Busan Becomes an 'Environmental Education City' ... Selected as Finalist in Nationwide Local Government Competition

Busan City to Provide Incentives Including National Treasury Support for 3 Years
Plans to Establish Environmental Education Plan and Create Education Hub Institutions

Seonghun Park, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan City (right), received the designation certificate and plaque for Environmental Education City from the Ministry of Environment on the 20th.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City has been finally selected as an ‘Environmental Education City.’

Busan City announced on the 21st that Park Seong-hoon, the Deputy Mayor of Busan for Economic Affairs, received the designation certificate and plaque for the Environmental Education City at the award ceremony hosted by Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae at the Government Complex Sejong on the 20th.

The Environmental Education City designation project is a program promoted by the Ministry of Environment starting this year to revitalize environmental education at the regional level.

In June, the Ministry of Environment conducted a nationwide contest for local governments to select Environmental Education Cities. Based on 16 evaluation indicators across three categories?vision and foundation of the Environmental Education City, appropriateness of the environmental education plan, and fidelity of plan implementation?Busan City and Chungnam were selected as metropolitan entities, and Suwon City and Seongnam City as basic local governments, after document and on-site evaluations.

Busan City will receive various incentives for the next three years, including national funding support from the Ministry of Environment for the installation and operation of environmental education facilities and the development of programs to promote environmental education.

Since last year, Busan City has been publicizing the creation of an Environmental Education City by collaborating with local environmental organizations and related institutions to establish a foundation for revitalizing environmental education. The city has signed business agreements with environmental organizations and institutions and has worked to build governance.

In September last year, Busan led the first-ever ‘Environmental Education City Busan Declaration’ among metropolitan governments, setting the policy direction for environmental education with the vision of ‘realizing the right to environmental education for all Busan citizens anytime and anywhere.’

The city plans to establish a five-year environmental education plan by the end of this year, which will include concrete implementation measures for environmental education proposed in the Busan Environmental Education Declaration through discussions with various environmental education stakeholders.

Specifically, the plan will focus on ▲establishing regional environmental education hub institutions ▲designating basic environmental education centers to activate village-level environmental education ▲creating a non-face-to-face online education infrastructure for environmental education institutions ▲expanding and disseminating regionally specialized environmental education programs ▲hiring environmental teachers and expanding environmental education model schools.

Park Seong-hoon, Deputy Mayor of Busan for Economic Affairs, said, “Through the designation as an Environmental Education City, we will systematize environmental education in Busan and use this as an opportunity to root environmental education deeply in the local community.”

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