A World Connected Through Design Thinking :
Busan’s Leap as a Global Hub City
Jin-Woo KIM
Design Council Busan
Over the past 20 years, the Cultural Partnership Initiative (CPI) has played a pivotal role in advancing cultural industries and fostering economic growth in Official Development Assistance (ODA) partner countries while elevating Korea’s international standing. The Design Council Busan successfully operated design-based training programs in 2023 and 2024, supporting participants from ODA partner countries in discovering and developing cultural products. For the Design Council Busan, this program has evolved beyond simple training into a platform for cultural exchange and global network building—an essential step toward establishing Busan as a design-based global hub city.
At the heart of the training program is design thinking—a creative problem-solving approach derived from design processes. Emphasizing empathy, creativity, and collaboration, design thinking offers innovative solutions applicable to fields such as business, education, and social development.
Over the past two years, the Design Council Busan has implemented the program under the theme “Cultural Product Development and Marketing Capacity Enhancement Based on Design Thinking.” Twenty-two participants from 13 countries were introduced to Busan’s rich cultural resources and received practical training to cultural assets into marketable products through design for the purpose of proposing solutions to global social issues.
As a result, the participants developed detailed cultural product planning reports leveraging their home countries’ cultural resources—three reports in 2023 and four in 2024. Notably, the 2024 program marked a qualitative step forward with the introduction of advanced learning modules. This led to the creation of three additional reports incorporating marketing strategies, further enhancing the depth and impact of the program’s achievements.
The Design Council Busan’s participation in CPI goes beyond program implementation. It serves as a catalyst for achieving the council’s mission to build a global design network platform. Moving forward, the council will ensure the local application of participants’ outcomes by maintaining sustainable networks, fostering cultural exchange, and expanding the program’s reach. These efforts will contribute to positioning Busan—Korea’s second-largest city—as a global design hub. In line with the aim of CPI, the Design Council Busan remains dedicated to creating a sustainable future through a blend of culture and design, standing as a true partner in this journey.
