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Busan Metropolitan City Launches “Dreaming GREEN Expedition” in Full Scale to Create “My Companion Park”

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Acting Mayor Kim Kyung-duk, announced that it will officially begin operating the “Dreaming GREEN Expedition” program starting in May as a park leisure initiative for children, in which children create and care for gardens in neighborhood and children’s parks.

The Dreaming GREEN Expedition program is conducted in the format of “One Kindergarten, One Garden.” It was designed to help children directly experience the ecological value of plants and develop imagination and creativity through garden-making activities in nearby parks.

Children participating in the expedition will take part in hands-on activities caring for designated spaces within each park, along with gardening classes and outdoor ecological experience programs. The completed gardens will be introduced through Busan’s official parks website at busan.go.kr/park/index.

The gardens created by the children can also be visited together with their families on weekends. The city expects that local residents will later participate in caring for and maintaining these beloved parks together, creating “15-minute companion parks” that serve as leisure and cultural spaces enjoyed by all citizens in their daily lives.

Reflecting the high satisfaction and positive response to last year’s pilot project conducted at the Sky Garden open space on the fourth floor of Busan City Hall in 2025, the city held a public recruitment earlier this year for districts and counties, kindergartens, and daycare centers interested in participating.

As a result, five locations, including Eumjeong Park in Buk-gu, were finally selected and the program will operate from May through November.

The selected project sites are:
Eumjeong Park in Buk-gu,
Motgol Children’s Park in Nam-gu,
Jangnim Park in Saha-gu,
Sky Garden at Busan City Hall in Yeonje-gu,
and Jeonggwan Neighborhood Park No. 1 in Gijang-gun.

Experience classes will be conducted in one-hour sessions, during which children will plant seasonally appropriate seedlings and participate in activities such as ecological garden walks, quizzes, and treasure hunts related to nature and ecology.

At the Sky Garden of Busan City Hall in Yeonje-gu, where indoor garden facilities are available, classes will be conducted for two hours.

Programs at the Sky Garden in Yeonje-gu will take place every Monday morning, while sessions at Eumjeong Park in Buk-gu, Motgol Children’s Park in Nam-gu, and Jeonggwan Neighborhood Park No. 1 in Gijang-gun will be held simultaneously every Wednesday morning. Programs at Jangnim Park in Saha-gu will begin on Wednesday afternoons.

In addition, the city plans to incorporate improvements based on program monitoring and satisfaction surveys conducted with participating children, parents, and teachers after the completion of the project. Through this process, Busan Metropolitan City intends to continue the Dreaming GREEN Expedition program annually and create companion parks that everyone can enjoy within their living areas.

The city also plans to establish neighborhood parks as “my companion park” and “community care spaces in our neighborhood,” enabling citizens to actively create and enjoy cultural and leisure activities in parks close to home.

Ahn Cheol-soo, Director General of the Green City Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “The purpose of this program is to provide children with ecological education using plants while also turning gardening into an enjoyable everyday activity and strengthening healthy family communication through companion parks.” He added, “We will do our utmost to ensure that parks become places where all citizens can enjoy leisure culture together within their neighborhoods, not only through gardening and ecological programs for children but also through various community-oriented activities.”