Recruitment of Students for 'Songpa Citizen University' Education Program

Expectations for Strengthening Resident Collaborative Governance Capacity and Activating Cooperation

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) will operate the '2021 Songpa Citizen University' to strengthen residents' capabilities so that they can actively participate in solving local community problems and overall local governance projects, and to promote the activation of governance projects.

'Governance' is a value established to overcome social phenomena that are difficult to solve by a single entity alone, meaning a process and method in which administration and citizens collaborate to achieve the goals of public policy.

The '2021 Songpa Citizen University' consists of a basic course and an advanced course. The basic course education will be held twice over 4 weeks from April 15 to May 6, every Thursday morning (10 AM to 12 PM) and afternoon (2 PM to 4 PM), each session lasting 2 hours with the same curriculum.

Residents wishing to attend can choose one session from either the morning or afternoon lectures according to their availability. The advanced course is scheduled to be held in the second half of the year (after July).

The basic course curriculum includes four lectures: ▲ Governance through communication and cooperation ▲ Songpa’s vision and governance (local community innovation plan) ▲ Exploration of governance cases in other cities or overseas ▲ Governance networks. It consists of theoretical education explaining the meaning, value, and basic definitions of governance, as well as practical education necessary for local community problem-solving skills.

The recruitment target is 60 residents interested in governance, including Songpa-gu residents, local organizations, governance committee members, working groups, activists, and public officials, on a first-come, first-served basis. The recruitment period is from March 19 to April 2.

Those who attend at least three sessions of the basic course of the '2021 Songpa Citizen University' will receive a certificate of completion. Only those who complete the basic course are eligible to participate in the advanced course education.

Applications can be submitted via email or on-site registration. For more details, please refer to the Songpa-gu Office website under Songpa News and Songpa Governance announcements.

(Email: csk323@songpa.go.kr)

Mayor Park Seong-su stated, “Residents’ practical participation will become increasingly necessary for the development of Songpa-gu,” and added, “Through the Songpa Citizen University education, I hope residents internalize the value of governance, create a citizen-participatory problem-solving structure, and ultimately improve the quality of life for Songpa-gu residents.”

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