Gokseong-gun, Promoting Visiting Village Autonomy Workshops

From July 1 to September 30, for residents of 31 villages in Seokgok-myeon

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Yoo Geun-gi) announced that it will conduct a "Visiting Village Autonomy Workshop" for residents of 31 villages in Seokgok-myeon from July 1 to September 30.

This workshop is conducted under the theme of "Resident Autonomy Anyone Can Do," where residents directly handle village agendas. Four teams composed of a main facilitator, assistant facilitators, and the first cohort of Gokseong-gun resident autonomy activists assist residents and lead the workshops. In particular, to increase the understanding and participation rate of village residents, the workshops will be held in small groups three times per village during weekday mornings and afternoons, totaling 93 sessions.

Looking at the educational content of each workshop session, the first session covers understanding village communities and resident autonomy, and setting a village vision (the desired appearance of the village 10 years from now). The second session focuses on finding village action tasks, discovering village agendas, and writing activity plans to cultivate practical problem-solving skills. In the third session, village residents create a Hyangyak (village covenant) that they can uphold and summarize the village agendas identified through the workshops.

Gokseong-gun also places significance on the participation of five first-term Gokseong-gun grassroots resident autonomy activists, appointed for the first time this year, as assistant activists in this workshop. This is seen as the starting point for local residents to grow as resident autonomy activists.

For this workshop, from May 3 to May 31, Gokseong-gun collected preliminary opinions on resident autonomy from the Seokgok-myeon Resident Autonomy Committee, social organization council, institution heads council, heads of 31 villages, women's associations, youth associations, and urban regeneration council. Additionally, to ensure effective workshop operation, a meeting was arranged before the workshop between Min Moon-sik, director of the Jeonnam Village Community Creation Support Center, and the workshop instructors to share various thoughts and ideas about resident autonomy.

A county official expressed hopes that "everyone from children to the elderly can participate in resident autonomy, and that a consensus will be formed that residents themselves can judge and decide on common village issues," conveying a desire for the healthy spread of resident autonomy.