Online Training Program on

Caring Cities

In a context in which national governments are arming themselves to protect sovereignty and access to resources, local and regional governments are best positioned to define a care agenda that will help us to rebuild the foundations of our society towards universal, inclusive and sustainable development with people at the center.

Social and welfare services emerged in many territories as a subsidiary alternative to meet the demand for care that could not be met by households due to situations of poverty, orphanhood, illness, homelessness, and lack of family, among others. In order to build caring cities that care for the well-being of all their inhabitants, care services must be part of the public agenda. The idea that caring services should only be formulated in a subsidiary way should be abandoned in favor of treating them as a pillar in the organization of the city, recognizing how historically the burden of care has fallen to women in particular, by virtue of an implicit contract of the sexual division of labour.

The city of Seoul, through its strategy “Going Together With The Socially Neglected” and multiple other programs and policies, is pushing forward the concept of a “Caring City”, a philosophy in which the city is read as an ‘environment of care,’ where urban space supports daily practices for active movement and lifestyles, preventing diseases and health disorders, and equally giving all citizens access to commodities and services.

Online Program Outline

Between July 3 to July 23, 2023, the Seoul Human Resources Development Center (SHRDC) of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, together with Metropolis, the World Association of the Major Metropolises, United Cities and Local Government (UCLG), and UCLG-ASPAC will organize an online training program focusing on Caring City.

The program, open to the public officials of local governments and metropolitan cities is free of charge and combines self-paced learning and video lectures exploring the concepts and concrete examples of "Caring Cities" mainly by the city of Bogota and Seoul. A series of interactive online sessions will be organized by Metropolis, UCLG, and UCLG-ASPAC for participants to engage with each other and learn from other experiences.

Live Sessions will take place via ZOOM in the following dates:

• Session 1 : 6th July, 2023 - 09:00-11:00 (CEST)
• Session 2 : 13th July, 2023 - 09:00-11:00 (CEST)
• Session 3 : 20th July, 2023 - 09:00-11:00 (CEST)

With the initial orientation session on 3rd July 2023 - 09:00-11:00 (CEST)

More information

For detailed information on the contents and requirements of the course, please refer to the Course's Guidebook.

How to Apply

Please fill out the registration form (available in PDF or PPT format), together with a "letter of support/confirmation" signed by your city's Mayor or Head of Department, and send it to [email protected] by 9 June 2023.

Relevant resources