Nowon District Mayor Oh Seung-rok Collaborates with Local Universities to Create a 'Youth City'

This center was established after Jungnang-gu was selected as the northern Seoul area site for the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s regional urban agriculture complex space support project in 2019, completing over a year of construction. Currently, there are a total of three Seoul urban agriculture complex spaces: Gangdong-gu Pamix Center in the eastern area, Gwanak-gu Gang Gam-chan Urban Agriculture Center in the southern area, and this center.

The ‘Jungnang Happiness Urban Agriculture Center’ was built with a total project cost of 3.6 billion KRW (2 billion KRW from the city, 1.6 billion KRW from the district) on a 615㎡ site with two above-ground floors inside Cheongnam Park (256-14, Sinnae-dong).

Partnering with Youth from 7 Universities to Leap into a Young City! Nowon-gu Signs MOU with University Student Council Federation

On the 3rd, an agreement was signed with student representatives from 7 universities to maintain mutual cooperation for youth policy promotion and activation of university student participation

Promotion of projects using each institution’s channels, joint use of infrastructure, and mutual cooperation to revitalize youth culture

Various and high-quality university programs are being operated and supported... Nowon Lifelong Learning University, children’s English camp, Campus Town development, etc.

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it has signed a business agreement with the Nowon-gu University Student Council Federation, which consists of student representatives from seven universities in the district.

The ‘Mutual Cooperation Agreement for Activation of University Student Participation in Nowon-gu,’ signed at 9:30 a.m. on the 3rd in the mayor’s office, was attended by all seven student representatives from the universities in the area: Kwangwoon University, Samyook University, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul Women’s University, Induk University, Korea Bible University, and Korea Military Academy.

The agreement focuses on maintaining mutual cooperation for youth policy promotion and university student participation activation. It includes active promotion of youth policies and projects using each institution’s promotional channels, cooperation in building networks among universities for mutual discussion during policy formulation, joint use of infrastructure to encourage youth employment and entrepreneurship, and mutual cooperation to revitalize youth culture through planning and promotion of various youth events.

Nowon-gu hosts the second largest number of universities among Seoul’s autonomous districts, with a total of seven universities, and has a youth population of approximately 135,000, accounting for about 27% of the total population.

To promote effective and empathetic youth policies that reflect the voices of the stakeholders, the district held a meeting with the executive members of the university student councils in the area on March 27. This led to discussions on building a government-academic network centered on university students and resulted in the signing of the business agreement with Nowon-gu.

The district plans to involve university students in the planning teams for the first-ever ‘Craft Beer Festival’ to be held at Hwarangdae Railroad Park in June and the representative Nowon festival, the ‘Tal Festival,’ in October, aiming to infuse their youthful sensibilities into the festivals.

On the 26th of this month at 6:30 p.m., the ‘1st Nowon Youth Forum’ will be held in the large auditorium on the 2nd floor of Nowon-gu Office, with about 90 university students participating. The first forum topic is ‘Play Culture of University Youth.’ It will begin with a presentation by Professor Seo Kyung-won of the Department of Artificial Intelligence Applications at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, followed by Q&A, roundtable discussions, empathy voting, and a general summary. University students interested in participating can inquire at the Nowon-gu Office Youth Policy Division.

Additionally, the district operates and supports various high-quality programs utilizing the excellent facilities and human resources of local universities. A representative government-academic cooperation project is the ‘Nowon Lifelong Learning University.’ Aiming to guarantee lifelong learning rights for residents, it offers specialized programs from seven universities, including future technology courses at Kwangwoon University, short-term lodging programs at Seoul Women’s University, and horseback riding and traditional Korean archery at Korea Military Academy. In 2021, 3,285 people enrolled, and in 2022, 3,933 people participated.

During school vacations, an English camp has been conducted in collaboration with Samyook University to foster children’s interest and motivation in learning English. The district supports the operation of the university’s high-quality infrastructure and student participation fees, enabling 640 children to experience the camp at an affordable cost last year.

The district is also nurturing youth enterprises with innovative ideas and participates in the Seoul Campus Town project as a specialized project in the education district, continuously supporting the operation of ‘Nowon Campus Town.’ Currently, four universities participate: Kwangwoon University and Induk University in the comprehensive type, and Samyook University and Seoul Women’s University in the unit type. Last year, 84 teams residing in the startup support space achieved 60 patent and trademark applications/registrations and recorded sales of 6.3 billion KRW.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “I express my gratitude to the Nowon-gu University Student Council Federation for actively participating in the development of district administration,” adding, “The district will take the lead in strengthening the public-private-academic cooperation system to promote youth rights and create a vibrant, youthful Nowon.”

‘Jungnang Happiness Urban Agriculture Center’ Opens on the Afternoon of the 4th in Cheongnam Park, Sinnae-dong

With a total floor area of 615㎡ and two above-ground floors, equipped with smart farm, seed library, urban farmer education center, etc.

Programs are freely available to everyone from toddlers to adults

Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) has officially opened the ‘Jungnang Happiness Urban Agriculture Center,’ which encompasses all aspects of urban agriculture, with an opening ceremony held on the 4th.

This center was built after Jungnang-gu was selected as the northern Seoul area site for the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s regional urban agriculture complex space support project in 2019, completing over a year of construction. Currently, there are a total of three Seoul urban agriculture complex spaces: Gangdong-gu Pamix Center in the eastern area, Gwanak-gu Gang Gam-chan Urban Agriculture Center in the southern area, and this center.

The ‘Jungnang Happiness Urban Agriculture Center’ was constructed with a total project cost of 3.6 billion KRW (2 billion KRW from the city, 1.6 billion KRW from the district) on a 615㎡ site with two above-ground floors inside Cheongnam Park (256-14, Sinnae-dong).

The first floor of the center houses the Green Kitchen, where urban agriculture education and cooking practice take place, and a smart farm where crops can be grown using an automated system. The second floor includes an urban farmer education hall for events, education, and seminars related to urban agriculture, a seed library, a caf?, and a performance and leisure program room.

The center is open from Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., as a space for urban farmers. Anyone can freely participate in urban agriculture education or events.

The district plans to operate various experiential and educational programs such as urban farmer school, healing agriculture education, and expert training courses, enabling more than 5,000 users annually from toddlers to adults to participate.

The center operates a total of 16 programs across five categories: children’s urban farmer school, garden cooking class, urban agriculture academy, senior healing agriculture, and cultural events. Participation applications can be made on a first-come, first-served basis through the Jungnang-gu Office website or the Seoul public service reservation system.

Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi of Jungnang-gu said, “I hope everyone who visits the Jungnang Happiness Urban Agriculture Center can spend time communing with nature, working hard, healing their weary hearts, and feeling happiness,” adding, “We will continue to strive to prepare diverse programs for urban farmers so that Jungnang-gu can establish itself as a hub of urban agriculture.”

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