지방소멸위기에 대응하는 대학교육의 가능성 —‘마치오코시(町おこし)’와 문화매개(médiation culturelle)를 축으로—

Abstract

Currently, local communities in South Korea face a "Crisis of Local Extinction." Overconcentration in the capital region and depopulation in rural areas are becoming more serious, and there is a growing sense of crisis that if things continue as they are, rural areas will disappear. In order to overcome this current situation and seek a solution, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has set "age of the regions where it is easy to live anywhere in the Republic of Korea" as a national goal, and is calling on universities to work in solidarity with local governments and local communities to promote new education. Among these, local universities have the ultimate goal of contributing to local industries while educating people who will settle in the area, thereby revitalizing it. However, while the revival of local industries and revitalization of the economy are important, will that alone be enough to usher in the "age of the regions?”Local universities should consider using higher education to unearth the value of the region and revitalize the local community. This paper considers the role that local universities should play in revitalizing their regions and what education they should provide in that process, using the concepts of "Local Revitalization" and cultural mediation. This study aims to present a new perspective on higher education that realizes regional revitalization centered on regional culture.