Gwanak-gu Takes Swift Steps to Establish Youth Policies for 2025

Joint Public-Private Deliberation on 2025 Youth Policy Proposals with Final Plan Submission by Late July
Final Selected Policies Reviewed by Departments and Approved by District Council for Next Year's Budget Formation

Seoul's Gwanak-gu, the city with the highest proportion of young population nationwide (District Mayor Park Jun-hee), is making every effort to establish youth policies for 2025 that reflect the diverse voices of young people.

Gwanak-gu is operating the '2024 Gwanak Youth Network Youth Policy Develop Festa' from July 16 to 22.

The ‘2024 Gwanak Youth Network Youth Policy Develop Festa’ is a forum to share and discuss policy proposals discovered by the ‘Gwanak Youth Network (GwanCheongNet)’, aiming to increase the feasibility of youth ideas so they can be realized as district policies next year and finalized as the official plan.

About 50 participants, including ‘GwanCheongNet’ committee members, youth policy experts, and district officials, are engaging in in-depth discussions for policy decisions during this event.

Considering that the youth population ratio in Gwanak-gu is the highest in the country at 41%, the district operates ‘GwanCheongNet’ to directly hear the voices of young people. Since the first term in 2020, 150 youths aged 19 to 39 have participated, communicating directly with the district and engaging in the policy process to improve youth alienation issues.

Among the policies proposed by ‘GwanCheongNet’ last year, ▲expansion of weekend health checkups for youth ▲practical training for contests (education, mentoring, etc.) ▲support projects for exhibitions by young cultural and artistic creators were actually reflected in policies.

This year’s 5th term ‘GwanCheongNet’ discovered a total of 35 policy proposals through agenda discovery workshops, starting with the appointment ceremony in February. Among these, 12 proposals selected by the subcommittees went through resident voting and youth policy public forums, and 8 draft proposals decided upon are currently submitted to the ‘2024 Gwanak Youth Network Youth Policy Develop Festa’.

The proposed policy tasks include ▲conducting a youth status survey in Gwanak-gu ▲a running course ‘GPS Art Run’ contest & marathon ▲operation of a dedicated youth lawyer system ▲operation of youth employment promotion job and startup programs, totaling 8 items.

The district plans to secure next year’s budget for the finally selected policies through feasibility reviews, budget estimation, and practical review procedures by relevant departments, followed by deliberation and resolution by the district council to ensure the proposed policy ideas can be realized.

In this process, the district supported the policy advancement by providing proposal writing education to ‘GwanCheongNet’, holding meetings with the Gwanak Youth Business Practical Institution Council (Gwanak YouScrew), and policy meetings with relevant departments.

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said, "We will continue to work with youth as policy partners to solve various youth issues facing the local community and implement diverse policies that empower young people."