Questions/Answers

“Complexity” is a major keyword today. We are living in an era of extremely high complexity, in which it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict and solve problems based only on the traditional roles of the government and market. To respond to these changes, residents must play an active role in solving problems in their local communities as co-producers, going beyond their traditional role as simple beneficiaries of government policies. Social innovation is the process of discovering and solving local problems through new ideas based on the participation of the stakeholders involved and cooperation among various fields. The Korean government has been promoting social innovation as a national task since 2018 under the jurisdiction of Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS). To promote social innovation, a new public facility that lowers the threshold for citizen participation and supports the local problem-solving process is required. The MOIS’ COMMONZ FIELD is not merely a simple space creation project, but a project that aims to create a foundation for social innovation that enhances the problem-solving capabilities of local communities.

The initiative is linked to Category 1: “Fostering innovation to deliver inclusive and equitable services.” Innovating the delivery system to respond to the blind spots or weaknesses of existing public administration services requires introducing the concept of co-producers, rather than sticking to the dichotomy of suppliers and beneficiaries. An effective way of discovering unmet needs is encouraging stakeholders to join and experiment and verify the regional relevance and expandability of new ideas. COMMONZ FIELD is an innovative policy designed from such a perspective.

It is related to SDG No. 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Social innovation is not achieved through a single project in a short period of time. Rather, it is achieved through a multiplier effect that gradually gains steam. Starting from “basic performance” (1), which enhances local vitality by building a foundation for social innovation through the regeneration of unused spaces, “process outcomes” (2) are accumulated through resident participation, cooperation in diverse fields, and discovery of and experimentation with unmet agendas. After verifying the regional suitability and scalability of the proposed solution, the solution is introduced as a policy of the local government, leading to commercialization or the creation of “diffusion” (3) through campaigns. These processes are cyclical and integrative rather than sequential, contributing to cities and communities. Notably, most cases discovered, tested, and spread by citizens through COMMONZ FIELD are directly or indirectly related to all of the 17 SDGs.

(Social) COMMONZ FIELD creates a new type of public facility through the regeneration of unused buildings owned by local governments. (Economic) Public facilities will continue receiving budget inputs from local governments. (Environmental) COMMONZ FIELD breathes new life into buildings through remodeling, as shown by the former Gangwon Public Procurement Service building in Chuncheon City, brothels in Seonmichon of Jeonju City, and old Korea Development Bank branch building on Jeju. Increased resident engagement, public-private cooperation, and resource linkage have transformed all three into places that have attracted over 250,000 people so far.

“Happy Bus” is a good example. It is a bus route reorganization project related to SDG No. 11. Jeonju City was facing city bus transportation challenges. After a strike in 2011, the bus system was caught in a vicious cycle of poor working conditions, inefficient bus routes, and declining profitability. The average number of daily users had decreased every year, from 141,621 in 2016 to 132,887 in 2018. Finally, in 2019, more than 10,000 citizens took matters into their own hands and participated in roundtables, route design workshops, and surveys to reorganize the inconvenient city bus routes. Jeonju citizens also established public-private governance with the Jeonju Council for Sustainable Development and Jeonju City Bus Policy Division and held joint discussions to draw up a reorganization plan. In 2020, the Korea Transportation Research Institute joined the project, analyzing big data and conducting simulations to show the expected improvements and inconveniences. On October 6, 2021, Jeonju City, Wanju County, the Citizens' Alliance for Riding Together, and City Bus Management Committee agreed on the route reorganization plan and are now proceeding with working-level discussions with the goal of implementing the plan in February 2022. The citizens now say: “We decide our bus routes.”

A case in point is the changes made to Seonmichon, which are related to SDG No. 5. Seonmichon had a street on which about 85 brothels had thrived until early 2000. In 2014, however, Jeonju began steadily transforming the area in cooperation with the private sector. In 2019, the transformation was accelerated with the remodeling of the second-biggest brothel building into COMMONZ FIELD Jeonju. Most of the brothels are now out of business. In September 2019, COMMONZ FIELD Jeonju was officially certified as a sustainable development education project by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO.

First, Weird Cats is a project related to SDG No. 10. As of 2020, among 465 elementary school students with disabilities on Jeju, 319, or about 70%, have developmental disabilities. Insufficient care infrastructure combined with the COVID-19 pandemic increased the burden on their families. Parents of children with developmental disabilities started surveying the situation with related experts and various pilot services. After that, the parents gathered together to establish the Weird Cat Social Cooperative in October 2020 and Dream Care Center for Weird Cats in April 2021. This project demonstrates the power of stakeholders’ participation in social innovation. Second, the Elderly Care Café, which is related to SDG No. 3, is an elderly support project where qualified nurses are stationed at a community building to provide senior citizens with daily health care. This project led to the establishment of the nation’s first village care nursing cooperative and was included in the budget of Chuncheon City. Now, there are three cafés.

First, a fixed-term specialist in social innovation was hired through open recruitment at the end of 2017. The deputy director has overseen the initiative for four years now, meticulously and consistently handling policy design and implementation. The first phase of policy implementation from 2018 to 2021 selected one or two local governments each year over the five years through open recruitment and screening. Now, the six governments of Chuncheon, Jeonju, Daejeon, Jeju Island, Chungcheongnam-do, and Ulsan are promoting the initiative together. This phase requires steady policy improvement through frequent feedback to see whether the scale is manageable as well as identify what went well and what did not. Also, brand strategies, performance management indicators, and archive methodologies needed to be established in the early stage. To this end, the six participants were provided with timely consulting services tailored to each municipality’s circumstances. In this process, Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and the six governments were partners in the co-production of policies. The second phase began in 2021, while the first phase was still in progress. It began with the establishment of an institution for providing government subsidies for an additional two years after the first three years, aiming at region-oriented policies. The amount of the funding will be gradually reduced to ensure that COMMONZ FIELD makes a soft landing and takes firm root in the region. A quarterly workshop on diverse subjects rotates among regions to foster capacity-building through learning together. In December of this year, the National Council of Social Innovation Centers is to be launched to revitalize networks among COMMONZ FIELD operators. “We are all co-producers.”

The existing public-led space creation project proceeds in the order of: creation of space, securing of operator, and establishment of business plan. This process often results in the prepared space not suiting the project. COMMONZ FIELD has thus decided to reverse this process. First, a private operator with professional competence is selected through open recruitment, after which spatial planning and resident participation projects are carried out. The final step is carrying out remodeling tailored to regional needs.

The innovation is in our spaces that encourage everyone to engage in the local problem-solving process. COMMONZ FIELD has three sub-spaces and three processes. While maximizing common areas and minimizing dedicated areas, it created: (1) “Welcome Spaces” that are free of thresholds and (2) “Shared Spaces” and (3) “Independent Spaces” for resident companies. The three processes are: (1) “Discovery,” where new actors emerge and local agendas are identified; (2) “Experimentation,” where there is cooperation to validate ideas; and (3) “Diffusion,” where processes and results are shared.

Inspiration came from various coworking spaces that had been planned and operated by the private sector, such as Seoul HEYGROUND and CoWnDoG. In contrast to the private sector, however, COMMONZ FIELD is a public space with a minimum dedicated area and maximum common area. Despite various spatial-based social innovation policies with some similarities, not one has all the elements of COMMONZ FIELD that the MOIS has been promoting since 2018.

Our fine dust reduction project, which is related to SDG No. 13, has employed new technologies. This project worked together with the Korea Climate Change Research Institute to decrease the number of trips and mileage of private vehicles in areas where public transportation is not as dense as in large cities. In 2020, Chuncheon City (Climate Energy Division) adopted the policy and allocated a budget for reward miles in exchange for reductions of travel distance.

As of 2021, the initiative is being implemented by six municipal governments (Chuncheon, Jeonju, Daejeon, Jeju Island, Chungcheongnam-do, and Ulsan) in Korea. Since 2018, new local governments have been joining every year through open recruitment and screening. (Space) First, there must be an unused building owned by the local government. The building is subjected to a comprehensive review with a focus on the location (capability to accommodate a hub), accessibility stability, significance, and environmental sustainability, among others. Old downtowns are preferred. It is also important to return a space that has been neglected or had a negative effect to citizens. (Governance) Next, public-private partnership is important. COMMONZ FIELD gives the highest evaluation score of 30% for projects jointly planned by the public and private sectors. This score is higher than the 25% granted for the potential of a candidate site. COMMONZ FIELD believes that the probability of success increases when “software” (business) and “humanware” (local governments and private operating entities) are one step ahead of “hardware” (space). In 2022, it plans to add two new local governments.

COMMONZ FIELD is a policy created in line with the current trend where residents must play an active role in solving problems in their own local communities as co-producers, going beyond being simple beneficiaries of government policies. Despite their different circumstances, contexts, and times, all countries on this planet would prefer a government of the people. COMMONZ FIELD is unique in that: (1) it focuses on regenerating a space that had been neglected or was causing negative effects by planning the operation first and creating the space later; and (2) supports the local problem-solving process (discovery-experimentation-diffusion) where residents play an important role. Sometimes, the project comes up with global ideas. For instance, The New Heroes in COMMONZ FIELD Chuncheon was awarded the 2020 Energy Globe Award (National Winner), an international environmental award supported by UNIDO, for its overseas project to help poor children in countries in need. The English version of the summary guidebook of COMMONZ FIELD is attached to be used as a reference for policymaking in other countries.

Each local government receives KRW 6 billion in national funds and KRW 6 billion in local funds for three years. Localized projects proceed with national funds to encourage more residents to join local problem-solving efforts. The municipal funds are for reinforcing unused buildings for safety and remodeling them for the purpose of the project. The investment received from 2018 to 2020 consists of KRW 22.6 billion from the central government and KRW 22 billion from municipalities. The policy was promoted by social innovation experts in diverse areas, departments of the MOIS and municipalities, public-private councils, and social innovation centers.

Ministry of the Interior and Safety distributed the standard ordinance bill (reference for local government legislation), which was made current every year, to new local governments selected for open recruitment to encourage them to enact ordinances. All six local governments currently undertaking projects have enacted ordinances that serve as the basis for implementing COMMONZ FIELD. The ordinance stipulates, among other things, financial support. Notably, the Act on the Promotion of Social Innovation, which was proposed (on November 18, 2021) to enhance institutional sustainability, is currently under deliberation in the National Assembly.

Yes

The evaluation was conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively. The Korea Foundation for Social Investment (Capacity Reinforcement Center) developed common indicators applicable nationwide and helped regions prepare individual indicators tailored to their unique circumstances. Based on this, each region published social accounting reports. Qualitative evaluation was conducted by the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (Urban Research Division), which is a national research institute under the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

For quantitative evaluation, region-oriented items were chosen under the categories of space-based innovation activity support, agenda discovery and experimentation, gaining of public favor, and building of governance. Qualitative evaluation reviewed the significance of COMMONZ FIELD as a policy and evaluated its sustainability under the sub-themes of “subject and governance,” “creation and operation of space,” and “finance procurement.”

(Quantitative) With 252,738 visitors (Chuncheon and Jeonju), 1,648 discovered agendas, and 648 experiments, COMMONZ FIELD recorded a total of 325,992 participating citizens and 1,267 public-private collaborations. (Qualitative) In terms of “subject and governance,” a governance structure is formed systemically to link citizens, administration, and various related organizations. In terms of “space creation and operation,” COMMONZ FIELD is outstanding in that it goes beyond the limitations of existing community centers by focusing mostly on administrative services or benefit programs to encourage citizens to take the lead in the entire process, ranging from agenda discovery to experimentation. For “financial procurement,” aside from earning space usage fees and others, COMMONZ FIELD is working on linking with not only public but also private financial resources. To enhance sustainability, it should seek out wider governance links as well as new roles as an advanced public facility that balances profitability and publicity. (Award) COMMONZ FIELD received the Red Dot Design Award for improving the popularity of spaces through excellent design (August 20, 2021).

Ministry of the Interior and Safety is the main department in charge of social innovation policies in the Republic of Korea, designing COMMONZ FIELD policies, selecting local governments through open recruitment and screening, and working on project management. Currently, six local governments nationwide are participating in COMMONZ FIELD, and four spaces in three regions (one in Chuncheon, two in Jeonju, and one in Jeju) have been officially opened. They have been warmly received as spaces for all, where anyone can become a leader of social innovation. Institutionally, all six local governments have enacted related ordinances in accordance with the standard ordinance bill (reference for local government legislation) distributed by the MOIS. Under this ordinance, the private sector is commissioned to establish social innovation centers. It is a structure that combines the policy-related capabilities of the MOIS, administrative power of local governments, and expertise of the private sector. A complementary system has also been established by forming advisory bodies—the Social Innovation Policy Council for the MOIS and the Social Innovation Public-Private Council for local governments.

The Refill Truck project, pertinent to SDG No. 12, is an example. Plastic waste has been piling up amid the food delivery boom caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Chuncheon, such empty containers are being refilled instead of discarded. “Refill trucks” regularly visit apartment complexes so that anyone can experience the value of “zero waste” by refilling their plastic containers with eco-friendly detergent and exchanging waste resources (plastic lids, straws, ice packs, etc.) for other everyday products. The project uses micro-electric trucks donated by a local electric vehicle manufacturer (DPECO) and consults with the Chuncheon City Resources Circulation Council about waste resources to be collected. The collected items are washed and sorted by the Chuncheon City Volunteer Support Center and Saemaul Undong Chuncheon Branch before being handed over to a waste disposal company for reprocessing and reuse. Ministry of the Interior and Safety held an innovative site visit program (May 24, 2021), which the Vice Minister attended to announce and promote significant collaborations. After several months of experimentation, the program was chosen by the Chuncheon City Resource Circulation Department as a policy and included in the budget.

The vision of COMMONZ FIELD is to create a community where all residents can contribute to problem-solving in their own ways. It also aims for a society where various local problems are easily solved. As shown by the slogan of the UN SDGs, “Leave No One Behind,” the SDGs include not only poverty alleviation goals but also broad-ranging, comprehensive goals related to social and economic development, environmental protection, and democracy, among others. The cases discovered, experimented with, and spread by citizens through COMMONZ FIELD are closely related to most of the 17 SDGs. This highlights the universality of the SDGs, which were derived through the collective intelligence and power of ordinary citizens living in local communities. Ministry of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea will remain committed to promoting social innovation policies that strengthen the power of citizens.