Jungnang-gu Distributes Pear Trees from Bonghwasan to Children... Nowon-gu Gifts Book Packages to All Newborns

[Seoul District News] Jungnang-gu Distributes 225 Pear Trees to Local Kindergartens and Daycare Centers by March 9 at Bonghwasan Nature Experience Park; Operates Orchard Experience Activities from Blooming to Harvest to Provide Urban Agriculture Experience... Seocho Youth Library Runs Unique Book Curation... Gangnam-gu Installs Nation's First Free Sanitary Pad Dispensers in All Elementary, Middle, and High Schools... Yeongdeungpo-gu Recruits Youth Participants for Jamong (夢) and Yujacheong Programs... Nowon-gu Distributes Book Packages to All Families Registering Births from March, Starting Life with Books Bookstart Event

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) is offering 225 pear trees from Bonghwasan Natural Experience Park (around San 127-9, Sinnae-dong) for adoption to local kindergartens and daycare centers.

The pear tree adoption program began in 2017 and has long established itself as a representative natural experience learning opportunity in the area, providing local young children with a precious chance to grow pear trees within the city.

By nurturing and harvesting pear trees, the program also offers technical education on urban agriculture, giving children opportunities and enjoyment to get closer to nature. Throughout the four seasons, children can participate in seasonal experience programs such as observing pear blossoms, dressing the fruit, and meeting autumn insects, allowing them to directly see and feel the process of pear blossoms blooming and fruit growing.

The application period for adoption is until March 9, with one tree allocated per institution. Institutions with more than 30 members can apply for an additional tree for every 30 members.

Kindergartens and daycare centers wishing to participate can apply through the citizen participation section on the Jungnang-gu Office website within the application period.

The final selected institutions will be announced on March 16. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the adoption event will be omitted, but a name tag attachment event for the adopted pear trees will be held in April this year.

Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “Experiencing growing and harvesting pear trees in the city is a rare opportunity to feel and learn the value of nature,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to prepare various experience programs so that children can properly appreciate the beautiful natural environment of the region.”

Seocho-gu Public Seocho Youth Library is operating various ‘book curation’ programs to help teenagers easily select books they like through diverse experiences suitable for the 4th Industrial Revolution in the new semester starting in March.

First, the district runs the ‘bbTI (book + MBTI) Book Curation’ (photo), which combines books with the popular MBTI personality types. The ‘bbTI Book Curation’ is a new concept program created by the library using the Entry coding program and MBTI personality tests to help teenagers develop interest in books.

The usage is simple. The ‘bbTI Book Curation’ located in the youth materials room on the basement level 2 of the library displays recommended books divided into eight keyword types such as cheerfulness, delicacy, experience, emotional richness, and freedom. Students can select their preferred keyword type on the provided tablets and check recommended books matching their bbTI. This allows teenagers to choose recommended books according to their tastes, resulting in high satisfaction.

Additionally, Seocho Youth Library operates various book curation programs in each reading room. Representative examples include the ‘Future Maker’ book curation themed on the future in the Smart Maker Factory on basement level 1, the English book curation in the Dream Growth Center on the 2nd floor, and the picture book curation in the children’s materials room on the 3rd floor.

Besides book curation, the district also runs a program called ‘Making My Own Goods with Digital Drawing’ from this month to nurture digital talents for the 4th Industrial Revolution. Teenagers can create eco-bags, mug presses, and more through this course.

Opened two years ago, the Seocho Youth Library has established itself as a 4th Industrial Revolution specialized library for children and teenagers’ futures.

Especially, the Smart Maker Factory on basement level 1 is popular among families including children and teenagers. Here, various activities are possible using cutting-edge equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters, garment printers, and cup printers, and future technologies can be experienced through VR, coding robots, and media tables.

The library’s operating hours are weekdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., weekends from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and it is closed every Tuesday and on legal holidays (except Sundays).

Cheon Jeong-wook, Acting Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “I hope Seocho Youth Library will be used as a space for teenagers’ future planning and career exploration,” adding, “We will continue to strive to make Seocho-gu libraries attractive spaces for teenagers.”

Sae-gok Middle School Sanitary Pad Dispenser

Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) completed the installation of free sanitary pad dispensers in all eligible schools in the district on the 2nd, becoming the first autonomous district nationwide to do so.

Since April 2019, Gangnam-gu has installed 244 dispensers in 69 elementary, middle, and high schools, and 79 dispensers in 53 public institutions such as youth centers, community centers, and welfare facilities, supporting 880,000 sanitary pads to guarantee the ‘right of women to menstruate with dignity and health’ as a universal welfare measure.

Additionally, since 2020, the district has provided education on ‘correct and healthy sexuality’ and ‘understanding and proper coping with menstruation’ to 5th-grade elementary and 1st-grade middle school students, distributing first menstruation education sets containing hygiene products and educational comics to 1,958 students in 14 schools. Students responded positively, saying, “The education content was easy to understand,” and “I felt confident attending classes with male students.”

Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “During the 7th term of the civilian administration, Gangnam-gu has led the operation of ‘Women’s Safe Paths’ by signing a ‘Women’s Safety Cluster Agreement’ with Gangnam and Suseo Police Stations and security companies, focusing on areas with a high proportion of single female households,” adding, “On the occasion of International Women’s Day on the 8th, we will expand the installation of sanitary pad dispensers in public institutions and continue to realize the value of ‘together’ to build an ‘inclusive welfare city’ Gangnam where men and women respect each other.”

Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) is promoting the ‘Jamong (夢) Project’ and ‘Yu·Ja·Cheong’ (Unique and Free Youth Autonomous Union) to support autonomous club activities of local youth and expand experiential opportunities in various fields, recruiting youth participants for the projects.

The ‘Jamong (夢) Project,’ meaning ‘Dream Freely!,’ supports free club activities of youth regardless of field. The district supports a modest activity budget so that youth can lead the entire process of planning, operation, evaluation, and budget execution themselves and realize their dreamed ideas.

Support is divided into General I & II and Specialized clubs. General I clubs receive up to 800,000 KRW for 45 teams, General II clubs up to 1,200,000 KRW for 10 teams, and Specialized clubs up to 3,000,000 KRW for 4 teams.

Specialized clubs must belong to youth institutions and will be selected through in-depth evaluation of professionalism and creativity.

Applicants must be clubs composed of three or more local youth, including elementary school 5th graders and above, as well as university students up to 24 years old. Applications can be submitted by downloading the form from the Yeongdeungpo-gu website’s notices/announcements section and emailing it to the person in charge by the 31st.

After document screening and interviews, final supported clubs will be selected. In May, orientation and subsidy education will be held for selected clubs. On the education day, booklets showing last year’s Jamong Project activities and expenditure ledgers for budget execution will be distributed.

Also, one representative from each club can serve as an officer in the youth autonomous union ‘Yu·Ja·Cheong.’

‘Yu·Ja·Cheong’ aims to revitalize the Jamong Project through regular meetings and lead the planning of the Youth Autonomous Festival and Popo Festa scheduled for the second half of the year, creating a rich festival filled with youth ideas and voices.

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “I hope the Jamong Project and Yu·Ja·Cheong activities will enhance youth autonomy and creativity and provide valuable experiences not available in school,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to support policies and create educational environments so that our youth can develop their talents and grow healthily.”

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) will provide BookStart packages to all newborn families through community service centers starting in March to help infants grow up with books.

The BookStart project is a global reading culture movement aimed at encouraging children to start life with books and be close to books from infancy.

Research from various countries has proven that this movement promotes interaction between babies and parents and supports cognitive, language, and social development in infants.

Accordingly, the district decided to expand the project from March this year to offer more infants their first encounter with books and foster a habit of reading from birth.

Previously, to receive the picture book package through BookStart, families had to visit the Nowon-gu Public Library in person. However, with this expansion, all newborn families residing in the district will receive the package without separate application.

The package is provided at the community service center when registering the birth. It includes two picture books appropriate for the baby’s age, a childcare guidebook suited to the infant’s developmental stage, and an eco-bag. Since the project starts in March for all newborns, families who registered births before March from 2019 to 2022 can receive age-appropriate packages by registering as members and applying at the Nowon-gu Public Library.

Additionally, the district supports follow-up programs to spread proper reading culture and maximize the BookStart project’s effects.

The educational programs include effective reading methods, ways to foster rich emotional communication between baby and parent through books, and special lectures on infant development and childcare using picture books by experts in various fields, expected to be very helpful for new parents.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “The experience of picture books read by caregivers during infancy can be a lifelong foundation for growing up with books,” adding, “We will continue efforts to promote children’s character and emotional development and imagination through books.”

Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) is significantly expanding the ‘2022 Tourist Attraction Incentive Support Project’ to support the tourism industry, which has been stagnant due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, and revitalize the local economy.

The support targets travel agencies, tourist hotels, and foreign tourist city guesthouses that attract tourists to Mapo-gu. Incentives are provided when tourists use local restaurants, tourist sites, and tourism experience programs.

For travel agencies, if they attract groups of four or more domestic or foreign tourists who use local restaurants and participate in tourist sites and festivals, they can receive 5,000 KRW per tourist for the day, 10,000 KRW for one night, and 20,000 KRW for two nights.

This year, the support scope is expanded to include tourist hotels and foreign tourist city guesthouses in Mapo-gu, which have been struggling due to a decrease in foreign tourists. Tourist hotels can receive up to 3 million KRW when planning products linked to local tourism resources and selling rooms, and foreign tourist city guesthouses can receive up to 1 million KRW by participating in the Mapo tourism review event ‘Smile.’

The detailed support limit is up to 500,000 KRW per occasion, with an annual maximum of 1 million KRW per travel agency, 3 million KRW per tourist accommodation, and 1 million KRW per foreign tourist city guesthouse. However, travel agency staff (guides, drivers, etc.), events funded by local governments, and cases where incentives are received from other departments for the same schedule on the same day are not eligible.

Interested businesses can check detailed support conditions on the Mapo-gu Office website (Mapo-gu Introduction ? Notices ? 2022 Tourist Attraction Incentive Support Project Announcement), submit participation applications in advance, and submit supporting documents to the Tourism Division within 15 days after the trip.

Incentives will be paid on April 25 based on the month of application and document submission. For more details, contact the Mapo-gu Tourism Division.

An official said, “We hope this project will be an opportunity to revitalize the tourism industry and local economy, which have faced difficulties for a long time,” adding, “We will strive to make Mapo a global tourism city where domestic and foreign tourists can fully enjoy Mapo’s charm.”

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