Since last year, the Department of Residential Environment at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), chaired by Professor Choi Byeong-suk, has been running a program to return the department’s outstanding human and material resources to the local community. Over the past eight months, it has carried out a project to improve aging local spaces and has received strong praise from the community.

The JBNU Department of Residential Environment, as part of the "Realizing Community Space Welfare Project," undertook a space-improvement project for the Yeongsaeng Senior Center in Jeonju. A student project team led the effort, beginning construction in November last year and completing the remodeling work in March of this year.

The project was organized by the JBNU Department of Residential Environment. Danaham Associates provided construction funding, overall project support, and consulting. Jeonju City contributed by connecting local resources and sponsoring construction costs. The Lions Club also actively supported the project by providing construction personnel and related volunteer services.

Selected for Danaham Associates’ call for the "Realizing Community Space Welfare Project," the Yeongsaeng Senior Center is an aging pillar-and-wood-structure building completed in the 1960s. It had been used by elderly residents in their 70s to 90s under very vulnerable conditions. Professor Jang Mi-seon, who supervised the project, said that when they first visited the center, safety issues in the space were severe — water had accumulated on the floors and the walls were leaning.

To improve the center, the Department carried out extensive work, including demolition of the external wall and aesthetic enhancements, renovation of the outdoor restroom, removal of the entrance threshold for the elderly, remediation of leaks in unused spaces, and securing the safety of the external auxiliary passage. They also installed bench-like platforms tailored to the seniors’ habits, expanded the kitchen sink and arranged dining tables, and replaced windows, flooring, and wall finishes indoors to create a more comfortable environment.

To celebrate the successful completion of the project and the move of local seniors into the renewed space, and to reaffirm the participating institutions’ commitment to continued cooperation, the Department held an occupancy ceremony at the Yeongsaeng Senior Center at 2:00 p.m. on March 27.

Attending the ceremony were JBNU President Yang O-bong, Jeonju Mayor Woo Beom-gi, Danaham Associates CEO Yoo Han-kyung, and Lions Club President Kwak Jeong-gwan, among other representatives of participating organizations. Student representative Hwang Jang-hyeon, a third-year student in the Department of Residential Environment, reported on the project’s progress. Professor Jang Mi-seon conducted a tour of the improved center and introduced the renovations.

Last year, the JBNU Department of Residential Environment also improved the housing conditions of three vulnerable households, in collaboration with the Jeonju Housing Welfare Center, as part of the National University Development Project. The students carried out the project continuously from the summer break through the second semester, acquiring practical expertise in their field and finding great fulfillment in donating their skills to give back to the local community.

The project has been praised not only for materially improving the quality of life and securing the safety of spaces for vulnerable groups, but also for increasing students’ awareness of local issues and providing a foundation for them to develop into regionally specialized talent with problem-solving abilities. In particular, prospective applicants have been inspired by last year’s positive news and have chosen to enroll in the Department of Residential Environment.

Furthermore, because the university, local government, and businesses joined forces to seek solutions for improving vulnerable local spaces that require problem-solving, the initiative is expected to spread as a model of community co-prosperity.

Student participant Jang Myeong-hun said, “While I usually design what I want for daily assignments, designing for others required much more attention and was challenging. However, it was equally rewarding, and thinking of the grandmothers who would be pleased made me feel proud.”

Professor Choi Byeong-suk, head of the JBNU Department of Residential Environment, stated, “This project, through close collaboration between the university and local related organizations and the participation of our Department’s students, addresses housing problems of vulnerable households and serves as a model for university–community cooperation that leads to tangible community contribution.” She added, “Together with the Glocal Project, we will pool the faculty’s and students’ capabilities to discover and implement various initiatives that can contribute to realizing community space welfare.”