Osan Mayor Gwak Sang-wook Presents at UNESCO Lifelong Learning Institute Web Seminar

[Suwon Ilbo=Correspondent Seo Dong-young] Osan Mayor Gwak Sang-wook delivered a keynote address on the 24th at a web seminar hosted by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, presenting "Osan City's Response Cases to COVID-19" to 223 cities from 51 countries in the GNLC (Global Network of Learning Cities).

The presentation was conducted at the request of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning to share Osan City's best practices, which was selected as a coordinator city in the "Education for Health and Well-being" cluster at the "4th UNESCO International Conference on Learning Cities" held in Medellín, Colombia last October, with GNLC cities around the world.

In addition to Mayor Gwak Sang-wook, the web seminar featured presentations on COVID-19 by a researcher from the Wuhan Academy of Educational Sciences in China, an official from the Education Department of Turin, Italy, and a secretary from the International Affairs Department of São Paulo, Brazil. The 90-minute seminar was moderated by Marie Macauley, a Program Specialist at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.

The seminar was conducted via videoconference. As the first speaker, Mayor Gwak Sang-wook presented Osan City's response measures across various sectors, including ▲the "Ttassum Mask" sharing project ▲childcare services provided due to school reopening delays ▲regional quarantine and screening clinic operations to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

In particular, he explained that Osan City was the first in Korea to implement the practice of free manufacturing and distribution of two cloth masks and filters per person to infants through high school students before school reopening to prevent group infections from group activities, and this best practice is now spreading to other cities.

The Ttassum Mask sharing project, in which masks are manufactured and shared through citizen volunteer donations, drew questions and attention from city officials participating in the web seminar.

Mayor Gwak Sang-wook concluded his presentation by noting that through lifelong learning, Osan citizens are developing a positive mindset in civil society that together with the city, the community can overcome COVID-19 by solving challenges collectively with the local community.

UNESCO and WHO officials stated that Osan City's case of fulfilling the role of a lifelong learning city will be of great help to many cities around the world.