate further. “We started by researching the nutritional profiles of rice varieties on Rice Bank. Some varieties actually meet the nutritional needs of fitness enthusiasts.” Jiaxing laughed, saying that the team completely shifted their topic during their stay in Thailand, just before their final presentation, enhancing their adaptability and resilience.
Cross-National Learning Field – Experiencing Setbacks and Growth On-Site
“We have a saying in the Future Proposal Program: ‘frequent, manageable doses of setbacks.’ We can’t let students be too discouraged, but they also need some setbacks for self-growth,” Executive Director Leslie humorously remarked on how the three groups of students experienced a series of small setbacks (even to the point of proposals being dismantled!) when they arrived at Thailand’s key rice-growing area, Nakhon Sawan, in the final week.
For example, the Turn Rice team found it difficult to find feasible solutions within the current reality faced by farmers; the Nee Sin Sin team needed to translate the core issues into a game design, where farmers were the primary audience. Only after inviting farmers to play the board game did they realize they had overlooked the critical role of the “bank” as a stakeholder. “When you’re on-site, considering all the conditions in person, you find that it’s completely different from what you imagined,” said Natalie. Their local mentor suggested that the Rice Rich team integrate the platform with Line, as many online shopping and group-buying transactions in Thailand heavily rely on Line. Peggy Lin and Natalie reflected that, given more time, they would have liked to interview more people for additional perspectives, allowing them to refine their crowdfunding platform with more practical suggestions.
Immersing in Various Environments: The Inspiration of Physical Memory
"After completing the project, I felt that my current knowledge might not be enough to fully support a complete logic and detailed plan; there’s still much to improve," shared Peggy, who has a strong interest in finance. She found that developing a crowdfunding platform involves complex regulations and structural details, which deepened her understanding of the challenges in turning a concept into a practical implementation. Peggy said, "What I learned the most is probably to seize every opportunity. From deciding whether to participate in the project or to conduct more interviews, each choice brings different rewards."
Chiawei Chang from the Nee Sin Sin board game team discovered that he didn’t particularly enjoy researching online but felt inspired when he interviewed farmers, Rice Hub members, and others dedicated to rice issues in Thailand, interacting with them directly in English. He laughed, noting that his partner, Renata, who loves research, complemented him well. Renata found the training very practical, saying, "It helped us bring what we learned into real life. I’m really happy, and I never thought we could help farmers through game design."
With a biotechnology background, Khanti reflected on her summer internship at Academia Sinica, where she participated in a project related to brown rice. This experience gave her a deeper and unique perspective on rice. "Through this project, I learned to view things from different angles, and that any idea without practical application is a useless idea. Doing things in reality is very important. Additionally, learning what can be achieved within a limited time and how to manage expectations is invaluable."
This nine-week, non-credit course challenges traditional course duration and intensity, offering students hands-on experience with the unknowns and changes in project work. Instructors connect resources and place students in suitable environments, fostering learning through self-exploration. "We call this 'sensory memory'—your body feels the difficulty, and afterward, it remembers the feeling of hard work combined with excitement," Executive Director Leslie said. She believes that these experiences—going beyond the digital and remote, exploring issues in other countries—create profound physical memories that support students in exploring the external world while gaining greater self-awareness. This is, in essence, a creative expression of preparing for the future by testing their limits and understanding their own capabilities and boundaries.
