Hwaseong Special City Runs 'Advanced Expert Course in Conflict Management' for Public Officials
Hwaseong Special City (Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun) is running an ‘Advanced Expert Course in Conflict Management’ for public officials, in partnership with Dankook University's Dispute Resolution Research Center, to enhance its capacity for preemptive responses to public conflicts.
On June 29, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with Dankook University's Dankook G-RISE Project Group for cooperation in the field of public conflict management. As the first project under the agreement, the city is launching the ‘Advanced Expert Course in Conflict Management’ for Hwaseong Special City public officials starting August 12.
This course was designed to systematically enhance public officials' practical capabilities so they can effectively respond to public conflicts that are becoming increasingly complex and diverse in administrative settings.
Across various policy areas such as development, the environment, transportation, welfare, and resident acceptance, conflicts can arise as multiple interests collide. As a result, there is growing importance in the ability not only to resolve conflicts after they occur, but also to diagnose and prevent conflict factors in advance and mediate them reasonably. Through this training, the city plans to cultivate public conflict experts within the organization who can carry out such roles.
The training is being conducted for 29 Hwaseong Special City public officials. Beginning with an opening ceremony on August 12, it will run for about four months, comprising a total of 16 sessions and around 60 hours, with faculty from Dankook University's Dispute Resolution Research Center and experts in related fields participating as instructors to deliver training covering both theory and real-world cases.
The curriculum is structured so that participants can progressively acquire everything from a basic understanding of public conflicts to the mediation skills needed in the field. In particular, it focuses on helping participating public officials move beyond viewing public conflicts as individual complaints or one-off issues, and instead recognize them as key tasks that must be systematically managed throughout policy formation and implementation.
Kang Rae-hyang, Administrative Comprehensive Inspector, said, “Conflict management is an important factor that directly affects trust in administration and the stable pursuit of policies,” adding, “Through this training, I hope public officials will develop the ability to identify the causes of conflict in advance and reasonably mediate diverse interests, so that an administrative culture in which citizens and the administration create solutions together can take root.”