The purpose of this study is to provide other developing countries in the region a reference on the successful design education reformation in Taiwan. The study first reviews Taiwan’s economic and design development to show their interconnection with local culture and the global market. Next, the study explores Taiwan’s design education development which transforms from adopting STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) in secondary school, and understands how it overcomes challenges by the help of both public and private sectors. Last, a conceptual framework is proposed to present and study Taiwan’s design education development. The result from case studies validates that STEAM can reach SAD (science, arts, and design) in higher education and CHEER (collaboration, humanity, empathy, ecology, and renaissance) in design practice. Therefore, the result and implications provided by this study can serve as a reference for other countries in the region who share similar cultural and socioeconomic development and future goals as Taiwan.

Most design courses in Taiwanese universities still follow the traditional teaching methods that cannot address the complex and interdisciplinary problems of the real world. In response to this, this study tries to integrate problem-based learning and capstone course approaches with university social responsibility to packaging design courses. It expects the hybrid teaching model will allow third-year college students to gain problem-solving skills, practical experience, and awareness of social responsibility in the design process. Therefore, this paper aims at addressing the following purposes: (1) explore each teaching approach’s features and the influence on design education; and (2) identify the implementation process for the new hybrid teaching method. This study uses qualitative research to obtain primary information, including authors’ observation and reflection and semi-structured interviews with 12 students and four clients. After three years of data collection and analysis, this study validates that the hybrid teaching method is suitable for design education and proposes a seven-stage implementation model applied to professional design courses. Adjustment according to the needs of different fields, providing a reference for teachers’ future curriculum planning and practice is included.

In the past, most cultural content was in a passive state of protection. In recent years, with the popularity of digital printing and the emergence of the concept of open-source sharing, it provides a new idea for cultural preservation. Using cultural elements from the Taitung region as a sample, this study established an open-source database, and completed the production of 60 digital models and the archiving of related materials. Based on the concept of open-source sharing, our research hopes that this database can be applied in more places. Through surveys, it could be concluded that, when the models are designed in parts and are easy to print and display, it is more conductive for the models to be used in promotions and applications. It is expected that each township will have its own localized 3D model database. Through the open-source localized digital model’s unrestricted and free features, under the influence of COVID-19, it can also allow people from all over the world who cannot visit these places in person to print the local cultural content remotely, so as to have a three-dimensional under-standing of Taiwanese cultural objects. It is expected that the localized 3D model databases will help promote local cultural improvement and move towards local innovation.

To discover how the lacquerware industry realizes its core competency, it is important to explore its upgrading strategies in the global value chains. The purpose of this study is to discuss the upgrading strategies applied during the lacquerware industry’s four economic stages and the approach to realize the industry’s sustainability. Results show that (1) OEM enterprises reach process upgrading with four strategies, ODM enterprises reach product upgrading with five strategies, OBM enterprises reach functional upgrading with four strategies, and OSM enterprises reach chain upgrading with two strategies; (2) the lacquerware industry‘s main elements in SSCM include the long-standing relations, reprocessing of defective products, employing the local community, and participation in regional and transregional development initiatives, wherein the design sector is the main link in the SSCM of the lacquerware. The result and implications provided by this study can serve as a reference for other lacquerware and local traditional handicraft industries that are seeking to upgrade and achieve sustainability during their economic development.