Seminars

The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE) held the awards ceremony for the “2025 Contest for New Policy Ideas from the Frontlines of Child Care (2025 Childcare Policy Proposal Contest)” at 2:00 p.m. on November 6, 2025 (Thursday), at Post Tower Sky Hall, and selected outstanding policy proposals that reflect voices from the childcare field. The contest was designed to invite policy ideas from parents and relevant experts as policy users, with the aim of discovering creative childcare policy ideas that can be tangibly felt in the field and reflecting them in future policy development.

This year’s contest received policy proposals across diverse areas, including nutrition, care, health and medical services, mental health, ecology, and culture. Through a review process, a total of eight outstanding proposals were finally selected as award-winning entries.

The grand prize was awarded to “ZERO Nutrition Blind Spots: Tailored Nutritional Supplement Support for Vulnerable Pregnant Women and Infants.” Excellence awards were conferred on “Future Museum for Play and Learning: Public Kids Café Museum” and “Data-Based Smart Maternal and Child Health Center ODA Project (An IoT- and AI-Based International Cooperation Model to Improve the Health of Infants, Young Children, and Pregnant Women).” Encouragement awards were presented to five proposals: “Rain-Embracing Dream Space,” “Operation of a Life-Cycle Mental Health Management and Family Support Program for All Pregnant Women (for all pregnant),” “Sustainable Earth through Ecological Play: Global Childcare Diplomacy Project ‘Earth Guardians,’” “A New Cultural Space that Turns Everyday Conversations into Culture ‘Maju-bom,’” and “Born Again Beyond Time and Space.”

At the ceremony, KICCE President Ock Kyeung Hwang highlighted in her congratulatory remarks that the event was “a meaningful occasion prepared to reflect voices from the field in policy-making,” and expressed her sincere appreciation for the keen interest and active participation shown by the proposers. She further noted that the creative ideas and critical perspectives presented through the contest would serve as an important foundation for shaping the future of childcare and education policy in Korea, and affirmed KICCE’s commitment to expanding channels for dialogue that closely connect the field and policy-making.

KICCE plans to actively review and utilize the award-winning proposals in future research and policy formulation processes, while exploring avenues for collaboration with relevant institutions. The institute will continue its efforts to develop policies that bring tangible improvements to people’s daily lives and faithfully fulfill its role of linking on-the-ground needs and voices to evidence-based childcare policy.