Gwangju Seo-gu Selects 29 Sites for City Village Community Support Project

Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 5th that 29 projects were selected in the 2023 Gwangju Metropolitan City Village Community Support Project contest, securing 332 million KRW in city funds.

This represents a 72% increase (139 million KRW) compared to the previous year, and these funds will be used as a catalyst to realize the "Living Government by My Side, Seo-gu."

By sector, the selected projects include ▲4 cooperative villages with 96 million KRW ▲12 educational communities with 145 million KRW ▲4 human rights villages with 48 million KRW ▲2 welfare communities with 8 million KRW ▲2 women and family-friendly villages with 16 million KRW ▲5 urban agriculture projects with 19 million KRW.

In the education sector, the "Exciting Nature Exploration Team" collaborates with Chipyeong Elementary School, Gyesu Elementary School, Uncheon Elementary School, and Jeonnam Middle School to conduct educational community projects involving students, such as regional ecological learning experiences and cultural arts activities.

In the human rights sector, the "Sangmu 1-dong Residents' Autonomy Committee" plans to utilize the May 18 Memorial Park to conduct educational sessions on figures related to the May 18 event, share rice ball meals, and hold human rights talk shows. Meanwhile, the "Sangmu 2-dong Ssangssang Ilchon Village Network" is working to create a human rights village through programs such as child and youth human rights education, human rights festivals, and human rights camps.

Additionally, in the welfare sector, the "Nongseong 1-dong Welfare Council" plans to select households at risk of solitary death, pair them with welfare council members as welfare neighbors, and lead the creation of a welfare community by engaging in activities such as growing companion plants and watching movies at the village cafe.

Furthermore, activities such as the "Bright Village Theater Troupe," preparing a traveling play presentation on gender equality and environmental protection, and the "Dreaming Small Library," operating after-school care classes and an economic playground flea market, are also noteworthy.

Moreover, the Yang 3-dong Residents' Autonomy Committee, Nongseong 1-dong Residents' Love Council, and Geumho 2-dong Residents' Autonomy Committee are promoting urban agriculture projects by creating rooftop gardens or community cultivation gardens and using the produce from these gardens for village sharing activities.

Seo-gu established an integrated support system linked with the Village Community Support Center, including interdepartmental collaboration meetings and two-stage consulting, to prepare strategic support plans for this contest. Matching consulting was conducted to help village activists and residents discover programs suited to local conditions.

Going forward, Seo-gu plans to support the selected organizations by providing consulting to refine their project plans, and for the sectors that were not selected, they will improve shortcomings to enable reapplication for various contests in the future.

A representative from the Seo-gu Office's Residents' Autonomy Division stated, "This is a meaningful result where the local vision for fostering village communities is becoming a reality," and added, "We will do our utmost to support the establishment of a field-centered village community culture created by diverse residents based on local resources."

Shin Dong-ho, Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters bless4ya@asiae.co.kr