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Social Innovators Without Borders, Summer 2017
Fostering Social Betterment Worldwide
This past summer, the Yonsei Social Innovation Center sent out many teams of UIC students in various tasks. Whether it was through scholarly research, conducting workshops, or organizing a conference, UIC students worked abroad and at home to galvanize the movement of social innovation.
Global Fair Trade in Tanzania
Research to Improve Livelihoods of Tanzanian Farmers
During the first two weeks of July, the Yonsei Center for Social Innovation (YCSI) sponsored Professor Semee Yoon and students Sujeong Yu (SDC ‘16), Inyoung Kim (CDM/SDC ‘14), and Jeonghee Park (HASS ‘17) to visit Tanzania and better understand the nation’s coffee industry. With the objective of improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Tanzania who are vulnerable to unstable commodity prices and production costs, the team's two weeks focused on searching for ways to create added value to coffee that would benefit the farmers. Research was conducted by visiting small coffee farms, cooperatives, estates, the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB), and local cafes in Arusha and Moshi.
Team Tanzania found that coffee farming was plagued by decreasing profitability compared to other countries, which lowered the income and well being of the Tanzanian farmers. Furthermore, the decline of the sector lowered its priority in the government’s agenda, leaving farmers all the more vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change and giving no incentive to practice sustainable growing methods. While established public policies fell short of ensuring farmers returns and basic quality of life, private entities filled the holes. For example, several microfinance organizations offered loans to women; similarly, a group of women from the same village had formed an association that functioned as a rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) and a knowledge-sharing network. Such financial services not only enabled households to invest in agriculture for increased productivity, but also empowered women through decision-making and economic participation.
On their return, Team Tanzania suggested that a revitalized coffee industry in Tanzania would deliver many positive economic, environmental and social changes. One could immediately expect increased employment and income of small-scale farmers, and more farmers to participate in organic cultivation. Moreover, the large population of female farmers who are engaged in hand picking cherries could experience economic empowerment.
SICA NGO Delegation to Bangkok
Synergy in Southeast Asia
From July 31 to August 5, Social Innovation Creators’ Academia (SICA), together with YCSI, visited Bangkok—a prominent UN host city and one of the most promising cities in Southeast Asia for sustainable development. The SICA delegation sought to gain deeper understanding of various social issues in the Southeast Asian region by visiting key institutions for social innovation in Bangkok. These included the UNESCO office, the Thailand Creative and Design Center, and the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.
Our students were also inspired by the creativity of students from Chulalongkorn University while partaking in a Joint Global Collaborative Workshop with the CU Innovative Hub—the Chulalongkorn University students’ social innovation initiative. Two days were spent with meaningful discussions and presentations on the topic of sustainable urban planning. The exchange challenged students from both universities to further cooperate for social betterment. Likewise, a special lecture by the Thailand Art Archive at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center inspired students with the possibilities of combining art and urbanism as a form of sustainable development.
The SICA delegation’s last stop was the 8th University Scholars Leadership Symposium, hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Humanitarian Affairs Asia. Our students proudly represented Yonsei University by discussing the centrality of education among the United Nations SDGs and suggested innovative ways of bringing fair and relevant education all around the globe.
UNDP Vietnam’s SDG Impact Challenge
Supporting Social Entrepreneurship in Vietnam
From July 24 to July 29, YCSI and the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) dispatched Dohwa Kim (IS/CDM ‘14.5), Sungha Jo (SDC ‘16) and Jeonghee Park (HASS ‘17) to Vietnam as mentors for the Vietnam SDG Workshop, “Business that makes Difference,” along with other student mentors from Kyunghee University and Handong Global University.
Their mission had already started mid-July with extensive training on the SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) toolkits designed to help budding entrepreneurs devise sustainable businesses that work towards achieving the UN SDGs without financial compromise. Once in Vietnam, the team started with a briefing at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) office in Hanoi, where WFUNA and Hatch Ventures also greeted the team. The workshops then officially began, taking the team to various social startup projects in the cities of Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh.
Each workshop provided a general overview of the seventeen SDGs and how they can be used to innovate Vietnam’s local community. In each city, over forty people from various backgrounds attended the workshop. Most of them were students or graduates who were interested in launching their own business. Other participants were from NGOs or private companies. After introducing successful cases of social enterprises that achieved their missions and also generated profit, our students suggested steps on how to launch a social enterprise, from identifying social problems to social entrepreneurship, and to the actual management and sustaining of the company.
Introducing the toolkits to participants was an enlightening experience for both the mentors and participants, as the SDG-minded planning allowed them to understand sustainability in a practical way.
KSCY: Korea Scholar’s Conference for Youth
Aiding Young Minds for Social Innovation
While the above-mentioned students went abroad, another group of social innovators contributed locally through the Korea Scholar’s Conference for Youth. KSCY is funded by the Yonsei Center for Social Innovation, and was held for the eighth time from July 28-29 at the Yonsei International Campus. Established to address the lack of official programs in Korea for teenagers to freely develop, present, and peer-evaluate their research in various fields, the conference hosts more than 1000 participants across four tracks (Research Paper, Research Plan, Mentoring, Camp) and holds eighteen sessions on different topics in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
Ever since the beginning of the past spring semester, the Leadership Team of the organizing committee of KSCY had worked to build a team that would eventually host the conference. The KSCY organizing committee, composed of three groups (Camp Team, Conference Team, and Management Support Team), worked through many sleepless nights to host a successful conference.
Members of the organizing committee showed as much passion as the teenage participants about the conference’s role in fostering innovation and creativity in young minds. Da Hyun Huh (JCL ‘15), a member of the KSCY organizing committee, stated: “We put in so much time and effort over two days and were exhausted from time to time, but it was an experience that brought hope—that an organization of college students, a group formed of individuals who might not seem like much in our society, can make something to help so many teenagers come one step closer to their dreams.”
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