Damyang-gun Successfully Concludes 'Roundtable Meeting' for Cultural City Development

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Damyang-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Choi Hyung-sik) and the Damyang Cultural Foundation recently announced on the 15th that they held a roundtable meeting at the Damyang Cultural Center to create a sustainable cultural city focusing on the value of local cultural resources and ecological environment.

This roundtable meeting was organized to establish the concept of a cultural city through lectures and Q&A sessions by experts on the cultural city project, to communicate with residents, and to contemplate how to build a cultural city.

Participants included the county cultural foundation, grassroots community support center, urban regeneration support center, integrated job support center, multicultural family support center, and other intermediate governance organizations from both administrative and private sectors, sharing diverse opinions.

In the first part of the event, instructor Kang Eun-mi provided capacity-building education, sharing issues related to conflicts and clashes expected from the cultural city project promotion, and suggested communication and participation methods as alternatives.

In the second part, Dr. Jo Gwang-ho from the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute introduced the concept and promotion process of the cultural city project, and Center Director Jeon Young-cheol from Wonju Creative Cultural City Support Center presented cases and processes of cultural city creation. The session was moderated by Director Shin Dong-ho of the Humanities and Social Research Institute, followed by a Q&A and discussion session.

At the roundtable, opinions were presented that the promotion of the cultural city project should shift from a top-down approach led by the administration to a bottom-up approach proposed by the private sector, emphasizing the important role of intermediate organizations as mediators.

There was also consensus on organically linking local content and human resources to create a cultural and artistic ecosystem, entrusting policy and spatial composition to the main actors, and fostering it through methods that induce sharing and cooperation among participants.

Governor Choi Hyung-sik said, “Rather than the various supports received from being designated a cultural city, the greater significance lies in effectively utilizing the resources Damyang has through the process or results of promoting the cultural city to create a truly cultural ecological city, Damyang.” He added, “We will frequently create opportunities to communicate with residents and gather opinions in various ways going forward.”

Meanwhile, if the county is designated as a cultural city by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, it will be able to receive administrative and financial support of up to 20 billion KRW over the next five years.