Gyeonggi Province Signs 'Off-Campus' Agreement with Seven Universities to Address Regional Issues

On the 29th, Gyeonggi Province signed a multi-party memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a total of seven universities—Gachon University, Kangnam University, Kyonggi University, Kyung Hee University, Daejin University, Myongji University, and Ajou University—for the implementation of the 'Off-Campus' (Public Campus) initiative.

The 'Off-Campus' is a project that links the public resources of Gyeonggi Province Libraries with universities' educational and research capabilities to solve challenges facing the local community and libraries together with residents. It is a public experimental lab (Living Lab) collaborative project created jointly by universities and Gyeonggi Province Libraries.

Under the agreement, each university will identify regional and library issues aligned with their curricula and work together with Gyeonggi Province to develop a 'problem-solving library model' that connects these issues to learning and research tasks. Outstanding results will be reflected in actual library operations and policies.

Ha Jong-mok, Vice Governor for Administration at Gyeonggi Province, who attended the MOU signing ceremony, said, "This agreement will become a turning point where universities' superior intellectual assets and educational achievements permeate into the lives of provincial residents through Gyeonggi Province Libraries as a public space. We will successfully lead the 'Off-Campus' project as a hub for discussing and addressing diverse regional challenges together and as an open public living lab."