Project Assistant：SUNG,YU-HSUAN

　　To support World Oceans Day, which is observed on June 8, the Ministry of Education designated the week on which World Oceans Day falls as Marine Education Week in 2014. Since then, the ministry has been subsidizing the Taiwan Marine Education Center in planning and organizing marine education–related promotional activities.

　　Themed on “protecting the ocean,” the 2023 (2^nd) Marine Science Picture Book Solicitation Event invited picture book submissions from students and teachers at all school levels in Taiwan. The event drew 142 submissions, which underwent preliminary, second, and final reviews. Finally, 42 winning works were selected for the elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, college, and teacher categories. The themes of these works, which included protecting the coast, fish-consumption education, and plastic reduction–related actions, highlighted the cultural characteristics of various regions of Taiwan, the participants’ environment consciousness, and how these themes aligned with global issues related to sustainable development.

　　The winning works were exhibited at various local schools and social education venues during an exhibition tour that took place from April to August of this year. These venues included the Yunlin County Douliu Picture Book Library, Kaohsiung Municipal Wufu Junior High School, Lienchiang County Dongyin Elementary and Junior High School, Lienchiang County Chung-Shan Junior High School, Sustainable Ark Museum (of the Taitung County Environmental Education Center), and Yilan County Lanyang Museum. Furthermore, a seminar attended by 8,214 participants was held. Through the integration of elements related to marine science, aesthetics, and literary creation, the event enabled its participants to learn about the application of marine science–related knowledge and skills in their daily lives and promoted marine science to teachers, students, and the public.