Selected as a best practice in 'center operational capacity enhancement' — recognized for incorporating children's input and leveraging community resources in its care programs
Eunpyeong-gu said its Eunpyeong No. 4 Woori Dongne Kium Center — a Seoul Metropolitan Government-run neighborhood child care facility — was named a best practice at the 2026 Woori Dongne Kium Center Operations Case Competition and received the Seoul Metropolitan Mayor's Award on Sept. 30.
The competition was organized to strengthen the professional capabilities of Woori Dongne Kium Center staff across Seoul and to identify and share outstanding care practices. A total of 10 cases were selected after review, with the Eunpyeong No. 4 center recognized in the "center operational capacity enhancement" category.
The center was praised for its approach under the theme "Ask the children for answers, find the answers in the community" — incorporating children's opinions directly into care activities and building programs around local resources.
Starting from everyday feedback from children and their guardians, the center pursued four care initiatives: converting an unused storage room into a dedicated children's space, partnering with a local soccer center for physical activities, creating a mural at the center's entrance, and launching a parent participation program.
First, acting on children's suggestion that they wanted "a secret space of our own," the children themselves planned and decorated an unused storage room, turning it into their own dedicated area. The center also signed an MOU with a neighborhood soccer center in response to children's desire to run and play freely, integrating professional physical activities into its care program.
In addition, after guardians said the center was hard to find, local volunteers donated their artistic talents to paint a mural at the entrance. To fulfill children's wish to do activities with their parents, the center launched a parent participation program and held a kimchi-making event.
Eunpyeong-gu plans to share the award-winning practices with other Woori Dongne Kium Centers in the district and expand community-linked care programs that reflect children's input.
"The staff's efforts to listen to the children and connect with local resources have led to a great outcome," Eunpyeong-gu District Mayor Kim Mi-kyung said. "We will continue to build a care environment where children take an active role and the community comes together."
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