Nature experience is the most useful method in SOW’s environmental education programs. Based on educational promotion and volunteering training, SOW trains various professional guides or appoints stationary volunteers to host one-day workshops and promotional activities to take people to the outdoors and experience nature.

SOW hosts over one hundred outdoor experience activities annually. The activities cover a wide range of environmental issues such as hiking trail guide, beach clean-up, and eco-park tour. Step by step, taking people outdoors for a nature experience, and hoping that people can start to understand the beauty of ecosystems and cherish nature. Through every activity, SOW reaches out to people of all ages to raise awareness on environmental conservation. SOW believes that education promotion is the only way to get more people to discover environmental issues, and take a step forward to put in time and effort to restore nature back to its proper condition.

In the past 20 years, SOW has been cultivating an ecological education for children. It hopes that every child who grows up in Taiwan will have the opportunity to experience the beauty of Taiwan’s natural environment. SOW has established over 100 Parent-Child Groups throughout Taiwan. The most iconic characteristic of the Parent-Child Group is that the parents in each family share their expertise and experience to provide education to the children. The long term co-learning education allows children to have a group of friends who grow up, learn, and explore together to build up the passion of environmental protection.

The education promotion reaches out to diversified groups including families, schools, and corporations. In addition to outdoor activities, SOW has gradually applied indoor learning programs as well. It even developed hand-made courses that use waste to make environmentally friendly supplies. Furthermore, through the promotion of eco-development of metropolitan parks allows those who have been living in the city for a long time to enjoy the unique natural environment that has nurtured countless species in the parks nearby. Through independent learning and discovery, people can start to develop a new mindset with a unique perspective for nature, and show appreciation and respect to all things in nature. Such mindset also comes with a sense of mission toward conserving the ecological environment. This is the driving force for long term commitment in becoming a guardian for the environment on Earth.

There is no technical requirement to become a SOW volunteer. Everyone can become a volunteer as long as you agree with SOW’s core value and are passionate and curious about the environment and willing to spend time in the organization. Among the volunteers who devoted themselves in environmental education, some joined SOW because they are longing for their hometown, some were recruited by their childhood memories, but even more were summoned by their love for nature. The SOW members and volunteers have selflessly passed on their own experience and observations. They share and convey ecological concepts with passion, building a spiritual connection between people, land, and nature.

SOW has trained many promotional lecturers. These lecturers are invited to corporations to hold seminars that promote environmental and ecological conservation. In addition, they are also committed to training tour guides and activity leaders for environmental protection activities. There are various volunteer training programs designated to deal with different environmental topics such as habitat works, ecological classroom, climate change, and beach clean-up. In the past two years, SOW even trained lecturers for environmental education for children. They are directly involved in the design of teaching plans for environmental education. With sizable population, diversity, and professionalism, volunteers are the greatest asset of SOW.

SOW knows that if it wants to promote its value and ideals effectively, a systematic volunteer training program can help SOW volunteers to learn and sharpen their professional knowledge. Through the volunteer training program, rookies can see the vision and ideal of SOW. It is not only about promoting environmental professionalism, but more importantly it offers an opportunity to find people with similar value. It all starts from oneself and then begins to influence the people around. SOW gathers people with the same ideals and works together to protect Taiwan’s environment!