Climate Disaster a Distant Future?... Nowon-gu Develops Youth Carbon Neutrality Capacity

Nowon-gu Enhances Youth Carbon Neutral Living Skills with Urban Life Guide
Supporting Youth to Become Leaders in Carbon Neutral Living Amid Climate Disaster Era
Various Programs Including Public Lectures, Idea Contests, and Practice Activity Groups Offered

Youth Plogging

Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will establish a network for youth to recognize the climate crisis facing their generation and to derive solutions.

Recent various ‘climate crisis awareness surveys’ show that the younger generation takes the climate crisis seriously, but there is dissatisfaction that national and social policy changes are insufficient. This reflects the active willingness of the younger generation to participate in leading the carbon-neutral era, as seen in the ‘youth climate lawsuit’ awaiting a ruling by the Constitutional Court.

Through this project named the ‘Youth Earth Life Guide Project,’ the district will operate various programs including ▲ visiting briefings ▲ carbon-neutral idea contests ▲ public lectures on the climate crisis ▲ carbon-neutral practice activity groups. At the end of the year, a performance sharing meeting will be held, and awards will be given to outstanding idea winners, with feedback provided for long-term activities.

First, visiting briefings will be held targeting youth residing in Nowon-gu or those active in the Nowon area. This process involves meeting activity units such as environmental clubs from seven local universities and youth policy networks to expand connections.

Youth participating in the network will discover their own carbon-neutral ideas and practice tasks through face-to-face and non-face-to-face public discussions.

The deliberation results of the youth will lead to an ‘idea contest’ and selected ideas will be implemented as ‘practice (execution)’ projects. The district supports these ideas to go beyond simple campaign slogans by strengthening momentum through mentoring by experts and practitioners, mid-term evaluations, and operational expense support, refining various ideas into feasible tasks for the community and daily life.

Additionally, in July and November, two public lectures will be held for youth and general residents. Through these lectures, the district plans to foster a correct understanding of the seriousness of the climate crisis, introduce the district’s carbon-neutral practice efforts, and encourage participation.

Other activities include providing spaces for youth participation in eco-friendly events such as ‘plogging’ (walking around the neighborhood while picking up trash), ‘car-free street’ events held locally, and ‘flea markets.’

Kim Ji-sun, Director of Youth Policy, said, “As much as the district values support for the younger generation, it is equally important to engage youth to consolidate their capabilities and improve their lives and local issues.” She added, “After meeting various youth, we realized their strong willingness to participate in climate issues, which led us to continue this project since last year.”

Meanwhile, in April, the district opened the ‘Carbon Neutral Support Center’ and is leading carbon-neutral practice projects in both public and private sectors together with the ‘Nowon Environmental Foundation,’ the first environmental foundation in a district, and the ‘Carbon Neutral Promotion Team,’ the first under the direct supervision of the deputy mayor in a local government. Since the district’s climate crisis response strategy, such as the ‘car-free street’ event and the ‘10 citizen practice promises,’ emphasizes resident participation, the proactive participation of the youth was also a necessary task.

Attention is focused on whether the youth’s practical activities in the district can sound the alarm to a society that still dismisses the climate disaster crisis signals already sweeping across the world as a ‘distant future issue.’

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, stated, “The formation of a practical network among youth and responding to the climate crisis are well-matched convergent administrations,” and added, “We will fully support and back the capabilities of youth who want to solve the problems of their generation on their own at the district government level.”