Suwon Special Metropolitan City and Ajou University Host 9th National Youth Ideathon Competition
At the '9th National Youth Ideathon Competition' hosted by Suwon Special Metropolitan City (Mayor Lee Jae-jun) and Ajou University (President Choi Ki-ju) and organized by Ajou University's Anchor Project Team, the 'PIECE MAKERS' team, which proposed the 'MY SUWON PIECE: Gathering Suwon and Completing My Own Suwon' idea, was selected as the grand prize winner.
The competition, where young people competed with policies and ideas to 'create a Suwon-style tourism ecosystem in preparation for the 2026-2027 Year of Suwon Visiting,' was held over one night and two days on September 19-20 at Suwon Youth Hostel and Suwon Convention Center.
A total of 105 ideas were submitted, consisting of 48 team-based ideas and 57 individual submissions. Sixteen teams and 33 students and youth from across the country advanced to the finals and developed ideas centered on two sub-themes: 'designing strategies for visiting, staying, spending, and revisiting' and 'globalizing Gwanggyo Lake Park as a renowned destination.'
Finalists toured Suwon Convention Center, a facility related to the competition theme, participated in lectures and expert mentoring, and then developed their ideas and presented their results. Judging panels evaluated the presentations and selected award-winning works.
The 'PIECE MAKERS' team was selected as the grand prize winner (prize money of 2 million won) by proposing a participatory tourism idea where visitors create 'My Own Suwon Story' by collecting magnetic pieces symbolizing each location whenever they visit major tourist attractions in Suwon, completing them into a single artwork.
A total of nine teams were selected: one grand prize winner, two finalists (prize money of 1 million won each), one excellence award (500,000 won), and five encouragement awards (200,000 won each).
The National Youth Ideathon Competition is a university-industry cooperation project that Suwon Special Metropolitan City and Ajou University have jointly pursued for nine years. It is an opportunity for young people to view regional issues from new perspectives and propose creative solutions.
An official from Suwon City said, "We were able to view Suwon's tourism resources from a new perspective and discover fresh ideas from young people. We hope that the various ideas proposed in this competition will serve as a foundation for creating a sustainable Suwon-style tourism ecosystem by leading to attractive tourism content and policies unique to Suwon."