Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Opens the Busan Environmental Experience Education Center, Transforming a Closed School into a Multifunctional Space for Environment and Community

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will hold the opening ceremony for the Busan Environmental Experience Education Center, named Bee:um, on September 18 at 10:30 AM in the multipurpose hall of the former Banyeo Elementary School in Banyeo-dong, Haeundae-gu.

The ceremony will be attended by Mayor Park Heong-joon, Vice Superintendent of Education Lee Kang-guk, National Assembly Member Kim Mi-ae, Haeundae District Mayor Kim Seong-soo, Director General of Climate and Carbon Policy at the Ministry of Environment Ahn Se-chang, city councilors, related organizations, and local residents, totaling over 60 participants. The event will include a pre-ceremony performance, the official declaration of the opening, welcoming remarks and congratulatory speeches, an opening performance, and a tour of the facilities.

The Busan Environmental Experience Education Center was completed through Busan Metropolitan City’s selection for the Ministry of Environment’s “Closed School Eco-School Pilot Project.” The project spanned four years, from the establishment of the basic plan in 2021 to design, remodeling, and installation of exhibition content, in cooperation with the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education.

Nationwide, more than 4,000 schools have been closed due to declining student populations, with 50 closures in Busan alone. Most of these closed schools were sold or left with limited reuse opportunities. This project is therefore highly significant as the first example of transforming a closed school into a space for both the environment and the community’s future.

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The education center was designed as a multifunctional facility to enhance environmental awareness and encourage practical actions in daily life.

• ●On the first floor, there is an upcycling library stocked with environmental books, a children’s classroom where young learners can engage with environmental topics through play, and an experience and workshop space to address climate and energy issues.

• ●On the second floor, an exhibition hall focuses on climate change, carbon neutrality, and a sustainable future.

• ●The third floor includes a citizens’ open classroom, a recording studio, seminar rooms, and a multipurpose hall.

This project goes beyond simply repurposing a closed school. It creates a multifunctional complex reflecting diverse local needs.

• ●Busan Metropolitan City remodeled the East Wing into the Environmental Experience Education Center.

• ●The Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education will develop the North Wing and playground into environmental spaces.

• ●Haeundae-gu District will convert the annex into the Banyeo Plus School community center, build an underground public parking lot to alleviate chronic parking shortages, and revamp the aging Banyeo Forest Ecological Park into an ecological experience and recreational area.

Through these developments, the former Banyeo Elementary School will be reborn as a complex space integrating education, community, convenience, and leisure functions.

• ●(Busan Environmental Experience Education Center) Ministry of Environment, selected for the Closed School Eco-School Pilot Project (Busan, Seoul)

• ●(Banyeo Plus School) Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, selected for the Urban Regeneration Project

• ●(Underground Public Parking Lot) Ministry of Education, selected for the School Complex Facilities Competition

• ●(Jangsan Dasup Leisure Green Space) Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, selected for the Greenbelt Environmental and Cultural Project

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “This project not only transformed a closed school into a meaningful environmental education space for future generations, but also integrated the community’s diverse capacities into a facility that combines education, culture, parking, and community functions. I am pleased that we are now able to provide a space that will bring practical benefits to citizens’ lives. Moving forward, our city will continue to create multifunctional spaces that meet local needs through such collaborative efforts.”