Hanam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Hyunjae) announced on the 23rd that it held the "2025 Population Policy Committee and Practical Promotion Team Workshop" to prepare highly effective population policies that citizens can truly feel. The event concluded successfully, filled with lively voices from the field and a variety of ideas.
Hanam City is holding the "2025 Population Policy Committee and Practical Promotion Team Workshop" on the 23rd to prepare highly effective population policies that citizens can feel. Photo by Hanam City
This workshop brought together more than 50 participants, including members of the Population Policy Committee, the Practical Promotion Team, engaged couples, newlyweds, and public officials with young children, to jointly seek policy alternatives in response to population decline.
In particular, by including both practitioners at the forefront of policy development and actual policy beneficiaries, the workshop became a practical forum for incorporating real voices from the field into municipal administration.
This year, reflecting the suggestions of Millennials & Gen Z public officials who participated in last year's workshop, the event was held in a relaxed atmosphere at an external bakery cafe rather than the usual formal city hall meeting room. This allowed participants to share more honest and creative ideas in a comfortable setting.
The workshop opened with a special lecture by Lee Seungwoo, a population education specialist currently serving as a visiting researcher at the Population Policy Research Center at Seoul National University.
Lee delivered a lecture on "Changes in Population Structure and the Direction of Local Government Response," discussing the role of local communities and policy directions in the rapidly changing demographic environment, which resonated with participants.
Subsequently, in group discussions, participants engaged in in-depth conversations on key issues such as solutions to the lack of information on childbirth and childcare faced by parents, and effective promotional strategies to sustain interest in population policies.
Participants proposed various ideas, including the establishment of a customized information platform for parents and community-based promotional campaigns. The city plans to reflect these suggestions in the future design of its population policies.
A city official stated, "This workshop, which connects policy design with voices from the field, will serve as an important first step in creating population policies that citizens can actually experience," adding, "We will continue to pursue effective population policies through ongoing communication with policy beneficiaries in the future."
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