Seoul City Hosts 'World Family Garden' Event with Foreign Family Participation... 20 Teams Attend

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 7th that it will create a ‘World Family Garden’ at Malli-dong Square in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 8th and 9th, together with foreign families.

The participating teams consist of 20 foreign families residing in Seoul, recruited through the Seoul International Garden Expo website until April 20. Families from a total of 14 countries, including Mongolia, Canada, India, and France, will participate. The event is designed to raise the happiness index of citizens weary from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic through various small gardens reflecting the unique characteristics of each country.

The event will feature Carlos Gorito and Koo Hye-won, a couple who appeared as the ‘Brazil representative on Non-Summit (JTBC)’ and served as ‘2020 Seoul Honorary Citizens.’ Carlos, currently working as an education officer at the Embassy of Brazil in Korea, was selected as a ‘2020 Seoul Honorary Citizen’ in December last year for his contributions to Seoul.

This program will be conducted through lectures by professional garden designer Oh Kyung-ah, who worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK, and gardener Jung Da-woon. They will support each team in effectively realizing the ‘garden concept ideas’ submitted during the application process. After the event, a special award will be given to two teams selected by the two instructors’ evaluation.

Choi Yoon-jong, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Green City Bureau, said, "Since early this year, we have taken the lead in alleviating citizens’ ‘COVID blues’ through projects such as creating spring flower streets," adding, "We hope this event will also help reduce citizens’ fatigue."