Led by Department Chair Dr. Li-Hui Lin, a delegation of 14 faculty members and students from the Department of Adult and Continuing Education at National Chung Cheng University (CCU) conducted an academic visit to Belgium from June 22 to 30, 2026. The delegation visited Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Ghent University, and several prominent research institutions. This exchange focused on critical issues such as lifelong learning, senior education, life education, dementia care, community innovation, and the "Compassionate Community" concept. The delegation engaged deeply with various research groups, including VUB's Society and Ageing Research Lab, the Compassionate Community and University Movement (COCO Research Group), Ghent University's CHARM Research Group, Meaning Research in Late Life, and TECOlab. The visit provided profound insights into Belgium's latest research achievements in an aging society, lifelong learning, and community care, while establishing solid academic exchanges and international partnerships with local scholars.

The most landmark achievement of this visit was the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the doctoral program of the CCU Department of Adult and Continuing Education and the COCO Research Group. Both parties agreed to jointly promote the philosophy of a "Compassionate University". Future long-term collaborations were planned to span research cooperation, faculty and student exchanges, international curricula, community practices, and senior education. With the shared vision of establishing Asia's first Compassionate University, the initiative aimed to deeply integrate compassionate care and life education with University Social Responsibility (USR), creating a model for higher education that encompassed educational, research, and social impacts.

In addition to deepening international exchange, eight doctoral students presented their research findings at VUB and Ghent University, fully demonstrating the research capacity of CCU's doctoral program in adult education, senior education, and lifelong learning. The presenting doctoral students included Chih-Chin Huang, Hsien-Ta Cha, Chen-Chang Su, Chen-Yu Wang, I-Yu Lai, Jui-Yu Pan, Yu-Chieh Yen, and Shih-Chieh Chang. Their research topics covered a wide range of fields, including curriculum design for end-of-life education for older adults, digital game co-creation for individuals with dementia, social-emotional learning for retirees, digital literacy among older adults, supportive learning environments, physical activity participation among older adults, action research on enhancing digital literacy in older adult learning, and curriculum design for peer-teaching among seniors. Balancing theoretical depth with practical application, these presentations garnered significant attention from international scholars, leading to in-depth discussions on research methodologies, cross-cultural applications, and future collaborative opportunities.

Notably, Ghent University's CHARM (Consortium for Health Humanities, Arts, Reading and Medicine) is a premier international research alliance in Europe dedicated to health humanities. It connects multiple universities and research institutions across Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States, Canada, France, and Italy to jointly promote interdisciplinary research in healthy aging, the meaning of life, narrative medicine, arts and health, compassionate communities, and lifelong learning. During the visit, the CCU Department of Adult and Continuing Education reached a high level of consensus with the CHARM research team regarding future collaboration. Plans were initiated for CCU to join this international alliance, as CCU aspired to become the first major Asian partner to participate in this consortium. Through transnational research, academic exchange, and talent cultivation, this partnership was expected to deepen Taiwan's international connections in senior education, life education, and health humanities, thereby elevating the international impact and global visibility of Taiwan's research in adult and senior education.