Paju City Holds 2025 "Once in a Lifetime Project" Performance Sharing Meeting

Once in a Lifetime Project Wraps Up a Successful First Year
Broader Learning Opportunities Ahead Next Year

Paju City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 8th that it held a 2025 'Once in a Lifetime Project' performance sharing meeting at the Nambuk Forest Cooperation Center in Tanhyeon-myeon on the 5th. At the event, the city shared the achievements of the university-eup/myeon/dong linked lifelong education project, which was implemented for the first time this year, with its citizens.

Paju City held a 2025 'Once in a Lifetime Project' performance sharing meeting on the 5th at the Nambuk Forestry Cooperation Center in Tanhyeon-myeon. Provided by Paju City

The 'Once in a Lifetime Project' is a lifelong learning initiative launched by Paju City, the first of its kind in Gyeonggi Province. It is a 'lifelong education cooperation model' that links one eup/myeon/dong lifelong learning center with one university on a one-to-one basis, providing high-quality education close to citizens' daily lives.

In 2025, a total of five eup/myeon/dong areas participated-Munsan-eup with Myongji University, Wollong-myeon with Dongguk University, Unjeong 2-dong with Seoul National University, Unjeong 5-dong with Ewha Womans University, and Unjeong 6-dong with Ajou University. Together, they operated 52 courses, with approximately 2,500 citizens participating in various lifelong learning programs throughout the year.

One of the main achievements was the operation of customized programs reflecting the characteristics and needs of each region. Munsan-eup ran programs supporting the psychological and emotional recovery of middle-aged and older adults, while Wollong-myeon offered education to nurture local community leaders.

Unjeong 2-dong enhanced citizens' intellectual capacity through integrated humanities and social lectures, Unjeong 5-dong provided practical, everyday education for parents in their 30s and 40s, and Unjeong 6-dong contributed to improving citizens' quality of life through well-being education encompassing both psychological and health aspects.

This performance sharing meeting was organized to share the year's achievements with citizens and to build networks between participating universities and eup/myeon/dong officials. The event featured a variety of programs, including a performance report, commendations for distinguished organizations, a ceremony for awarding lifelong learning center plaques, presentations of best practices, performances, and special lectures.

Kim Kyoungil, Mayor of Paju City, stated, "Lifelong education is not a choice but a basic right of citizens," adding, "'The Once in a Lifetime Project' is Paju City's flagship lifelong education model designed to provide high-quality learning opportunities to all citizens. We will continue to develop it as a cooperative model for joint growth between the local community and universities."

Buoyed by strong citizen support, Paju City plans to expand the project in 2026 to include Tanhyeon-myeon, Geumchon 1-dong, and Geumchon 2-dong, and will continue to broaden the program so that more citizens can access high-quality education close to home.

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