Gyeonggi Province Holds Civic Autonomy Workshop to Strengthen Northern Region Capacity

Gyeonggi Province held a civic autonomy workshop on the 26th at the Uijeongbu City Education Foundation with around 100 attendees, including civic autonomy committee members and government officials from 10 municipalities and counties in northern Gyeonggi.

The province began with guidance on civic autonomy activation programs and networking among municipalities and counties, then shared revised contents of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 'Reference Ordinance on Establishment and Operation of Civic Autonomy Associations.' The revision includes provisions to mandate citizen assemblies and autonomy plan establishment, and to strengthen the linkage between autonomy plans and resident participation budgeting systems.

Gunpo City took the lead in presenting best practices in civic autonomy. Gunpo City conducted customized education targeting civic autonomy committee members and residents, and linked local agendas with resident participation budgeting. The city introduced cases of systematically operating the entire civic autonomy process, including deciding project priorities through policy-sharing meetings and citizen assemblies.

Subsequently, attendees shared ways to address civil-government conflicts arising at civic autonomy sites and know-how in establishing autonomy plans, while discussing methods to activate civic autonomy.

A civic autonomy workshop for 21 municipalities and counties in the southern region is scheduled to be held on September 1st at the Suwon Gyeonggi Arts Center Convention Hall.

Kim Sang-pal, director of the Autonomous Administration Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "This will be an opportunity to enhance the autonomy and collaborative capacity of civic autonomy organizations through case-sharing and reinforced networking among municipalities and counties," and added, "We will continue to support the further activation of citizen-led autonomous activities."