Ministry of the Interior and Safety Holds First 'Innovation Field Tour' to Share Local Government Innovation Cases

Chuncheon Communication Cooperation Space, First Local Government to Discover and Spread Community Innovation Cases Including Resource Circulation Refill Truck

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] An event will be held to visit local governments that are solving various regional issues through public-private cooperation.

On the 24th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it will hold the ‘Innovation Field Tour’ five times this year to discover innovative cases in each local government and share them nationwide.

The first site selected was the Gangwon and Chungcheong regions. Vice Minister Lee Jae-young of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety visited the Chuncheon Communication Cooperation Space, conducting the cutting ceremony of the first refill truck of a local government, visiting the Gangwon (Chuncheon) public-private governance ‘Agenda Resident Deliberation Forum,’ and holding a sharing session of innovation cases from the Gangwon and Chungcheong regions.

As an excellent case of the Innovation Field Tour, the case of ‘Damagage,’ which operates the first mobile resource circulation refill truck in a local government, was introduced. The refill truck is an electric vehicle provided by an electric truck company based in Gangwon Province, planned by the Chuncheon Social Innovation Center to promote carbon neutrality and minimize local community waste. Any resident can bring an empty container and refill it with concentrated products of about 20 items such as detergents and bath products.

The refill shop business is planned to operate by establishing a multilateral cooperation system among local residents and refill suppliers, visiting densely populated residential areas, and is expected to contribute to establishing a culture of reducing plastic together with local residents.

Next, they visited the ‘Agenda Resident Deliberation Forum’ operated by public-private governance in Chuncheon, held at the Chuncheon Social Innovation Center. At the forum, the case of ‘Small Neighborhood Research,’ which was promoted through public-private cooperation with Chuncheon City and local residents over about 70 days of communication, was introduced.

This research shared public-private governance cases such as ‘Children’s Food Story,’ analyzing the dietary habits of local children in response to the COVID-19 era; ‘Our Neighborhood Library,’ which considered the neighborhood library desired by residents; and ‘Today and Tomorrow of Young Farmers,’ which included policy agendas for young farmers suited to local characteristics.

An ‘Innovation Case Sharing Session’ was also held to share innovation cases from the Gangwon and Chungcheong regions. Hwacheon County in Gangwon introduced the Hwacheon Happiness Shuttle case, which supports student commuting and visits to medical facilities for transportation-vulnerable groups through the ‘Our Neighborhood Mobile Helper.’ Daejeon City shared the case of the ‘Safe Underpass Living Lab,’ which transformed alleys with illegal dumping and crime-prone slopes into pleasant walking paths for residents.

Sejong City presented a case that improves citizen mobility within the new town through the ‘Urban Demand-Responsive Bus Shuttle Operation,’ operated according to the demands of local residents. Following this, Cheongju City in Chungbuk presented a case of transforming harmful businesses into cultural spaces through cooperation with local residents, civic groups, and local governments.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to strengthen public-private innovation capabilities and spread various excellent innovation cases of local governments nationwide through this Innovation Field Tour. Vice Minister Lee Jae-young said, “Community innovation begins with practical actions on-site with residents, such as the refill truck, so we hope to actively cooperate with the movement to create a sustainable society in local communities,” and added, “We will actively support the spread of innovation cases through public-private governance in local communities.”

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