Final Selection in Korea Forest Service Public Project, Securing 6.5 Billion KRW National Funding
Additional 2.5 Billion KRW from City Budget, Establishment of External Early Childhood Experience Forest
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] An eco-friendly wooden building representing Busan, the ‘Forest Experience Education Center,’ will be established in Western Busan.
Busan City will invest 13 billion KRW (6.5 billion KRW national funds, 6.5 billion KRW city funds) by 2026 to build the eco-friendly wooden Forest Experience Education Center in Sasang Park, Sasang-gu.
This follows Busan City’s final selection in the Korea Forest Service’s ‘2023 Domestic Timber Wooden Building Demonstration Project’ competition.
The Korea Forest Service conducted this competition for the second time this year, following last year, to respond to the climate crisis, achieve carbon neutrality, expand the use of domestic timber with high carbon reduction effects, and promote wooden architecture.
Six metropolitan cities and provinces applied for this competition, and after the first document evaluation and the second presentation evaluation, Busan City was finally selected.
Following the selection, the city will receive 6.5 billion KRW in national funds from the Korea Forest Service and complete the eco-friendly wooden Forest Experience Education Center, with a total budget of 13 billion KRW, by 2026. The completed Forest Experience Education Center will operate as a specialized forest experience and timber culture experience space for future generations of children.
In particular, the city plans to develop the Forest Experience Education Center into a complex experience space including ▲Forest Experience Exhibition Hall ▲Timber Imagination Playroom ▲Preschool Forest Learning Room ▲Customized Woodworking Experience Center ▲Forest Book Cafe, helping children’s balanced development and holistic growth through diverse forest ecology and timber experiences, and transforming it into a systematic forest education space for groups and families.
The city will additionally invest 2.5 billion KRW of city funds to create a preschool experience forest in the outdoor area of the Forest Experience Education Center, including ▲Five Senses Experience Garden ▲Forest Playground ▲Forest Classroom ▲Outdoor Woodworking Experience Site ▲Forest Exploration Trail. Through this, it will be developed as a diverse experience and play space stimulating the five senses with natural materials such as wood, soil, and stones in a healthy forest environment, and linked with the Forest Experience Education Center to operate various programs.
Moreover, to ensure systematic operation of the Forest Experience Education Center, the city will assign forest education professionals such as forest interpreters, preschool forest instructors, and timber education experts to operate programs including ▲Level-based woodworking experience education ▲Forest experience education ▲Sharing education for marginalized groups ▲Cultural programs for local residents, as well as various events and exhibitions themed on timber and forests. The city will also establish cooperative systems with educational offices, private organizations, and related institutions such as kindergartens and schools to operate it as a lively and sustainable experience space for citizens.
Recognizing timber as a carbon storage created by nature and an eco-friendly building material whose importance and need for expanded use are increasing, the city expects the Forest Experience Education Center, to be built as an eco-friendly wooden building, to become a leading model for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and to play a central role in forest education that teaches and practices the value of carbon neutrality.
Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “The Forest Experience Education Center to be established this time will not only allow growing children to interact with the forest and learn its importance but also learn the value of achieving carbon neutrality, laying the foundation for them to grow into healthy members of future generations,” and added, “We will do our best to ensure that the Forest Experience Education Center is established as an excellent eco-friendly wooden building and a model case for realizing carbon neutrality.”
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