Social Engagement

Through "Local Engagement", TCC Promotes Industrial Transformation and Co-exists with Communities

Local engagement is indispensable to TCC's industrial transformation. While promoting its low-carbon and sustainable transformation, TCC also considers how to embody the spirit of "doing better together" by including the participation of local residents. Starting with the TCC DAKA Open Factory, TCC is committed to co-existing and integrating with the surrounding communities. The company has integrated local culture and industrial transformation into environmental education tours. This not only promotes communication between industry and society but also empowers local communities.

TCC DAKA Open Ecological Circular Factory

Opened in January 2020, TCC DAKA Open Ecological Circular Factory (TCC DAKA) is Taiwan's first open tourist factory in heavy industry. Its creation followed a 2019 Hualien County Government invitation for TCC to manage household waste via a private BOO (Build-Operation-Own) project for cement kiln co-processing, initiating TCC's industry and community inclusion efforts. Through open communication, TCC transformed community opposition into mutual trust. Guided by Chairman Nelson An-ping Chang's philosophy that "a factory cannot exist isolated; it is always connected with surrounding communities. A factory should become a part of society and local life," TCC opened the Hoping Plant as a non-profit initiative, aiming to coexistence with the community and fostering dialogue between industry and society.

Activities, social networks, and visiting opinion leaders serve as vital communication channels. By integrating residents' expectations and needs into its strategies across public welfare, co- prosperity, and transformation, TCC actively works to build a resilient community.

TCC DAKA Ecological Tour

Co-developed by TCC's senior employees and local residents, these environmental education tours transform complex industrial language into an accessible experience. The public is invited to go deep inside the Hoping quarry and Hoping Eco-Port to witness TCC's dedication to environmental management, quarry and coral restoration, and its circular economy model of zero emissions, zero pollution, and zero waste. Additionally, Cement Handicraft workshops allow participants to feel the "warmth" of cement during the creation process.

 

TCC DAKA cumulative visitors

8,772,095people

Explore TCC DAKA Ecological Tour

Emergency Relief for Local Residents

To foster engagement and trust with community, TCC welcomed 7-Eleven and Starbucks to TCC DAKA. Instead of rent, TCC earmarks a revenue percentage for a local fund, making every DAKA consumer a contributor. Established in October 2022, the Hoping Sustainability Charity Foundation operates under a co-decision system, with the Hoping Village chief and three indigenous chairpersons as directors. It created the Hoping Emergency Relief Fund to aid impoverished children and families facing financial hardships. Following this model, the nearby Ho-Ping Power Company established the Ho-Ping Power Maritime Emergency Relief Fund in 2023. This fund assists fishing vessels in distress within the Suao Fishermen's Association's jurisdiction, as well as fishermen and their families. Its management committee was formed in collaboration with the Fishermen's Association and fishing groups.

Subsidy Amount (NT$)

Hoping Sustainability Charity Foundation

$2,861,136

As of 31st December, 2024

Ho-Ping Power Company
Maritime Emergency Relief

$750,000

As of 31st December, 2024

 

 

TCC values the development of the Heping area. It provides a variety of training resources, such as educational courses and workshops, to help local residents develop new types of industries and create job opportunities while also promoting the economic empowerment of local females.

• Hoping Summer Lite Tours: Provides educational training, enabling local residents to combine their traditional culture with tourism to promote industry development.

• DAKA Market Entrepreneurship: Provides space and training to help local residents promote traditional handicrafts with Truku cultural characteristics, such as weaving, woodwork, or rattan products.

• Online Store Operations: During the pandemic, educational training was provided so that local residents could improve their income through online stores even when TCC DAKA was closed.

• RRRC Grapple Operator Training: Provides training resources to help local residents obtain an operator's license and work at the TCC DAKA Renewable Resources Recycling Center (RRRC).

Providing New Industries and Job Opportunities

 

Learn More About TCC DAKA

Vakangan Hot Spring Park

The park's Bunun name, "Vakangan," is derived from the indigenous community's original name for Hongye Village. TCC Green Energy, a subsidiary of TCC, partnered with Fleur de Chine Hotels to reconstruct the Hongye Hot Spring in Yanping Township, Taitung County, which was damaged by Typhoon Morakot. Over two years, they used a low-impact, environmentally friendly development model to rebuild it as Taiwan's first geothermal power generation base that integrates tourism with local co-existence.

The project connects and collaborates with local tour and bed-and-breakfast operators, with the goal of combining geothermal energy with hot spring tourism, agricultural products, and local culture. The aim is to encourage more travelers to visit Yanping Township and learn about the cultural wisdom of the Bunun people. Through professional training of local talent, the project promotes not only geothermal energy and its related applications but also local agriculture and cultural tourism, achieving mutual prosperity with the land.

Promotion of Renewable Energy and Sustainability

With its rich geothermal resources, Taitung is a crucial part of Taiwan's energy transition. To put its sustainability principles into practice, TCC works with nearby schools and in the park to offer tours and courses that increase local residents' and visitors' understanding of geothermal energy and sustainable development.

• Energy courses at Hongye Elementary School and Taoyuan Junior High School improve local children's understanding of sustainability and renewable energy.

• The Hongye Valley Geothermal Drilling Exhibition and park tours allow local residents and visitors to learn about the utilization and development of geothermal resources.

• Regular "Yanping Township Resident Days" allow local residents to directly benefit from the hot spring resources acquired through geothermal development.

• The park has established the Hongye Valley Sustainability Team, which promotes sustainability principles and integrates into the lives of local residents through simple environmental cleanup activities.

Promoting Local Life and Culture

Through markets, workshops, and cultural activities, the park integrates local traditional culture and unique characteristics with tourism. It also collaborates with cultural promotion groups and businesses to promote local values.

• The "Good Things Market" was established to showcase local agricultural products and Bunun textiles, providing a platform for promoting local culture and products.

• The "Hongye Collection" was created in collaboration with 25 local B&Bs to jointly promote unique local tourism experiences.

• Local cultural tours are planned, led by indigenous community guides, to give visitors a hands-on experience and enhance their understanding of Bunun culture and mountain forest ecosystems.

• In collaboration with groups such as the Luanshan 530 Cultural Classroom and the Hongye Pandalah Cultural Orchestra, the park promotes Bunun dance, music, and ceremonial culture through various performance activities.

Learn More About Vakangan Hot Spring Park

Little Tern Conservation Project-Hoping Welcomes You

The Little Tern, a migratory bird, is the only Category II marine protected species that breeds on Taiwan's main island. In 2024, it was first recorded nesting and raising chicks near the Hoping Power Plant's sea outlet. In response, the plant partnered with the Wild Bird Society of Hualien and initiating a three-year monitoring plan. The ten key suppliers of Hoping Power Plant joined these efforts through the 2024 Supplier Convention.

TCC Cement Academy: Lighting Up the Future Through Education

Upholding the spirit of "giving back to society what is taken from society," TCC has long been committed to children's educational development. In 2012, we launched the "TCC Cement Academy" scholarship program in Taiwan and expanded it to Mainland China in 2014. To date, we have partnered with nearly 20 schools, helping over 10,000 students improve their nutrition and access to learning resources.

The name "Shih-Min" comes from a brand name left by our former Chairman, Mr. Koo Chen-fu. It is a play on the Chinese word for cement, and it also symbolizes the spirit of "cultivating virtuous and studious individuals." As 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of TCC's privatization, we have further expanded the impact of the TCC Cement Academy with two major initiatives:

• Expanded Scope: We have added new partner schools, increasing the number of supported students to over 10,000. This includes students in Yilan and Hualien in Taiwan, as well as Guangdong, Sichuan, Chongqing, Liaoning, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan in mainland China, giving more children a better learning environment.

• Deepened Program Content: In addition to providing nutritional meals and learning resource subsidies, we have launched an extracurricular program that offers character education, reading skills development, and enrichment courses to promote children's holistic development.

The core principles of the TCC Cement Academy are "Character, Academics, and Quality," and we are committed to:

Character: Fostering students' good character and a sense of social responsibility.

Academics: Enhancing learning resources for students and promoting educational equity.

Quality: Providing nutritional support and a healthy environment for growth.

 

In the future, TCC will continue to advance the TCC Cement Academy program, focusing on education and the future to provide more children with rich learning opportunities and help them build a better tomorrow.

ETA Teaching Assistant Program

Since 2020, TCC has provided annual funding for the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) program, which helps Heping Elementary School hire a foreign teacher to be in residence for English instruction each semester. Heping Elementary School also uses educational funds from TCC DAKA to offer an additional two hours of English classes after school. This provides after-school English tutoring for students and parents from the community, creating a fully immersive foreign language learning environment.

 

Thanks to the ETA program, Heping Village is able to reduce the gap in educational resources caused by the urban-rural divide, and children can connect with the world through conversational teaching and fluent English. The program's two-year residency also gives foreign teachers the opportunity to fully experience and integrate into the culture and life of Heping Village, creating more opportunities for cultural exchange.