Nowon-gu Designated as an Educational Special Zone for Future Talent Development

[Seoul District News] Nowon International Education Zone → Renamed ‘Nowon Future Talent Development Education Zone’ & 3 Specialized Projects, 10 Detailed Projects (22 Unit Projects) Promoted, Additional 112.4 Billion KRW Invested by 2024 & Fostering Future Talent through Basic Science, Creating Nowon-style Job Network Environment, Aiming to Revitalize Public and Lifelong Education... Gangbuk-gu Certified as UNICEF Child-Friendly City Advanced Level... Dongjak-gu Signs Cooperation Agreement with Police Station to Strengthen Child Abuse Response... Seocho-gu, Child Protection Zone Tae

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is changing the name of its education special zone to the ‘Future Talent Nurturing Education Special Zone’ after 15 years since its designation in 2007, embarking on innovative efforts to discover future talents.

The Regional Special Development Zone system allows designated areas to receive regulatory exemptions under the Regional Special Development Zone Act to revitalize the local economy. Nowon was designated as an International Education Special Zone in 2007, focusing on expanding foreign language education infrastructure and reducing private education expenses and household burdens to realize educational welfare.

As the oldest education special zone in Seoul, Nowon is now adding detailed projects to discover convergence talents suited for the 4th Industrial Revolution era and changing its name to the ‘Future Talent Nurturing Education Special Zone.’

Additionally, it will lay the foundation for a self-sufficient city where jobs are created and continue to promote public education activation tailored to the characteristics of the area, which has many schools, students, and low-income families. A total of 112.4 billion KRW will be additionally invested by 2024.

The district has added nurturing projects in basic science fields such as mathematics and science, in addition to foreign languages, as part of the education special zone project. Leading with the Nowon Mathematics Culture Center, established in 2019 as the first of its kind among basic local governments nationwide, it actively utilizes abundant educational infrastructure such as the Nowon Astronomy and Space Science Center, Science Gifted Education Center, and the operation of the Nowon Youth Future Career Center to enhance residents’ scientific literacy.

The area around Junggye Neighborhood Park near the Nowon Astronomy and Space Science Center (photo) will be newly developed as a ‘Space Science Park.’ The park, linked with the science center’s programs, will stimulate children’s imagination and provide a multipurpose cultural relaxation space for residents.

The ‘Future Science Festival,’ which was suspended due to COVID-19 since 2019, will be held again in the first half of next year. Youth will participate in all processes from festival planning to booth operation, aiming to establish it as the district’s representative science festival by integrating various cultural contents such as basic and applied sciences.

The district is also fostering young enterprises with innovative ideas. Creating quality jobs is important for transforming from a bedroom community to a self-sufficient city. It continues to support the operation of ‘Nowon Campus Town,’ which promotes youth entrepreneurship and regional economic revitalization in collaboration with universities and the local community. Last year, 119 teams moved into the startup support spaces, with a total of 123 patent and trademark applications and registrations.

In Gongneung-dong, the ‘Nowon Youth Job Plus Center’ will be built to systematically provide services as a comprehensive youth support platform. The center, with one basement floor and five above-ground floors, plans to form a youth cultural belt connecting employment counseling, special lectures, costume rentals, local universities, and youth stores.

In addition, through support for operations such as Nowon Makers One, youth startup support projects (youth stores), and the Nowon Youth Career and Job Experience Center (Sangsang Irum Center), the district aims to help more young people discover and develop their capabilities independently.

To provide life-cycle tailored learning from children to the elderly, public education and lifelong education will be strengthened. To nurture global youth talents, high-cost courses such as native English video learning and English camps, which may be financially burdensome, will be supported to provide learning opportunities. Last year, over 23,000 participants took part in native English video learning. The district also plans to revitalize the local economy by providing educational programs for all age groups through support for lifelong education centers, lifelong citizen universities, neighborhood learning centers, and community centers.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “This re-designation of the education special zone reflects the new future vision of Nowon as an education city. We will do our best to meet diverse educational demands in a rapidly changing environment and discover future talents and jobs.”

Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Soon-hee) received the advanced certification for Child-Friendly City from the UNICEF Korea Committee on the 11th, following its initial certification as a Child-Friendly City in September 2018.

A ‘UNICEF Child-Friendly City’ refers to a local government that fully guarantees the rights of all children in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The advanced certification means recognition as a more developed and sophisticated child-friendly city.

To achieve the advanced certification, the district focused on implementing 30 projects across 13 departments that fully guarantee the four fundamental rights of children: the right to survival, protection, development, and participation.

These include ▲Operation of the Child-Friendly City Promotion Committee ▲Operation of the Children and Youth Council and Youth Participation Committee ▲Hosting the Gangbuk Youth Culture Festival ▲Formation of the Gangbuk-gu Ombudsperson ▲Visiting child rights education at schools ▲Establishment of the Gangbuk-gu Child-Friendly City website ▲Youth Human Rights UCC contest ▲Slogan and poster contest for ‘Gangbuk-gu Child Rights Action Guidelines’ ▲Operation of child rights promotion booths and campaigns.

Additionally, by revising the ‘Ordinance on the Creation of a Child-Friendly City in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul,’ the district legally established the basis for installing and operating the Child-Friendly City Task Force, as well as education, promotion, and budgeting related to child rights.

Furthermore, through procedures such as child-friendly city surveys, citizen opinion collection, and child impact assessments, the district established the ‘2022-2025 Four-Year Basic Plan for Creating a Child-Friendly City in Gangbuk-gu.’ During this process, the demands for child policies proposed by residents and children were prioritized and used as the basic framework for the child-friendly city creation strategy.

To build a child-friendly city worthy of the advanced certification, the district plans to strengthen child-friendly governance by 2025, including lowering the participation age for the Children and Youth Council and mandating recruitment of minority groups, activities of the Child Rights Monitoring Group, and launching a child integration portal to expand participation of minority children in district administration.

Lee Soon-hee, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “We will continue to strive without stopping to create a clean and safe environment for children. We will make Gangbuk-gu a healthy city that respects and includes all children without exclusion.”

Dongjak-gu (Mayor Park Il-ha) announced on the 24th that it signed a business agreement with Dongjak Police Station, Dongjak-Gwanak Office of Education, and Dongjak Medical Association to proactively respond to child abuse.

The agreement ceremony was attended by Park Il-ha, Mayor of Dongjak-gu, the chief of Dongjak Police Station, the superintendent of Dongjak-Gwanak Office of Education, and the president of Dongjak Medical Association, who exchanged the agreement documents and held a meeting.

The district plans to create a ‘happy and healthy Dongjak-gu for children’ by strengthening the response system through inter-agency cooperation to address child abuse issues that are difficult to solve by a single institution.

First, a ‘Working Council’ will be formed to specify the agreement details. The council will share service resources and discuss developing the ‘Dongjak-type Child Abuse Joint Response Manual’ to establish an integrated support system linking welfare, education, and medical fields.

In addition, joint field investigations will be conducted at least once per quarter to detect signs of child abuse early.

▲Children in households with habitual domestic violence reports ▲Children with unauthorized or long-term absences ▲Children visiting medical institutions with abnormal scars, among others, will be subject to on-site investigations based on risk suspicions identified by each institution, and investigations will be requested if abuse signs are found.

Moreover, monitoring cycles will be set according to the severity of the risk to continuously monitor the safety of children with two or more reports.

For children who have suffered abuse, psychological counseling services and emergency medical expense support will be actively linked to help them recover physically and mentally as quickly as possible.

In celebration of ‘Child Abuse Prevention Week’ until the 25th, the district is conducting various prevention education and campaigns to raise awareness of the seriousness of child abuse and increase local residents’ interest.

Park Il-ha, Mayor of Dongjak-gu, said, “Through this agreement, related organizations will proactively respond together to eliminate blind spots in child abuse cases. We will do our best.”

Seocho-gu (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) has completed replacing traffic signs in child protection zones with LED traffic signs equipped with solar panels to create a safer environment.

LED traffic signs are statistically proven to increase driver visibility by more than 20% compared to regular traffic signs. Especially at night and during rain, they make child protection zones easily identifiable, encouraging safe driving and preventing traffic accidents. The district expects a significant reduction in accident rates in child protection zones such as in front of elementary schools, kindergartens, and daycare centers.

Additionally, the LED traffic signs are equipped with solar panels. They charge electricity during the day and automatically light up through sensor recognition when the surrounding brightness falls below a certain level. This self-sustaining power system saves energy without using separate electricity.

This year, a total of 219 signs will be installed across 51 child protection zones. The district replaced 133 signs in 32 locations in the first half of the year and plans to replace 86 signs in 19 locations in the second half.

Besides the solar LED sign replacement, the district is also implementing various projects such as ▲installation of ground-level pedestrian signals ▲installation of audio guidance devices for pedestrian signals ▲maintenance of anti-slip road surfaces ▲installation and maintenance of yellow carpets to enhance driver visibility ▲installation of stop signs ▲installation of speed enforcement cameras. These efforts aim to secure safe commuting spaces and safe walking paths within child protection zones to prevent child traffic accidents.

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “I hope traffic facilities like these solar LED signs will have a great effect on preventing child traffic accidents. We will continue to strive to create a safe commuting environment where children can walk with peace of mind.”