Osan City's "Integrated Learning Linkage Network" Selected as "UNESCO Sustainable Development Project"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] The 'Integrated Learning Linkage Network' that Osan City has been operating continuously since 2017 has been certified as the '2020 UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Official Project' by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO.

The city announced on the 2nd that following the 'Learning Salon' of the Osan Centennial Citizen University Question Mark School last year, it received certification for the 'Integrated Learning Linkage Network' this year, earning ESD certification for two consecutive years.

The 'Integrated Learning Linkage Network' is a shared learning space creation project that includes 'specialized campuses' utilizing idle times at community service centers in six districts of Osan City and 'stepping stone classrooms' utilizing idle time slots at private facilities and public institutions in the city. This is a very distinctive project that actively utilizes idle resources existing within the local community to connect all of Osan as one.

The 'UNESCO Sustainable Development Education (ESD) Official Project Certification System' has been operating since 2011 with the goal of discovering and promoting excellent cases of various sustainable development education (ESD) being implemented in Korean society, disseminating specific sustainable development education (ESD) practical methods domestically, and developing Korean-style sustainable development education (ESD) models to introduce to the international community.

An official from the UNESCO Sustainable Development Education Korea Committee, which deliberates UNESCO Sustainable Development Education (ESD) Official Project certification, stated, "Osan City's 'Integrated Learning Linkage Network' project creates an educational network across the entire region from the perspective of lifelong education, organically combines and utilizes local resources from a sharing economy perspective, and attempts to create jobs and bring about community change—a project that can be applied to other regions as well," clarifying the reasons for ESD certification.

This year, a total of 15 new UNESCO Sustainable Development Education (ESD) Official Projects were certified, including Osan City's 'Integrated Learning Linkage Network,' with the certification validity period running for a total of three years from July 1 to June 30, 2023.