[Seoul District News] Gwanaksan Infant Forest Experience Center Enhances Children's Immunity and Ecological Sensitivity through Non-Face-to-Face and Small-Scale Programs Linked with Local Environmental Resources Amid COVID-19... Seocho-gu Opens ‘Seocho Digital Development Training Center’ Applying 4th Industrial Technology for Children with Developmental Disabilities... Yangcheon-gu Promotes ‘Our Child Development Clinic’... Guro-gu Operates ‘University Student Mentor Group’ Program... Seongbuk-gu Recruiting Participants for Youth Startup Scale-Up Program...
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu is drawing attention with the Gwanaksan Infant Forest Experience Center, which it operates to provide healthy and continuous forest experiences for infants and families.
The district offers a pleasant and safe forest play space at a total of seven infant forest experience centers in the area (Cheongryongsan, Nakseongdae, Seonwoo Park, Samseong-dong, Daehak-dong, Danggok, Inheon-dong), developing and operating various forestry education programs.
Opened in March and operating until November, the Gwanaksan Infant Forest Experience Center connects with surrounding environmental resources such as the infant nature learning center, urban vegetable garden, and forest trails at the foot of Gwanaksan. Through non-face-to-face and small-scale programs adapted to the COVID-19 situation, it greatly contributes to strengthening children's immunity and ecological sensitivity.
Every year, after signing agreements with regular user institutions at the beginning of the year, forest activities are regularly conducted at least once a week in the form of forest classes, and at other times, families and others can participate voluntarily.
Currently, 84 classes from 45 institutions participate as regular user institutions for infants aged 5 to 7, conducting infant forest programs. Those wishing to participate individually can apply through the Seoul Metropolitan Public Reservation Service (Education Courses → Nature/Science → search for ‘OOO Infant Forest Experience Center’) for time slots after 4 p.m.
From March to November last year, the Gwanaksan Infant Forest Experience Center conducted 3,370 forest activities, with a total of 72 institutions and 61,675 participants, receiving great response from residents.
An official from the district said, “We will continue to operate a safe and lively infant forest experience center where children can engage in activities in the forest and cultivate natural ecological emotions, striving to help our future children grow up healthy.”
Seocho-gu announced that it opened the ‘Seocho Digital Development Training Center’ last month, where children with developmental disabilities and brain lesions who find rehabilitation difficult can enjoy rehabilitation through play in a facility integrated with 4th industrial technologies, and will begin full operation next month.
Located at the Seocho-gu Hanuri Information and Culture Center (in Seocho-dong), a welfare center for the disabled, the ‘Seocho Digital Development Training Center’ covers 80㎡ and consists mainly of a digital sports room that helps social development through VR education and other means, and a large muscle training room that aids physical development through activities using structures. Professional staff reside here to provide customized treatment services.
The facility’s features include game-type content applying 4th industrial technologies that increase immersion for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities, naturally promoting physical development and emotional vitality. Additionally, customized rehabilitation analysis using exercise data statistics supports users’ step-by-step physical development process.
Although interest in content and rehabilitation facilities applying 4th industrial revolution technologies has increased nationwide, facilities for the disabled have been significantly lacking. Accordingly, the district integrated digital environmental factors into treatment to help disabled individuals adapt to digital culture and improve their functions through digital content and systems.
The programs incorporating 4th industrial technologies installed here consist of 20 types across five areas: ▲5 types of digital floor content ▲3 types of digital sensing scan content ▲4 types of digital motion recognition content ▲5 types of trampoline content ▲3 types of smart walking station content.
The district also designed the space to resemble a kids’ cafe to stimulate interest among children with developmental disabilities.
Regarding the space layout, the ‘Digital Sports Room’ offers 12 types of game-type content experiences using recognition technology and digital sensing scan technology to aid social adaptation training. Especially, content such as shopping at a mart and ordering food at a restaurant allows virtual experiences of picking items and ordering, helping users practice daily life situations and gain confidence.
The ‘Large Muscle Training Room’ promotes physical development through structures and game-type content such as trampolines, climbing, rope ladders, and zip lines. Using digital media to induce various movements, it can improve concentration and cognitive concepts in disabled children and offers the advantage of enabling physical activities comparable to outdoor activities even when outdoor activity is difficult.
Since last month, the district has been conducting pilot operations of programs such as ‘Group Digital Psychomotor Exercise’ for users with disabilities and their families at this facility. A family participating during the pilot period said, “It’s great that families can apply together and the child can play with non-disabled siblings. Due to COVID-19, outdoor activities were difficult, but the child had an exciting time moving continuously with various content,” showing strong approval.
The district plans to fully open the center to all children with developmental disabilities starting next month and subsequently introduce various rehabilitation treatment programs for children with developmental disabilities in cooperation with related institutions such as integrated daycare centers and residential facilities for the disabled in the region.
Cheon Jeong-wook, acting mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “We will continue to promote various welfare projects for the disabled, including the ‘Seocho Digital Development Training Center,’ to help children with disabilities grow up healthily.”
Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) will continue the ‘Our Child Development Clinic’ project this year to protect the golden time for preventing developmental disabilities in infants and toddlers, following last year.
Last year, the district was the first local government nationwide to promote early developmental screening for children at risk of disabilities, targeting not only infants and toddlers enrolled in daycare centers but also all infants and toddlers cared for at home.
Last year, developmental screening was conducted on about 2,000 infants and toddlers who applied, resulting in the early detection of 25 children on the borderline of developmental disabilities.
The district immediately intervened, providing expert consultation referrals and treatment connections.
This year, the ‘Our Child Development Clinic’ project will target about 8,700 infants and toddlers aged 0 to 5 years registered as residents of Yangcheon-gu.
The screening types are ▲for infants aged 0 to 2 years (0 to 36 months), a mobile survey focusing on basic items of the DEP (Developmental Early Screening Test), and ▲for infants aged 2 to 5 years, a K-cdi (Child Development Inventory) questionnaire with 300 items to assess developmental levels in eight areas.
The screening method involves the primary caregiver or daycare teacher responding to the screening questionnaire (including mobile) based on developmental screening items.
Infants and toddlers on the borderline of developmental disabilities will be referred for professional consultation, connected to child development service voucher providers and treatment, ensuring proactive preventive measures.
The screening is free, and those wishing to apply can do so by filling out the QR code application form on the Yangcheon Haenuri Welfare Center website or by phone until November, either individually or through daycare centers (institutions, groups).
For phone applications and further details about the ‘Our Child Development Clinic,’ please contact the Yangcheon Haenuri Welfare Center.
An official from the Self-Reliance Support Division said, “Early detection securing the golden time is most important for developmental disabilities in infants and toddlers. Through this project, we will detect children at risk of disabilities early and provide customized treatment services, supporting our children to grow into healthy members of society.”
Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) is operating a ‘University Student Mentor Group’ program for middle school students in the district.
Guro-gu announced on the 13th, “We recruited mentors and mentees for students who want to solve academic concerns through counseling,” and “Mentoring between university students and youth connected one-on-one will be conducted until the second half of the year.”
The ‘University Student Mentor Group’ is a program that matches university students enrolled in Seoul universities who graduated from local high schools with youth residing in Guro-gu or attending middle schools in the area, providing customized counseling.
To ensure efficient mentor-mentee matching, participating middle school students received pre-learning consulting conducted by professional counselors.
The mentoring, conducted 24 times per cohort, takes place twice a week at the Guro Learning Support Center’s self-directed learning room.
University student mentors provide academic guidance focusing on major subjects and share concerns such as study time management and career counseling, forming emotional bonds.
An official from Guro-gu said, “We hope this university student mentoring will be an opportunity for youth to find their dreams and for university students to feel rewarded,” and “We encourage many youths and university students to participate in this mentoring program where mentors and mentees grow together.”
Seongbuk-gu is operating the ‘2022 Seongbuk-gu Youth Startup Scale-up!’ program again this year at the ‘Youth Space Giri-eum’ to strengthen the entrepreneurial capabilities of young cultural and artistic entrepreneurs and support their continuous growth.
The program, running for about two months from May 30, is conducted in collaboration with Underdogs, a specialized startup education institution for social innovation companies and social ventures.
To differentiate from typical startup education programs, it incorporates OTT education platform services like Netflix and YouTube, which are popular among the MZ generation. The program consists of ▲online startup education ▲offline 1:1 coaching ▲networking with senior entrepreneurs ▲mock pitching, maximizing the advantages of both online and offline settings.
Through this program, Giri-eum will provide tailored education to help young people preparing for their first startup overcome difficulties in writing business plans and experience mock presentations to develop their entrepreneurial capabilities. Furthermore, it is expected to create a link between youth startups and local culture, enabling young people in Seongbuk-gu’s startup ecosystem to lead the local economy.
Applications for this program are accepted via Google Forms until May 11. Any young person aged 19 to 39 who dreams of cultural and artistic startups in Seongbuk-gu or has started a business within the past year can apply. Detailed information and application methods can be found through the ‘Scale-up Support Form’ link.
The ‘Youth Space Giri-eum’ located in Giri-eum Youth Startup Street will also operate startup, culture, and community programs beyond this startup education. For related programs and youth startup information, please refer to the Giri-eum blog or Instagram.
An official from the district said, “Seongbuk-gu is actively working to revitalize youth startups in the region by providing various startup education and will continue to carry out support projects to help young entrepreneurs realize their dreams.”
Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon) announced that the Village Community Support Center (hereafter Village Center) is recruiting participants for the ‘Geumcheon Newbie Village School’ until April 19.
Now in its ninth year, the ‘Geumcheon Newbie Village School’ is an educational program to learn, share, and record the value of village communities. It aims to discover new residents interested in the village and nurture newbie village activists to participate in village community activities.
The recruitment is for a total of 20 people, and anyone interested in the village who resides in Geumcheon-gu or has a living area (workplace, school, etc.) can apply. Applicants can download the application form from the ‘Notice Board’ on the Geumcheon Village Community Support Center website and submit it by visiting the center or via email.
Selected candidates through first document screening and second interview will be supported to continue growing as village activists after completing the village education course.
The course runs from April 27 to June 10, twice a week for a total of 12 classes. It covers topics such as ▲village community ▲village media ▲village exploration ▲village care, designed to understand village communities and develop practical skills as village activists who can participate in various activities.
Kim Yoo-sun, head of the Village Center, said, “The Newbie Village School will provide residents with an opportunity to strengthen their capabilities as village activists and view the village from a new perspective.”
Yoo Sung-hoon, mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “We encourage many people curious about their village and interested in village activities to participate,” and “We will continue to operate resident capacity-building education to support the growth and stable operation of village communities.”
Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) announced on the 13th that it will distribute ‘luminous reflectors’ free of charge to disabled residents using electric wheelchairs and electric scooters in the district for their safety.
The district produced 200 reflectors considering the annual number of users at the Seodaemun-gu Disabled Mobility Device Repair Center (12 Tongil-ro 28-gil).
Starting from the 20th of this month, Disabled Persons Day, the reflectors will be distributed to disabled people using electric assistive devices through 14 community service centers and the repair center. Family members or acquaintances of the disabled can also receive them on their behalf.
These reflectors shine brightly when illuminated by vehicle lights in the dark and are highly visible even during the day, helping prevent accidents.
They are sticker-type and can be easily attached to the back of electric assistive devices.
The district will also provide ongoing aftercare, such as replacing damaged reflectors.
Moon Seok-jin, mayor of Seodaemun-gu, said, “This year, we will continue efforts to improve mobility convenience and safety for vulnerable groups by promoting projects such as installing ramps at about 80 small stores.”
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