Gwanak-gu Receives UCLG International Cultural Award

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Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) has achieved the great feat of being selected as the "winning city" at the 6th United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) International Culture Awards.

The International Culture Awards are jointly hosted by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Mexico City. Since 2012, UCLG has been awarding local governments and individuals with high contributions to culture in creating sustainable cities every two years.

The United Cities and Local Governments is a local government organization recognized by the UN, established as a non-governmental coalition where local governments worldwide gather to solve problems that are difficult to address by central governments alone. Founded in 2004, it currently includes about 240,000 local governments from 140 countries and 175 local government associations.

At this year’s 6th International Culture Awards, a total of 87 local governments worldwide applied, and Gwanak-gu (Republic of Korea) and La Paz (Bolivia) were finally selected as the winning cities.

With this, Gwanak-gu has received international recognition for the second time since winning the OECD Government Innovation Best Practice Award in 2022.

The district received high praise for its theme, "Gwanak, the Youth Culture Capital of Korea," by involving youth as decision-making agents in local communities and public policy processes, creating various spaces supporting cultural and artistic activities, and operating numerous differentiated programs for youth.

At the international seminar held on July 25 local time at Mexico City’s cultural center “El Rule,” Gwanak-gu presented its successfully implemented youth cultural policies such as ▲Gwanak Youth Center ▲Sillim-dong Three-Room ▲Groove in Gwanak, receiving great acclaim.

The district was the first in the nation to establish a dedicated youth policy department and the first in Seoul to create a “Youth Culture Bureau.” To expand youth participation in policy, it formed a Youth Policy Committee and Youth Network. In particular, to support young artists, it has steadily created cultural spaces for youth, including ▲Gwanak Youth Center ▲Cultural Platform 1472 ▲Starlight Naerincheon Busking Zone, which serve as comprehensive activity hubs for youth.

Gwanak-gu also won the grand prize for youth policy projects at the 2023 Manifesto Best Practice Competition and received the “Youth-Friendly Governance Award” for two consecutive years.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “I am pleased that the efforts devoted to youth cultural policies have borne fruit and that we have received this prestigious international culture award.” He added, “We will continue to support the passionate participation of youth, who are key actors in regional cultural governance, and build a Gwanak-gu where young people can be happy and realize their dreams.”

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