Group photo at Tafalong's Amis／Pangcah Traditional House（Kakita'an）with Partner Institution Hualien Tribal College

The "Taiwan – New Zealand Aotearoa Indigenous Higher Education Connection" Project from National Dong Hwa University （NDHU） has been selected as 2018 Successful Bilateral Exchange in Colleges and Universities case.

The "2018 Bilateral Exchange Excellence Case Campaign" was held by Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan （FICHET）. The top five winners, National Dong Hwa University, National Taiwan University, National Sun Yat-sen University, Shih Chien University, and National Taipei University of Technology, were announced recently. The Commissioner of FICHET will interview the selected schools for further report. In addition, FICHET will have digital special issues by using social medias to promote these successful cases in Taiwan and internationally. FITHET called for cases submission, and after primary highly competitive evaluations, five Bilateral Exchange Cases were selected from round two shortlist.

The selected case from National Dong Hwa University is "Taiwan – New Zealand Aotearoa Indigenous Higher Education Connection Program." In order to raise understanding of the Austronesian issues in the world, academic development, and social situations in Taiwanese society, Center for International Indigenous Affairs （CIIA） has been founded by the Ministry of Education since 2017 to implement "Taiwan Connection: "Taiwan – New Zealand Aotearoa Indigenous Higher Education Connection Project". The project principal investigator is CIIA's Director, Dr. Jolan Hsieh, who leads the center for expanding international indigenous research and activities between Taiwan and New Zealand. The project activities include academic exchanges, institutional and community visits, and student internships. The main reasons for the winning case, according to FICHT, were the unique contents of the event, the continuity in the future, and academia collaboration opportunities among universities in Taiwan and New Zealand.

Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan stated that through exemplary case selection activities, hoping it will be able to identify cases with depth, innovation, and provide new ideas for schools which they want to promote bilateral exchanges in the future. At the same time, FICHET hope to find ways of promoting the internationalization of higher education and empower our younger generation.

Taiwan Connection delegation, lead by CIIA Director Dr. Jolan Hsieh, visited New Zealand's Partner University Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi