Turn Youth Voices Into Policy — and a Published Book!

Young people in Seoul now have a rare chance to turn the frustrations and concerns of everyday life into real local policy — and see their ideas published in a book.

Songpa-gu announced it will run the "2026 Songpa Youth Policy Research Group," a revamped version of its former Youth Policy Academy, in which participants identify policy issues themselves and propose solutions.

The redesigned program moves away from simply teaching policy theory. Instead, it guides participants through developing their own everyday concerns into concrete policy proposals and committing those ideas to writing for publication in a book — a combined policy-development and writing curriculum.

This year's theme is "Youth Sentences Become Policy." The program runs six sessions from Sept. 2 through Oct. 7.

The six stages cover policy understanding, problem identification, problem structuring, perspective shifting, policy refinement and presentation — with each two-hour session pairing expert lectures with hands-on writing workshops.

Participants write up their policy ideas as essays, and the finished pieces are compiled into a formally published book. Every graduate is listed as a co-author, ensuring the experience leaves a lasting personal record and a policy asset rather than a one-off event.

A special lecture on youth policy abroad will also be delivered by travel YouTuber "Huicheollism," who has 1.2 million subscribers.

The program is open to people aged 19 to 39 who live or are based in Songpa-gu; 30 participants will be selected through a document screening. Applications are accepted through Monday on the Songpa-gu website or the Songpa Youth Center blog.

Graduates will take part in a policy-proposal handover and a completion ceremony. The district plans to draw on the published policy proposals from the research group when reviewing and developing future youth policy.

Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok said the district is working to listen closely to what young people truly want and to create an environment where they can participate directly in policymaking. "We will actively support young people so they can grow beyond being mere beneficiaries of policy into agents who think about and propose policy themselves," he said.