Gwanak-gu Keeps Resident Participation and Communication Administration 'ON' Despite COVID-19 Crisis

In the Ontact Era, Various Non-Face-to-Face Programs Including Youth and Seoul National University Academic-Government Cooperation... 2nd Gwanak Youth Festival and 2020 Gwanak Gang Gamchan Festival Held Online in October-November

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Due to the spread and prolonged duration of COVID-19, restrictions on daily life continue, and society as a whole is facing new changes.

Park Junhee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, stated, “It is expected to take considerable time to restore daily life to pre-COVID levels, so we are promoting work by considering non-face-to-face methods in all areas of district administration.”

The district conducts various education sessions and meetings online in a non-face-to-face manner, providing diverse content so that households can enjoy educational and cultural programs using YouTube or social media.

First, a variety of Ontact programs suitable for ‘the young city Gwanak-gu,’ which has the highest proportion of youth population nationwide (40.4%), stand out.

In the increasingly difficult job and startup market, youth-tailored capacity-building programs are operated, including ▲ Nakseong Startup Untact Academy for young entrepreneurs, ▲ Youth Dream Gwanak Camp, conducted through talent donations by Samsung Electronics employees, and ▲ ON-LINE Employment Competency Development Center, where customized employment consulting from resume writing to AI interviews is available.

Youth communication and empathy spaces are also provided, such as ▲ Youth Social Dining, where young people cook online and volunteer to share food with vulnerable groups, and ▲ Gwanak Youth Culture and Arts Win-Win Table, where young cultural and artistic talents gather to discuss and freely debate.

On the 24th, the ‘Ontact Live Concert 2nd Gwanak Youth Festival’ will be held to encourage and comfort youth exhausted by COVID-19 and to activate social participation of capable young people.

Non-face-to-face academic and government cooperation projects utilizing Seoul National University human resources continue steadily. Popular pre-COVID programs include ▲ SAM Mentoring, where Seoul National University students serve as online mentors providing free tutoring and career and college counseling to local elementary, middle, and high school students, and ▲ differentiated, high-quality online lectures on modern art and culture at the Seoul National University Museum of Art.

Gwanak-style Mother Center ‘I-rang’ offers online classes for parents and children tired of staying home, and six infant forest experience centers including Cheongryongsan and Nakseongdae operate non-face-to-face forest experience programs.

Additionally, from late October to November, the district will prepare the ‘Gang Gamchan Festival,’ a pride of Gwanak residents, focusing on online non-face-to-face programs. Events such as the ‘Gwanak Gang Gamchan Festival Forum,’ which reexamines the historical and cultural value of the festival, ‘G-talk’ panel discussions, and ‘Living Arts Online Resident Participation Programs’ to relieve residents’ COVID blues are planned.

In particular, a ‘Post-COVID Policy Idea Contest’ was held last September to seek effective response measures for the post-COVID era. Through this contest, various policy ideas will be discovered and timely reflected in district administration.

Mayor Park Junhee said, “We plan to continuously operate various online programs in line with residents’ demands in the Ontact era,” adding, “We also plan to produce a COVID white paper to systematically and perfectly respond by supplementing the trial and error and shortcomings experienced while responding to COVID-19.”

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