Gwangmyeong City Establishes Community Asset Monetization Model for Lifelong Learning

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Yu Je-seong] Gwangmyeong City has established the first community asset monetization model for regional lifelong learning in the province, where learning, practice, asset creation, and policy feedback are interconnected.

The city held a results sharing event for the '(Re)Born Gwangmyeong Era Project' at the Lifelong Learning Center on December 3rd, sharing with citizens the outcomes of a pilot program in which citizens directly participated in solving urban issues.

This pilot program was conducted as part of the '2025 Lifelong Learning Special Zone Operation Project' promoted by the Gyeonggi Province Lifelong Education Promotion Institute.

The program is characterized by realizing a citizen-led lifelong learning structure in which 42 action groups, based on the learning achievements of 396 graduates of Gwangmyeong Autonomous University, directly plan and operate 5 action projects to address urban issues with citizen participation.

Since the launch of the 'Regional Lifelong Learning Community Asset Monetization Project' in September, the action groups have undergone systematic practice foundation-building through △27 sessions of theory learning and joint and individual activities by project △3 professional consultant meetings △implementation result sharing and feedback processes.

As a result, the results sharing event showcased project outcomes from a total of 5 clubs including △Sainaegi △Ecological Garden Diary △Sakyeong 5th Generation △Shining Gwangmyeong Road △Autonomous Society displayed in popup exhibition format.

'Sainaegi' designed a social economy-based model to improve food consumption for vulnerable populations and create a regional food circulation structure, while 'Ecological Garden Diary' produced an urban ecology archive (documentary, postcards, coloring book) based on interviews, photographs, and garden diary entries that document Gwangmyeong's ecology.

'Sakyeong 5th Generation' established a discarded book upcycling model to give new purpose to abandoned books, and 'Shining Gwangmyeong Road' proposed a new approach to regional tour guidance by operating a learning-based city tour program to help new residents understand and settle into the local community.

Additionally, the Gwangmyeong Autonomous University Autonomous Society expanded the foundation of the lifelong learning community by establishing network organization design and operational systems for continued activities by graduates.

This practice process also brought significant changes to citizen leadership and community consciousness.

According to survey results from participants, awareness of growth as a community leader reached 88.8%, and sense of settlement was 90.2%, while overall project satisfaction was 4.73 out of 5 points, demonstrating that the structure in which learning translates into actual regional change is functioning.

Meanwhile, the city plans to strengthen the follow-up activity system for Gwangmyeong Autonomous University graduates based on these achievements and continuously expand the Regional Lifelong Learning Community Asset Monetization Project to develop it into a Gwangmyeong-style model that can be spread to other local governments.

Mayor Park Seung-won said, "This project was a new form of lifelong learning challenge in which citizens' learning becomes an asset of the city and leads to policy," adding "In line with our status as Korea's first lifelong learning city, we will continue to create a Gwangmyeong-style urban innovation model that grows together with citizens."