The document summarizes a student team's redesign project for the Er Jie community in Taiwan. The team conducted research in Er Jie, identifying opportunities to develop tourism by highlighting cultural heritage and attractions. They proposed connecting Er Jie to nearby villages through a biking tour that incorporates local crafts. Their concept included branding Er Jie's cultural identity, creating an app with information and a scavenger hunt, and packaging local products as souvenirs to attract younger visitors and boost the economy. The overall goal was to strengthen Er Jie and contribute to Yilan through meaningful tourism experiences.

1. Redesign for Sustainability2012 Asian Smart Living International School Report 6766
Er Jie
Redesign for Greater Erjie Community
Mentor /
Fang-Wu Tung _ Taiwan
Seed Teaching Assistant /
Wei-Kang (Jerry) Wang _ Taiwan
Team members /
Ayako Miyoshi _ Japan
Bart Sanders _ Netherlands
Wen-Shu Kwek _ Singapore
Wen-Hui (Wendy) Chuang _ Taiwan
Yun-Fong Kao _ Taiwan

2. Redesign for Sustainability2012 Asian Smart Living International School Report 6968
First we went to Wang Gong Temple in Erjie. We learned about the history
of the temple, the community it is located in, and the future plans for its
renovation. The end goal is to make Wang Gong temple symbolic of the
unique cultural heritage in Yilan County. Before leaving, we ran into owners
of a new car who were preparing to drive it over fire as part of a fire walking
ceremony. This is a traditional ceremony performed to ward off evil spirits
that may bring danger or bad luck. Our encounter with fire walking had a
big impact on the direction we took in conceptualizing tourist attractions
for the area.
Then, we returned to the Erjie Barn, where we discussed the results of
our interview at Wang Gong Temple, and created a plan for the next step
in our design process. In the afternoon we identified and interviewed
individuals who would be helpful to us, including workers at the granary
and local residents who manage bed-and-breakfasts in their homes. We
learned more about the potential opportunities and the potential pitfalls
of development in this area.
DISCOVER
DEFINE
First, we wrote down all our ideas on post-its, and then we separated them
into different subjects. Then we determined the purpose, expectations, and
targets of our design. Currently, Erjie Community is losing youth due to
rural-urban migration and Erjie Community has an aging population. Job
opportunities are decreasing, and the community is not well connected
to other communities in the area, such as Jenju and Bai-mi. We thought
it is essential to develop tourism in the area in order to promote the
preservation and development of native folk culture. When combined
with developments in Jenju and Bai-mi, this movement can make a great
contribution to the tourism industry in Yilan County.

3. Redesign for Sustainability2012 Asian Smart Living International School Report 7170
We further determined that, in order to develop the tourism industry in
this area, we must tackle the following: a lack of publicity, underdeveloped
transportation, the emigration of young adults, and the underutilization
of cultural heritage sites. Then, we imagined what we would like Erjie
to be like in twenty years. At this point we created stories around the
unique characteristics of Erjie we discovered, in order to clarify what type
of tourism activities would be best for the community. These focal points
include traditional rice cakes used in celebrations, traditional ceremonies
and holidays, visual characteristics that could be used for marketing, and
how Erjie fits into its surrounding area. Our goal was to develop interactive
activities that would allow visitors to experience the authentic local culture.
DEVELOP
We believed that the selling points of Erjie are its beautiful surroundings,
rice production, its relaxed countryside atmosphere, local arts, the granary
architecture, and other cultural sites. Together with the attractions of Jenju
and Bai-mi, these three villages can be combined in a bicycle tour. Visitors
could first use the wood working facilities in Bai-mi to create a basic design,
then get fibers from the straw in Jenju, and finally take it all to Erjie to
make an individualized pastry mould, called gaomuo in Chinese. Further,
targeting the rice harvesting culture of Erjie, we designed a special CIS
and unique packaging to go with it, in the hope that attractive packaging
would boost the value of rice as a souvenir. Third, we created a mobile
phone app which introduces the attractions of Erjie in a scavenger hunt.
Visitors can also conveniently take and upload photos to social networking
sites on their mobile phones. All the above activities could be integrated
into a points system, where visitors receive gifts such as free souvenirs and
discount coupons.
DELIVER

4. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
DESIGN GOAL
How to strengthen Er Jie and make it contribute to the whole of Yilan.
With our ideas above, we hoped to create a meaningful tour experience
that would draw young visitors. In particular, we had aimed to utilize the
natural resources of the area, and to create a wealth of information for
potential visitors. Furthermore, with our efforts we aimed to contribute to
the economic development of the region. We hoped our ideas would bring
in much needed revenue to the villages and increase public understanding
of Yilan County.
FINAL
PRESENTATION
LEARN
EXPERIENCE
REWARD PLAY
No Tourist
Information
No Eco
Transportation
Not
Attractive for
Young People
No Use of
Heritage
Service Framework of A Journey Erjie
SERVICE FRAMEWORK
Meaningful Tourism
Enjoy Environment
Good Information
Attracts Young People
Upregulation of
Local Economy
Maintained
Craftsmanship
Local History
Education
Jobs
Youngsters
Generation
Interaction
Yilan Identity
Promotion
Yilan
This service framework wants to illustrate
what Erjie Community can do and its
relation between different stakeholders.

5. FINAL
PRESENTATION
DESIGN CONCEPT
Our target demographic is between the ages of 20 and 30. We hope these
young people will visit Yilan in groups of friends. They can first create their
own unique souvenir through our artistic activities, then discover the area
more deeply through our cell phone app, then finally have a chance to win
and purchase a variety of souvenirs.
We hoped to tie Bai-mi, Jenju, and Erjie together into the same travel
itinerary. We wanted visitors to visit all three areas at the same time. Visitors
can travel on the bike path to get from one village to the next. An example
of combining attractions from all three villages would be: firstly, visitors
could make wooden molds at the woodworking shops at Bai-mi, and then
they could collect straw at Jenju. After that, they could turn the straw into
paper pulp at the paper making factory in Erjie. Finally, the visitors could
use the wooden mold to mold the paper pulp into different designs for
souvenirs.
Concept 1 _ Yilan Biking Tour & Treasure Hunt
Treasure hunt tools / Er Jie memory
New customer journey
B&B
Wood Carving
Baimi
Mold Product
Erjie
“ DIY ”
Straw Pulp
Jenju
We would design and market souvenirs from Erjie by utilizing traditional
cultural elements, such as turtle shell-shaped molds (Hong Gui Guo). We
hoped to boost the attractiveness of these local products through our
packaging design.
Packaging design / Giving identity to Er Jie CommunityEr Jie Logo design
Concept 2 _ Branding Er Jie
We hoped to utilize our mobile phone app to increase the popularity of
the region. Our app would provide lots of information about local foods,
festivals, and ceremonies. We highly encouraged visitors to use bicycles as
the main form of transportation. As visitors moving along the bike path,
they could search their app for specific information. Furthermore, the app
would provide a scavenger hunt that takes visitors to different attractions.
Visitors who get enough points would receive gifts provided by local
businesses.
Concept 3 _ Er Jie Journey
Story board / Bike renting service & Usage of the Er Jie App program
Er Jie App program / Connecting the local resources and informations to customer journey