Local Economy Activation through Local Resource and Asset Utilization

International Urban Training Center (IUTC), Republic of Korea Under Partnership between UN-HABITAT & Gangwon-do 6-14 February 2018 (Vely Kukinul Siswanto ST, MT, M.Sc).

The training was organized by the International Urban Training Center (IUTC) which was formed on May 3, 2007 and is a collaboration between UN-HABITAT and the Gangwon provincial government in South Korea.IUTC was formed to provide training for policy makers, planners and city governments especially in the Asia Pacific region to achieve sustainable urban development in accordance with the Sustainable Development Golas (SDG’s). Until now there have been 63 international trainings with a total of 1741 participants from 18 countries in the Asia Pacific.

The training held on 6-14 February 2018 took the theme “Local Economy Activation through Local Resource and Asset Utilization”. The training was held in the IUTC Building in Hongcheon-gun City, Gangwon Province, South Korea with a total of 28 participants from 8 countries. The purpose of this training is to provide participants with knowledge about the basis of planning and management tools to effectively prepare, plan and manage economic activities that are community-based. This is done to improve the quality of life of the community both in terms of economic, social, cultural and environmental.

In this training not only was the material given to the local economic development efforts based on the SDG’s and the industrial revolution, but participants also had to present about Local Economic Activation in their respective countries and participants were invited to compare and see directly local economic activation that could raise the Province Gangwon-do becomes more sustainable with the local community as its axis.

On the first day the participants were invited to go to Hongcheon Energy Environment Town. The city was originally a lagging city which was largely abandoned by its inhabitants, mainly due to the level of pollution especially caused by very high livestock manure. The stench and polluted river are very common sights here.Then at the initiative of the Ministry of Environment, the first Eco Friendly Energy Town was built in South Korea in Hongcheon City. This is one of the renewable energy producers in Hongcheon City.

Not only processing a lot of manure found in that location into biogas, but this factory also processes it into compost. In addition, in this complex solar panels and hydroelectric power plants are also built to produce electricity for the city. With the existence of this factory not only can the economy improve because electricity is produced but it can also reduce the main problem which is reducing the level of environmental pollution due to manure. All processes in this factory are carried out with high technology (computerize) and integrated with each other.

Field visit at Gangwon-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services – exporting flowers

Field visit at EungGol Strawberry Farm

Field Visit at the Chuncheon Bioindustry Foundation

Field visit at Yongdaeri Cooperative

The Process of Discussing in Classes Regarding Field Trip Action Plans

Furthermore the training participants were invited to visit several local community businesses in Gangwon Province including the Chuncheon Bioindustry Foundation, local breweries, Gangwon Agricultural Research, EungGol Strawberry Farm, Yongdaeri Cooperative, Sarangmal cooperative, fish and food markets and other locations. The great learning from this training is that there is strong collaboration between the private sector, the government, academics and the community to be an important role in strengthening the economy and creating sustainable development. Gangwon Province which was initially based only on the mining industry has now turned into an environmentally friendly, high-tech industry that is supported by research from local universities in its development and with the active participation of the community has made Gangwon Province very rapid. The rapid economic growth accompanied by social and environmental balance is one of the reasons this province is used as the venue for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games held from 9 to 25 February 2018.

In addition, the training participants were also included in the “IUTC Asia Pacific Global Leaders Convention” forum held on February 13, 2018 at the Jeongseon High 1 Resort in Gangwon Province.Participants in this forum are IUTC alumni and regional leaders from various countries in the Asia Pacific. In addition to discussing the Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development in this forum, it was also discussed about opportunities for development cooperation with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Gangwon Provincial Government.

Process of Discussion in the IUTC Asia Pacific Global Leaders Convention Forum

Indonesian Delegation at the IUTC Asia Pacific Global Leaders Convention