Gwangju Citizens Selected as Agenda for Climate Crisis Response Policy Implementation

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 18th that it held the ‘2020 Gwangju Citizens’ Assembly’ on the 17th in a hybrid online and offline discussion format to select practical agendas for the Gwangju community, where citizens discussed and voted on agendas they wish to practice together in 2021.

Since June, Gwangju has received 71 proposals from citizens through the online democracy platform ‘BaroSotong Gwangju.’ From these, 10 preliminary agendas were selected based on citizens’ consensus, and then through another round of online and offline voting, 3 candidate agendas were chosen.

The three candidate agendas selected at that time were ▲ “Climate Crisis Response Policies Must Be Implemented Immediately” ▲ “Village Cultural Space: Healing Forest” ▲ “Creating a Safe Environment for Children (Expansion of Food Safety Protection Zones).”

At the event, the proposers of the three candidate agendas presented the necessity of their proposals and tasks that Gwangju citizens could practice as the Gwangju community. Participating citizens deliberated and discussed the importance, necessity, and expected effects of the tasks through small group and plenary discussions, and then voted online and offline on the most Gwangju-appropriate practical agenda. As a result, “Climate Crisis Response Policies Must Be Implemented Immediately” was finally selected.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, fewer than 50 people attended the on-site discussion, while the majority of citizens connected via a video conferencing platform and actively communicated online. The entire process was broadcast live on YouTube and Gwangju City’s official Facebook page.

In particular, the new transformation of the 2020 Gwangju Citizens’ Assembly and the first attempt at a non-face-to-face operation method received much praise both on-site and online.

The selected final agenda will later be concretized and realized by the ‘Agenda Pan-Citizen Promotion Group,’ which will establish more detailed tasks that citizens can participate in. Various related organizations and institutions capable of implementing the proposed practical tasks will participate by field.

Choi Young-tae, Chairman of the City Citizens’ Rights Committee, said, “This 2020 Gwangju Citizens’ Assembly marked a significant change from the previous assembly method where citizens proposed and the administration executed, to a higher level where citizens propose, decide, and practice together. All participants who took part in making Gwangju a city centered on citizens and communicating with them are the true owners of Gwangju, and I hope citizens will continue to participate in the implementation of the agendas.”

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