Gyeonggi Province Reflects 70 Resident-Proposed Projects in Next Year's Budget Through Public-Private Deliberation

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province will hold 'public-private deliberation discussions' on 70 projects proposed by residents to determine which projects will be reflected in next year's budget.

The province will hold a deliberation forum on resident participation budget 'public-private cooperation model' proposed projects from June 23-25 at Nuri, the Gyeonggi Provincial Center for Persons with Disabilities Support Center in Suwon.

This is the second time following last year, conducted in a format where resident proposers and government officials directly exchange opinions.

The 70 projects on the forum agenda (budget scale of approximately 43 billion won) include ▲urban agriculture eco-friendly food sharing project ▲supply price adjustment support project ▲pilot operation of Gyeonggi-type halfway house (social rehabilitation training center), and other proposals submitted this year by non-profit private organizations, non-profit foundations, and various committees of Gyeonggi Province.

Over four days, proposers, government officials from relevant departments, members of the Gyeonggi Province Public-Private Cooperation Committee, and facilitators will gather to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of the projects.

The Gyeonggi Province Public-Private Cooperation Committee is an organization established to deliberate and coordinate public-private cooperation promotion and cooperation policy and system improvements, and will oversee the screening and evaluation of this resident participation budget 'public-private cooperation model.'

For efficient discussion, 14 groups will be organized across 5 fields including planning, economy, and welfare, with each group allocated 5 proposed projects to select projects through mutual comparative review.

Proposers will explain their projects in group discussions, and group participants will exercise active participation rights, including sympathy voting.

Professional facilitators will conduct the deliberation process in a 'gallery walk' format, facilitating participants' understanding and coordination. Gallery walk is a method where project proposers post explanatory materials, which participants then evaluate while walking around as if appreciating artwork, indicating their level of sympathy.

Based on the sympathy voting results from each group, proposed projects selected through screening by the Gyeonggi Province Public-Private Cooperation Committee will be reviewed by provincial project departments in July to be developed into executable projects. Subsequently, they will be reflected in next year's budget proposal through the Public-Private Cooperation Committee's second screening, online resident voting, and approval by the Resident Participation Budget Committee.

Kim Young-chul, Director of Communication and Cooperation for Gyeonggi Province, stated, "If we strengthen resident communication and guarantee participation procedures in the policy process as exemplified by this deliberation forum, transparency in policy decisions and residents' satisfaction with provincial policies will increase," adding, "We will further expand a cooperation culture in which the public and private sectors lead provincial governance together."

Meanwhile, to prevent COVID-19, the province plans to minimize group attendance (approximately 15 people) and use 3 meeting rooms to maximize prevention of mutual contact.