Dongdaemun-gu - Grenoble Alpes Metropole, France Carbon Neutrality Cooperation

Discussion on Visit and Exchange with Delegation from Grenoble, France, Selected as 2022 Green City by the European Union...
Dongdaemun-gu Delegation to Visit Grenoble City Around March 2024, Agreement to Establish Friendly Exchange Signed

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, welcoming the delegation from Grenoble, France (second from the left in the photo)

Dongdaemun-gu (District Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) met with a delegation from Grenoble Alpes M?tropole, France (hereinafter Grenoble) on the 13th to discuss friendly exchanges as the first step toward establishing a cooperative system with advanced overseas cities for carbon neutrality.

Selected as a Green City by the European Union (EU) in 2022, Grenoble is a leading eco-friendly city in France implementing various policies for carbon neutrality. Grenoble is also known as the Silicon Valley of Europe, with a dense concentration of technology-based startups and research institutes, and is home to Naver Labs, the largest AI research institute in Europe, as well as the energy company Schneider Electric.

The Grenoble delegation, led by Caroline Bouvard, Director of the Economic Department, began their visit on the morning of the 13th by touring the first-floor Chaekmadang Library and Civil Service Office of the district office, followed by visits to the Seoul Korean Medicine Promotion Center, Baebongsan Forest Library, and the Knowledge Flower Garden (Flower Garden), which are representative attractions of the district.

During their visit to the Seoul Korean Medicine Promotion Center, the Grenoble delegation experienced various aspects of Korean traditional medicine culture, including watching the Seoul Yakryeongsi Korean Medicine Cultural Festival, attending the Bojewon Memorial Ceremony in the outdoor yard on the first floor, touring the Korean Medicine Museum on the second floor, and enjoying outdoor foot baths and Korean herbal tea tastings. Afterward, they toured Baebongsan Forest Library, a representative eco-friendly library of the district, and concluded the morning schedule with a visit to the Knowledge Flower Garden (Flower Garden) in Jeonnong-dong, which was created based on residents’ feedback.

At 1 p.m., the delegation held a meeting with the district mayor and senior officials in the planning situation room on the 5th floor of the district office, engaging in in-depth discussions on areas of exchange and cooperation between the two cities. Following this official meeting, the district plans to hold online working-level meetings with Grenoble to discuss specific exchange plans, and next year, form a delegation to visit Grenoble City directly to sign a friendship exchange agreement.

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “I am pleased to discuss friendly exchanges with Grenoble, a leading eco-friendly city in Europe. Moving forward, we will build a close cooperative system through various exchanges not only in administrative fields such as culture and tourism but also in the private sector with Grenoble City.”

Dongdaemun-gu plans to visit Copenhagen, the world’s first city to declare carbon neutrality, in November for benchmarking and establishing cooperative systems with leading overseas cities in the environmental field, and plans to join CITYNET, an Asia-Pacific regional local government network, in January next year.