Gokseong-gun Holds Roundtable Discussion for Residents' Happiness

Published 01 Jun.2023 16:42(KST)

Fostering Community Bonds to Achieve Effective Communication

Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Lee Sang-cheol) announced that it held a citizens' happiness roundtable discussion on May 31 to develop customized happiness indicators.

The discussion was conducted with actual residents of Gokseong.

To hear as many voices as possible and accumulate data on happiness, 50 citizens from various occupational, gender, and age groups were invited to share their opinions on happiness.

[Photo by Gokseong-gun]

The roundtable was conducted with a happiness lecture by Dr. Lee Jae-kyung of the National Gross Happiness Research Institute and a happiness discussion led by professional facilitators.

In the happiness lecture, the reasons why Gokseong-gun needs to promote happiness policies and develop happiness indicators were explained, eliciting consensus among the citizens about happiness.

During the happiness discussion, participants measured individual happiness levels and had group discussions on identifying vulnerable groups in terms of happiness within the region.

Notably, more than half of the professional facilitators leading the discussion were local facilitators trained by the county.

The local facilitators formed deep bonds with the attending citizens, leading to effective communication.

A citizen who participated in the discussion said, “Through this time, I realized that our county is sincere about happiness policies. It feels rewarding to think that the opinions we shared today will be gathered to create happiness indicators unique to Gokseong.”

Meanwhile, starting with this roundtable, Gokseong-gun plans to conduct in-depth field interviews with citizens and public officials in June.

They intend to understand the region’s perception of happiness and draft the happiness indicators through regional data analysis and meetings with internal and external experts.

Based on this, in July, they will collect feedback and opinions directly from citizens on the draft happiness indicators, and finalize the happiness indicators through a final report meeting in August.