Ocean State, Open Water
Let's go to the water and the sea together!
Recently, the Join platform has two co-signatures on open water issues, which have been voted and passed, and a collaboration meeting will be held. Both proposals were proposed by Mr. Li Yuanzhi of the Taiwan Open Water Alliance. In April 2022, “Articles 36 and 60 of the Development and Tourism Regulations were repealed, and real open water recreational activities” and in june 2022 “please review the opening of public facilities such as park waters, reservoirs, fishing ports, encourage all people to enjoy water and conduct water safety education, and comprehensively improve the water quality for citizens” was held to discuss not only the policy aspect, but also the actual implementation aspect of each water area.
The first collaboration meeting was held at the Yilan Waiao Visitor Center. We invited multiple stakeholders, including relevant industry players and players. , scholars and experts, and management parties such as the National Park Management Office, the National Scenic Area Management Office, the Yilan County Government, the New Taipei City Government, and the Kaohsiung City Government, so that everyone from the central and local governments can communicate and discuss at the same table. Participating people raised questions and feelings to the management unit on the spot, and the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Communications also expressed the position of “open principle and exception management”, hoping that individual management units can improve the current restrictions on the use of the public. We took stock of the needs of all parties at the end of the meeting, discussed possible solutions and dilemmas, and in the process of collaboration, let the open waters move forward little by little.
Second Collaboration Meeting Due to the epidemic, it will be handled online. People hope that parks, reservoirs and fishing ports can be opened for use, but they also find that the competent authorities in these three places are different. For example, parks are regulated by local self-government regulations, while reservoirs may be under the jurisdiction of the Water Resources Department, the Agriculture Committee, Taiwan Sugar, and Taipower; the fishing ports are divided into the central fishery department or managed by local counties and cities, and all need to participate in the discussion. Because of the diverse geographical characteristics of reservoirs, we also took inventory of aerial photos and discussed multiple reservoirs on a case-by-case basis.
The public has been actively discussing issues related to open water, so the two collaborative meetings were broadcast live, and the Pol.is digital tool was used to analyze public opinion before the meeting. The public demand for management also examines the distribution of powers and responsibilities between the central and local governments. We hope that through open government collaboration meetings, players and management units can go from “opposition” to “dialogue” to find a way to balance “freedom” and “safety”, and continue to communicate through multiple ministries and local governments. Improve open waters shared by all.