Gwangju City to Hold 'Gwangju Social Economy Week Event' Starting Next Month on the 1st

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 29th that it will hold the ‘2020 Gwangju Social Economy Week Event’ throughout Gwangju from the 1st of next month to mark the ‘2020 Social Economy Week.’

This year’s Social Economy Week event, under the slogan ‘Good Economy that Nurtures People and Values = Social Economy,’ has prepared various programs where social economy practitioners from different fields come together to comfort the daily lives exhausted by COVID-19, including ▲a commemorative ceremony ▲production and distribution of value packages ▲a small concert ‘Again, Start’ ▲value-together special sales ▲‘Sudatalktalk’ by social economy practitioners ▲barrier-free experience tours ▲video production and promotion capturing efforts to overcome COVID-19 ▲popup market with LH.

In particular, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the event will be conducted with strict adherence to social distancing in daily life, including entry through sterilization and disinfection facilities at the building entrance, mandatory mask-wearing, temperature checks, and placement of hand sanitizers.

First, the commemorative ceremony held on the 3rd of next month at the first floor Citizen’s Forest of City Hall will begin with a performance of love and healing by social economy practitioners, followed by screening a video showcasing the activities of social economy practitioners overcoming COVID-19, and a performance to urge the enactment of the three social economy laws.

From the 1st to the 3rd of next month, a small concert titled ‘Again, Hope’ will be held at the first floor Citizen’s Forest of City Hall, featuring six social economy enterprises in the performance sector.

From the 3rd to the 10th of next month, ‘value packages’ composed of various products produced by about 30 local social economy enterprises will be delivered to social economy practitioners and care neighbors facing difficulties and other local residents throughout the Gwangju area.

Also, public institutions’ participation is notable in this event. Korea Land and Housing Corporation operates a ‘Takeout Market’ to promote social economy products as part of the ‘LH Social Contribution Program,’ and Korea Electric Power Corporation runs a ‘Social Economy Non-face-to-face Special Sales Exhibition.’

Especially, this year introduces the ‘Social Economy Barrier-Free Experience Tour’ for the first time.

This program is designed to create a model of the beautiful Gwangju community by having teams composed of people with disabilities (and their families) and social economy practitioners experience 3D printing, drones, craft exhibitions, and performances together.

It will be held twice from the 8th to the 9th of next month at Bitgoeul Craft Creation Village in Yanggadong, Nam-gu, and is planned to be operated continuously in the future.

Along with this, the ‘Value-Together Special Sales’ co-hosted by Beautiful Store, Gwangju’s first social enterprise, and iCOOP Consumer Cooperative, as well as ‘Sudatalktalk,’ an online conversation involving social economy practitioners, will also take place.

Meanwhile, as of April 2020, there are 1,147 social economy enterprises in the jurisdiction, growing through mutual solidarity across various industries such as manufacturing, facility management, wholesale and retail, arts, sports, leisure, and cleaning-related services, with expanding roles and functions in job creation and regional economic revitalization.

Furthermore, to realize a leading social economy city, last year the city actively pursued expanding social economy growth infrastructure by establishing and implementing the ‘Social Economy Innovation Plan,’ building a public-private governance council, expanding market support, fostering professional manpower, and promoting win-win cooperation with large corporations.

Park Nam-eon, Director of the City’s Job and Economy Office, said, “Despite the difficult situation caused by COVID-19, we decided to hold the Social Economy Week event to give hope to social economy practitioners and citizens,” and added, “We expect continuous interest and support from citizens for the social economy that nurtures people and values.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.