The Daqi village in Guantian District, Tainan City, was a remote settlement with idle space and a large outflowing population. Starting in 2007, a group of architecture professors and students from Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA) moved in and began promoting community building. Mr. Lin Jian-rui is one of the students. With his professors and classmates, he built a children's library for the community and raised nearly one billion operating funds in 2011. The experience started with the grand action but faced difficulties afterwards. "How to actively manage the area after rebuild?" was the reason made Mr. Lin Jian-rui stayed.

He started to think: "It is meaningless If the space be idle again after hosting one activity." After that, he realized that the vital of a space is not only by a good design but by "how to use it daily." Therefore, he stayed in the village and started a longer pilot experiment focused on operation and education to build "Daqi Creative Art Base."

Transformation: Build An Experience Space of" Playing by Learning, and Learning by Playing."
14 years ago, Mr. Lin Jian-rui stepped into the forgotten village. He didn't want to be the Messiah, but just found a place where it could freely grow arts and architecture. They rebuilt those idle houses one after one, and gradually gave them a vital and warm spirit. He laughed and said, "We just wanted to revive those spaces at that moment; however, they finally became children's Playing Island."

Especially from 2019 to 2023, the Association continually applied for support of the Ministry of Labor's "Multi-Employment Promotion Program" and "Empowering Employment Program", to hire 6 project staff. Those staff not only built the basic structure of the space, but they also found a unique position for the place, gradually developing the unique education model of "Playing by Learning, and Learning by Playing." Gradually, the village came alive again, with children from all over Taiwan gathering there. By summer break 2024, over 3,500 students had participated, and about 500 visited during winter break.

Mr. Lin said, "We are experts in renovating the hardware of spaces. However, after doing so, we just realized that the " Playing and Learning " model is competitive on the market. He added, "A more refined approach to education accompanies the declining birth rate. Parents are no longer just taking their children to traditional amusement parks, but are placing greater emphasis on whether the venue has a learning and growth connotation." Therefore, since 2023, the fame and services of the Base have increased, and it has taken a unique path that lights up education and creativity in the local area.

Dual Track Promoting: The Local Experience and Outward Exporting
The Association has also designed its manpower structure uniquely. Mr. Lin Jien-rui made effective use of the resources at Tainan National University of Arts (TNNUA) nearby. He invites 30 young students to serve as game leaders and educators in the busy season. He laughed and said, "It's a leverage way. The students are active, creative, and quickly adapt to our culture and vision. Those students not only solved the problem of a manpower shortage at the Base but also ensured the Association's vision continued to take root."

He expressed that from 2024 to 2027. After initiating the new Empowering Employment Program period, the Association separated its developing into two core tracks. One promotes the core value in "Playing-Learning" local experience service, and the other exports new models of space design and technology services.

The second track is the Base team, which gradually became an important collaborative partner of the middle and southern regional space revitalization team due to its senior practical experience. They will join the space revitalization program in areas including Meinong, Liugui, Houbi, and Changhua, providing technical consulting, design planning, and turnkey renovation services. This will effectively help these communities transform idle spaces into cultural landmarks with sustainable management capabilities.

Six Core Values Implemented in Living Spaces
Mr. Lin emphasized, "The Empowering Employment Program of the Ministry of Labor is just like an 'Angel Investor' to us. Through the council and support, the program forced us to find our own business model." Therefore, the model was gradually becoming clearer—we targeted the core customers in the supplementary education and compulsory education industry, and secondly, in the tourism industry. The Association's innovative business model is not only in space design but more importantly in the key operations of experience services, forming a unique operational model based on arts and design, and centered on education.

Regarding social impact, the Association represents "Social Design" and the "Mutual Benefit Principle". The impact of Daqi Creative Art Base is not only in venue renovation but also in operating its six core values daily:

1. Create an attractive venue for families to visit through a variety of fun and engaging parent-child recreational activities;
2. Promote a livable community plan to make the community environment more suitable for long-term residents;
3. About the youth empowerment, it actively cultivates young talents to stay in the local townships through a combination of education and practical experience.
4. Provide a high-quality and enriching learning and growth environment for children.
5. Promote local specialty products such as mangoes and water chestnuts through product marketing to revitalize the local economy.
6. Connect neighboring venues such as Tainan National University of Arts (TNNUA) and Wushantou Reservoir to form a model of resource sharing and mutual benefit, truly introducing new vitality and development momentum into rural areas.

Furthermore, through the "Empowering Employment Program" of the Ministry of Labor, Daqi Creative Art Base has successfully created stable employment opportunities and played an important role in integrating the local revitalization blueprint. By directly participating in various activities and construction projects, the residents gradually feel the local economy reviving and their quality of life improving.

Through years of operation and innovation, Daqi Creative Art Base not only transformed itself and proved that "By a suitable method, a rural township can also do well." There are no standard answers from the Association; it just shows, "When spaces are used consistently, the talents are willing to stay, and the place begins to generate income; then the change is no longer just a slogan but a part of daily life."

Official Facebook Page of Taiwan Urban and Rural Art-Agricultural Practice Association

▲The Taiwan Urban and Rural Art-Agriculture Practice Association has positioned itself as "The Village Is A Playing Island," attracting 3,500 children and adults all over Taiwan during the 2024 summer break.

▲Through years of accumulation and innovation, the Taiwan Urban and Rural Art-agriculture Practice Association's goal has become clearer and has found a new revenue model in exporting space design and technology services. (Mr. Lin Jian-rui is on the first right side)

▲The Taiwan Urban and Rural Art-agriculture Practice Association is gradually gaining recognition and is frequently featured in television travel programs. (Photo provided by the Association)
 

Case Story: Multi-Employment Promotion and Empowering Employment Program
Interviewee: Taiwan Urban and Rural Art-agriculture Practice Association

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Please attribute this article to“Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor.”