Busan City Selected for Regional Self-Sufficiency Special Project... Up to 500 Million KRW Secured Over 3 Years

City and Busan Metropolitan Self-Sufficiency Center Celebrate Achievements of the Past Year

Expectations for a 'Busan-Style Community Self-Reliance Ecosystem'

Busan City has been finally selected for the 'Development and Branding of a Social Service-Linked Self-Sufficiency Project Model' in the '2024 Regional Self-Sufficiency Specialized Project' contest organized by the Korea Self-Sufficiency Welfare Development Institute.

The Korea Self-Sufficiency Welfare Development Institute held the '2024 Regional Self-Sufficiency Specialized Project' contest from March 26 to May 3 to support the scaling-up of metropolitan-level self-sufficiency projects.

After document and face-to-face evaluations, a total of 11 metropolitan-level self-sufficiency projects were selected. The city, in cooperation with the Busan Metropolitan Self-Sufficiency Center, achieved the feat of having its 'Development and Branding of a Social Service-Linked Self-Sufficiency Project Model' finally selected.

A business agreement with the Korea Self-Sufficiency Welfare Development Institute was signed on the 12th for project implementation, and the project will be fully launched in June with funding support.

This selection is the result of ongoing cooperation between the city and the Busan Metropolitan Self-Sufficiency Center since last year to develop and scale up a metropolitan-level self-sufficiency project model, making the achievement even more meaningful as it is the fruit of a year-long effort.

In particular, the city and the Busan Metropolitan Self-Sufficiency Center held a Gyeongsang Region Self-Sufficiency Policy Forum in July last year under the theme 'The Role and Response of Self-Sufficiency Centers in the Expansion of Social Services' to develop a field-oriented self-sufficiency project model that keeps pace with changing environments. In this forum, academia, practitioners, and administrators discussed and presented the proactive role of self-sufficiency projects in the social service sector. Based on this, a long-term regional specialized self-sufficiency project plan was developed through continuous communication with the field and was fully reflected in the project proposal.

With this selection, the city and the Metropolitan Self-Sufficiency Center plan to invest a total of 500 million won by 2026 to actively promote the development and branding of a Busan-style self-sufficiency project model in the social service sector.

This year, 140 million won (100 million won from the central self-sufficiency fund and 40 million won from the city self-sufficiency fund) will be invested to achieve five main goals in collaboration with field sites such as regional self-sufficiency centers: 1) development of the Busan-style self-sufficiency project model and joint brand naming and logo creation, 2) production of four major social service operation manuals for service standardization, 3) establishment of an education system for self-sufficiency participants to improve service quality, 4) support for expanding infrastructure for project stabilization, and 5) diversified promotion support for project vitalization.

From next year, the city plans to further strengthen and scale up the joint brand, gradually expanding participation in the social service sector and establishing a systematic support system for providing customized integrated social services to boost project activation.

This project is expected to not only create a significant number of stable self-sufficiency jobs in the public sector but also to complete a 'regional community virtuous cycle self-reliance ecosystem' by securing the public nature, professionalism, and transparency of social services, reducing administrative costs, and solving social problems.

Mayor Park Hyungjun stated, "This selection is a meaningful achievement that shows the recognition and support of central agencies for the Busan-style self-sufficiency project policies that have been promoted through public-private cooperation over the past year. We will organically connect the two projects, which share the common goal of supporting 'self-reliance' within the community, to complete the 'Busan-style regional community virtuous cycle self-reliance ecosystem.' In addition, by creating new types of self-sufficiency jobs where welfare recipients become welfare providers, we will bring about a wave of change and advancement in Busan's self-sufficiency projects so that all citizens can enjoy a 'Safe Busan.'"

Last year, the city became the first in the country to secure an independent building for the Metropolitan Self-Sufficiency Center, established the Busan-style self-sufficiency support platform, and built a 24-hour artificial intelligence (AI) counseling chatbot called 'Jalip Kkuldanji' to support citizen self-reliance. In 2023, the city also achieved the highest number of national awards in the self-sufficiency sector and received the Prime Minister's Award as the top metropolitan local government, achieving various accomplishments in the field of self-sufficiency projects.

Busan City Hall.

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