The award categories of the Marine Education Contribution Awards are: organizations, individuals, local governments and educational teams. Organizations are judged by the resources invested, results achieved and their influence; individuals by their innovativeness and influence; local governments by the summary of their annual plans for schools in counties and cities, achievements in promotion and education,  and online educational platforms; and educational teams by their teamwork,  teaching beliefs, activity plans, innovative teaching, consolidation of marine resources and assessment of student learning and outcomes. In total, 22 awards were given out across all four categories.

         Among which, recipients of the Organization Award demonstrated the diverse potential for the collaboration between marine education, enterprises and society through multi-faceted support and sponsorships. The awards went out to Taohai Culture Conservation Association of Yilan County, Marine Citizens Foundation, Chang Yung-fa Foundation, and Bliss and Wisdom Foundation of Culture and Education. The Individual Award recognized long-time individual efforts, courage and dedication in pushing forward marine education and nurturing talents. The awards went out to Mr. Yü K‘ei Wei of National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Mr. Yu Hao Ling of National Lukang Senior High School, Ms. Yeh Shu Ch’ing of Keelung Municipal Ren Ai Elementary School, Ms. Yang Fu Tz’u of Run Away From Island Work Studio and Mr. Lo Chen Hung of Kaohsiung City Chih Hsien Junior High School. The Local Government Award recognized local governments’ resourceful use of the local environment and characteristics to develop city-based marine education curriculum, lesson plan, teaching capabilities and resource exchanges, among other areas. The awards went out to Kaohsiung City, Keelung City and Tainan City. The Educational Team Award recognized educators for their teaching enthusiasm and achieving breakthrough accomplishments with existing resources, as well as the guiding of students to learn and develop ocean literacy with an international worldview. The awards went out to 5 teams from primary schools, 3 teams from junior high schools and 2 teams from senior secondary/vocational schools.

        The award winners came from various parts of society, including government agencies, educational institutions, enterprises and non-governmental groups. The awardees’ commitment to marine education highlights the increasing level of importance attached to marine topics. Aside from pro-actively promoting the significance of marine environments and their protection, schools part of Taiwan’s educational system have also doubled their efforts with the encouragement of the county and city-level educational bureaus. These schools have developed various marine education lesson plans for enlivening classrooms, boosting ocean literacy and awareness, as well as cultivating good behavior. By nurturing students from young, seeds will be sowed for future change, affecting future global environmental and cultural developments and harmonizing the relationship between human beings and the ocean. Above all, it is hoped that the Marine Education Contribution Awards will spur and encourage more people to participate and contribute towards marine education.