Why Are Diet Lunchboxes and Hydroponics Courses Popular at Seongdong 50 Plus Center?

[Seoul District News] Seongdong 50 Plus Center's 20 Courses Fully Booked with 293 Participants, High Popularity... Learn Soccer, Learn Cello at Nowon Lifelong Citizen University... Gwangjin District Recruiting Senior Citizens for Visiting Smart Informatization Education... Jongno District Selected for Excellence in Big Data Analysis of Single-Person Households

Salad Lunchbox Making Class

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced that the courses at Seongdong 50 Plus Center are receiving high participation and positive responses from attendees.

Since its opening in April, the center's first program, including the 'Open House Special Lecture' held before the regular program courses started last month, and the 20 programs prepared for the 2022 summer semester have been fully booked early, showing strong enthusiasm from visitors to the Seongdong 50 Plus Center.

The summer semester courses offered include a total of 20 programs ranging from activity-supporting courses such as 'Diet Lunchbox,' 'Homemade Fruit Syrup' making, hydroponic cultivation, and barista training, to SNS-related programs like 'Challenge! YouTube Creator,' as well as 'Senior Model Walking,' and hobby classes for daegeum (Korean bamboo flute), haegeum (Korean fiddle), and drums.

The summer courses, which began accepting applications on the 15th of last month, saw a massive influx of 293 students from the first day of registration, leading to early closure and demonstrating the popularity of the programs.

In response to the high enthusiasm from local residents, the district plans to open a total of 21 popular courses and recruit an additional 10 to 30 students per course. The courses to be offered include highly popular programs such as 'YouTube Channel and Smartphone App Utilization,' '50+ Career Exploration through MBTI,' and 'Wine Sommelier Certification Preparation,' among others.

Along with one-day classes like autobiography writing and anggeum flower rice cake making, a 'Midsummer Night Opeul Cinema' course will be prepared, screening nostalgic movies from the past at 7 PM on separate schedules, offering participants summer romance and memories.

Previously, the district opened the 'Seongdong 50 Plus Center,' a 1,071.3㎡ facility for middle-aged and older adults aged 50 and above, equipped with classrooms, computer rooms, counseling rooms, and various spaces that can be utilized by pre- and post-retirement generations.

As these courses are actively promoted for the new middle-aged generation in the summer semester, the center plans to operate substantial programs to support the vibrant daily lives of the still energetic middle-aged population.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “Seeing the residents leading lively lives by participating in the Seongdong 50 Plus Center courses fills me with infinite gratitude,” adding, “Since the programs are designed for the 50s and 60s generation who have devoted themselves without looking back, I hope they fully enjoy them. We will continue to actively prepare various programs for healthy leisure activities.”

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced the full-scale operation of the 'Nowon Lifelong Citizen University.'

Starting in July, the Nowon Lifelong Citizen University is a public-academic cooperative project involving seven universities in the Nowon-gu area. A total of 71 carefully selected courses tailored to each university's characteristics are offered for residents to take as part of lifelong learning. The program began last year and has been operating since April this year.

With the goal of enhancing lifelong learning for residents, lectures are designed to meet the needs of diverse groups such as youth, workers, seniors, and people with disabilities. Especially in July and August, courses for children and adolescents on vacation have been opened.

Looking at specialized programs by each university, Sahmyook University offers tennis and squash for adults, as well as elementary school physical education programs such as 'Children's Soccer Class (Grades 4-6)' and 'Learning Cello through Play (Grades 1-3)' during the vacation period.

Kwangwoon University, strong in the Fourth Industrial Revolution fields, focuses on ICT-based future technologies. Intensive courses include theoretical lectures on artificial intelligence and augmented reality (AR), as well as content and smart app production and coding practice. (Photo)

Seoul National University of Science and Technology offers unique programs such as humanities travel. They provide opportunities to easily learn fermentation science through 'Flavorful Craft Beer Making' and 'Our Alcohol Humanities Travel,' and help residents cultivate healthy lives through 'Star-Art Introductory Golf.'

Seoul Women's University operates a short-term dormitory program. It is the 'Free Life School' dormitory course that could not be operated due to COVID-19. Through 1-night 2-day and 2-night 3-day programs including cooperative team building, pottery experience, breathing and meditation, and constellation travel, it aims to provide learning and healing simultaneously to residents exhausted by COVID-19.

Korea Military Academy, true to its military-related nature, offers active programs that catch attention. In addition to horseback riding and traditional Korean archery (gukgung), it provides 'Dream Academy' related to admission experience including the military academy and 'Infinite Imagination Science and Engineering Class,' expected to relieve stress for students and parents living in a rapidly changing educational environment.

There are also courses for the new middle-aged generation. Induk University offers certification courses. Pilates for healthy confidence, senior model courses, beauty hair, jewelry making, and porcelain pottery certification courses are operated to support the new middle-aged generation in planning their second life.

Sungseo University opens physical health support education (Strong Body Course) for people with disabilities and courses for parents of children with disabilities. Additionally, 'Healing Home Bakery' and 'Design Thinking, Essential Study Methods for Study Gods' for youth career paths are also offered, providing customized education for various residents.

Programs are open to all Nowon-gu residents, with tuition fees ranging from free to 30,000 KRW. For detailed schedules and course information, refer to the Nowon Lifelong Education Portal or each university's website.

In the first half of this year, the Nowon Lifelong Citizen University attracted over 1,050 students, showing strong interest from residents tired of COVID-19 and eager for face-to-face education.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “This is a great opportunity for residents exhausted by COVID-19 to learn and heal,” adding, “We will continue to create a lifelong learning space that satisfies residents of all generations, from children to seniors, through diverse and high-quality courses.”

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) is recruiting students for the ‘Gwangjin-style Visiting Smart Informatization Education’ targeting the elderly and information-vulnerable groups.

The district is promoting this education to strengthen accessibility to digital device usage for seniors and information-disadvantaged groups in a society increasingly centered on unmanned and non-face-to-face services, aiming to bridge the digital divide and eliminate digital blind spots.

The education will be free, held once a month for three hours, recruiting 15 participants per area. At Junggok 1-dong Community Center and Guui 3-dong Community Center, classes on ‘Smartphone Settings and Optimization’ and ‘Taking Great Photos with Smartphones’ will be held on the 22nd, respectively. At Jayang 1-dong Community Center and Gunja-dong Community Center, classes on ‘Online Shopping with Smartphones’ and ‘Using Smart Order Kiosks with Smartphones’ will be conducted on the 29th, respectively.

Considering the target audience of seniors and information-vulnerable groups, applications will be accepted by phone rather than through the website. Residents wishing to apply should call by 6 PM on the 15th. Selected residents will receive a text message on the 18th. For more details, contact the Gwangjin-gu Citizen Informatization Education Call Center.

Mayor Kim Kyung-ho of Gwangjin-gu said, “This education is especially meaningful as it targets the elderly and information-vulnerable groups,” adding, “I hope seniors and information-vulnerable groups communicate in various ways through digital devices.”

The ‘Gwangjin-style Visiting Smart Informatization Education’ will also cover topics such as ▲Convenient app usage in daily life ▲Prevention of electronic financial fraud ▲Experience using kiosks, and will continue until November.

Jongno-gu (Mayor Jung Moon-heon)’s ‘Data-Based Analysis of Single-Person Households’ project was selected as an excellent case and included in the ‘2022 Local Government Big Data Analysis Casebook’ published by the Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute.

The Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute has been publishing an annual casebook on local government big data since 2016, and this year selected eight local governments, including Jongno-gu, for outstanding cases.

Jongno-gu’s ‘Data-Based Analysis of Single-Person Households’ includes ▲Current status and trend changes of single-person households ▲Analysis of housing, safety/security, and socio-economic characteristics of single-person households ▲Analysis of determinants and residential conditions of single-person households.

Using ‘census blocks,’ which are more detailed indicators than administrative districts, the project closely examined the status of single-person households within the area and analyzed spatial correlations according to residential condition factors.

Additionally, it stood out by proposing various uses such as identifying safety blind spots for single-person households at 100-meter grid units in stages, suggesting areas for additional CCTV installation, and selecting women’s safe return home routes.

The casebook will be published in December this year and distributed to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments. It will also be released as an e-book.

Mayor Jung Moon-heon said, “We will not stop at being selected as an excellent case but actively utilize big data analysis cases to provide data-driven scientific administrative services and strive to improve residents’ quality of life.”