Results from the Gwanak-gu Youth-Friendly City Policy Forum?

Check on Action Tasks and Policy Directions for Creating a Youth-Friendly City Gwanak
Policy Forum Held with Youth from Various Fields of 'Republic of Korea Youth Capital Gwanak'

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee), which has the highest youth population nationwide (41.4%), is accelerating efforts to create a ‘Youth-Friendly City’ where young people want to live and stay, in celebration of ‘Youth Day (September 21).’

On September 20, the district held a policy forum at Gwanak Youth Center to explore directions for creating a youth-friendly city.

The forum was moderated by Professor Jin Mi-jung of the Department of Child and Family Studies at Seoul National University, who is also the chairperson of the Gwanak-gu Youth Policy Committee. It featured a special lecture by Kim Ki-heon, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Youth Research Institute, a keynote presentation by Han Kyung-won, Head of the Gwanak-gu Innovation Policy Research Group, followed by a panel discussion.

At the forum, young people from various fields gathered to share opinions on policy tasks for advancing Gwanak-gu as a youth-friendly city under the theme ‘Vision and Practical Tasks for Creating a Youth-Friendly City in Gwanak-gu.’

In particular, Kim Ki-heon, a research fellow at the Korea Youth Policy Institute, who gave a special lecture on ‘Understanding Youth Policy,’ emphasized that “it is important to discover independent youth policies that align with the goal of transitional policies different from those for adults” as a direction for creating a youth-friendly city.

During the designated discussion, participants presented their views on topics such as ▲ Park Hee-seon, Director of Gwanak Youth Center’s ‘The Necessity of Alternative Youth Spaces and Policy Design for Units of Youth Life’ ▲ Jeong Seong-gwang, Director of Seoul Youth Center Gwanak, ‘The Importance of Youth Centers in the Youth Policy Delivery System’ ▲ Lee Seung-yeop, a youth activist in Gwanak-gu, ‘The Effectiveness of Policy Support Projects for Young Artists’ ▲ Joo Mu-yeol, a member of the Gwanak-gu Council, ‘How to Define Youth.’

Additionally, a survey was conducted among discussion participants to select vision keywords for creating a youth-friendly city in Gwanak-gu. The selected keywords will be revealed at the ‘Youth-Friendly City Vision Proclamation Ceremony.’

The ‘Youth-Friendly City Vision Proclamation Ceremony’ will be held on September 28 at the Starlight Naerincheon Waterfront Stage during the ‘6th Gwanak Youth Festival.’ Along with the festival, it is expected to raise awareness and momentum for designating Gwanak-gu as a youth-friendly city by announcing the direction and commitment of Gwanak-gu’s youth policies.

The ceremony will feature various events including ▲ reading of the Youth Action Declaration ▲ announcement of Gwanak-gu’s vision proclamation ▲ vision keyword stacking performance ▲ flying of youth dream airplanes.

The district has been promoting various space creation projects supporting cultural and artistic activities and involving youth as decision-makers in local communities and public policy processes under the theme ‘Gwanak, the Youth Cultural Capital of Korea.’

These differentiated policies for youth received high praise at the ‘6th United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) International Culture Awards,’ achieving the honor of being selected as the ‘Winning City.’

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, who participated in the forum, said, “I am truly proud to hold a policy forum for creating a youth-friendly city at the Gwanak Youth Center,” adding, “We will continue to discover and support youth in blind spots, promote systematic education to nurture future youth talents, and steadfastly implement youth-friendly policies by utilizing Gwanak-gu’s unique resources, characteristics, and the asset that is youth.”

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