[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City announced on the 28th that it will operate a 'Deliberative Citizens' Group' to review various conflict issues together and find solutions.
The Deliberative Citizens' Group is composed of about 500 Incheon citizens, considering proportional representation by gender, age, and region.
They review various conflict issues occurring in Incheon and recommend solutions to the Incheon City government. The term of office is two years.
Previously, Incheon City was the first among metropolitan local governments nationwide to establish a Public Deliberation Committee and formulated policies for transitioning to eco-friendly waste management and creating its own landfill site.
The Deliberative Citizens' Group was organized to expand this experience of public deliberation across the entire city administration.
However, unlike public deliberation, which gathered a large number of citizens in one place, the Deliberative Citizens' Group convenes fewer than 50 citizens depending on the conflict issue to deliberate. This aims to quickly and actively collect citizens' opinions on regional and individual matters.
Won Hyewook, Chair of Incheon City's Public Deliberation and Conflict Management Committee, said, "The permanent operation of the Deliberative Citizens' Group is the first attempt nationwide, and its small scale will allow for in-depth discussions among citizens," adding, "We will do our best to ensure its successful establishment so that it can be utilized in various ways during future policy implementation processes."
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