Changwon Mayor Hong Nam-pyo Develops 50-Year Innovation Plan for Changwon's Future in Grenoble, France

Mayor Hong: "Integrating Industry, Academia, and Community into an Urban Campus... Will Apply Grenoble's Innovation to the City's Future"

Hong Nam-pyo, the Mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, announced on the 4th that he will benchmark the 'GIANT Project (Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies)'?which transformed Grenoble, France into a world-renowned research city?to establish a 50-year innovation strategy for Changwon's future.

Hong Nampyo, Changwon Special Mayor, envisions the next 50 years of Changwon in Grenoble, France.

On the last day of his official visit to France, on the 3rd local time, Mayor Hong and the Changwon City delegation visited various universities and research institutes spread throughout Grenoble, including Grenoble Institute of Technology. They also met with representatives of the GIANT Project to discuss the city's history and its process of innovation.

Grenoble, a small city in southern France, became an industrial hub centered on chemical engineering, steel, and electronics after adopting hydropower using the high water levels of the Alps in the 1900s. However, starting 30 years ago, the city began to decline due to aging industrial complexes and its inability to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2008, the GIANT Project was launched with participation from the government, research institutes, and universities, revitalizing the city. Nearly 20 years later, Grenoble has transformed into a global hub for advanced industries.

Unlike universities in Korea, Grenoble's universities are located throughout the city, making the entire city function like a campus. Students in Grenoble spend an average of 1 year and 5 months working with companies, and over 80% of graduates are hired by the companies they collaborated with. In addition, various research institutes based in Grenoble, such as the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), share state-of-the-art equipment with companies and universities, producing about 6,000 publications and over 600 patents annually.

This closely aligns with Changwon's 50-year innovation plan. Mayor Hong is envisioning turning the entire city into a campus to solve the outflow of high-level talent and to raise the standards of local universities and companies. To this end, he is preparing plans to utilize quasi-industrial areas along Changwon Boulevard to accommodate universities and various educational institutions.

Hong Nampyo, Changwon Special Mayor, Plans 50-Year Innovation Strategy for Changwon's Future in Grenoble, France.

Additionally, Mayor Hong has repeatedly cited Grenoble as a role model for the Changwon Defense and Nuclear Fusion National Industrial Complex (also known as Changwon National Industrial Complex 2.0), which was the only new national industrial complex candidate designated in Gyeongnam last year. The goal is to create a new industrial complex for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, equipped with cutting-edge joint research facilities that companies can use at any time and a systematic talent development and utilization system linked with local universities.

To support this, Changwon City is promoting the construction of a next-generation advanced composite beam irradiation facility. With a basic design budget of 3 billion KRW secured this year, this facility will enable the inspection of large products and parts using neutron beams without dismantling them. This is similar to the neutron source facility (ILL, Institut Laue-Langevin) in Grenoble, which attracted leading companies and research institutes with its cutting-edge joint research capabilities.

Furthermore, Mayor Hong and the city delegation listened to various concerns and discussed ways to enter the European market and collaborate at meetings with the Grenoble Korean Association, Naver Labs Europe, and representatives from the battery manufacturing company Verkor.

Mayor Hong stated, "Grenoble is the most innovative city not only in France but in all of Europe, with the entire city functioning as a campus and companies, research institutes, and universities interconnected as one. By using Grenoble's success as a role model, we will ensure the success of Changwon National Industrial Complex 2.0 and further strengthen Changwon's 50-year vision, making Changwon the leading innovation city in Northeast Asia."

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