Promoting the Beauty of Coastal Taiwan via the iSee Taiwan “Sail to the World” Program

The iSee Taiwan Foundation organized and implemented the Sail to the World program in cooperation with Kaohsiung City’s Education Bureau, as part of ongoing efforts by the foundation to secure its position as the world’s “window on Taiwan”. Under the program, an extensive series of maritime-cultural education and experience activities were held aboard the large racing sailboat iSea Taiwan on Lotus Lake in Kaohsiung City’s Zuoying District. The iSea Taiwan was recently donated by the iSee Taiwan Foundation to the Kaohsiung City Government.

The program’s inaugural iSea Adventure x Learning on Lotus Lake activity, targeted Kaohsiung City public schools, with a total of 827 students and teachers participating in 23 activity sessions during 2016. The curriculum, designed to spark student interest in maritime-cultural activities, included classes on Kaohsiung history and culture, with experiential activities that taught students how to stand-up-paddleboard (SUP), kayak, and sail an actual sailboat.

Furthermore, the program’s Visit Lotus Lake & Historic Kaohsiung campaign was joined by 35 youth from Japan, Germany, Turkey, Malaysia, and Singapore. The carefully developed itinerary offered an exceptional “dive” into Kaohsiung culture from two perspectives, land and sea. It also gave the international youth a better appreciation of the beauty of coastal Taiwan.

The Sail to the World program was sponsored by the iSee Taiwan Foundation and the Kaohsiung City Education Bureau and was implemented with assistance from the Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau. The Foundation sincerely hopes that the iSea Taiwan continues to play an important and positive role in promoting Taiwan’s “island culture” as well as the popularity of sea recreation and leisure activities. The 29 activities held during 2016 were enthusiastically joined by nearly 1,200 students and teachers from universities, colleges, secondary schools, and primary schools in the region. All of the participants experienced a large sailing boat up close and gained new insights into the cultural landscape of Kaohsiung City and Taiwan’s unique maritime culture.

In 2017, apart from continuing to hold educational activities for students, the program increased the number of experiential activities for international youth. It opened the iSea Taiwan to domestic and overseas tourists, and held the iSea Taiwan Photography Open competition as part of the foundation’s multifaceted campaign to promote the beauty of coastal Taiwan. The iSee Taiwan Foundation hopes to see increasing public participation and appreciation of the aesthetic beauty of sailboats at full sail across windswept waters.