Activities

The SBRC actively promotes collaboration with businesses, collaboration with universities, collaboration with government.

The SBRC hosted a forum open to businesses and the general public in Fukuoka City, the first “Social Business City” in Asia, with the aim of advancing the social business movement championed by Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Social Business Forum Asia (SBFA) 2018 Spring was held in Fukuoka City, the first Social Business City in Asia. Co-hosted by Fukuoka City and the SBRC, the forum aimed at raising awareness among governments, businesses, and citizens about social business based on social problem-solving models presented by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

The forum took place at Fukuoka Growth Next, a start-up support facility in Fukuoka City. Panel I discussed the theme of “From Fukuoka to the World – Social Business Start-up” to explore the possibility of utilizing business to solve social problems. The panelists included representatives from NTT, which collaborates with the Kyushu University SBRC to promote Yunus Social Business and create new businesses; Borderless Japan, a Fukuoka-based company that provides a platform for social entrepreneurs across the world; and Human Harbor, the first Japanese social business company certified by Yunus Social Business Company.

In the following Panel II discussion on the theme of “Collaborative Goal of Yunus Centers – Yunus Social Business Design Contest Asia-Pacific,” the Yunus Centers at three universities in Thailand, Taiwan, and Australia, along with an NPO supporting youth activities in Malaysia, introduced their past activities and future initiatives. The panel also discussed a joint project to organize a business contest covering the whole of Asia and held a signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding for collaboration.

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As part of the Yunus Center Asia-Pacific Joint Project, the winning teams of social business contests in Thailand, Taiwan, and Malaysia, and the YY Contest SBFA Award winner in Japan, gathered to present their projects, in addition to a panel discussion with experts from the four participating countries.

The YY Contest Asia-Pacific was held as part of the Yunus Center Asia-Pacific Joint Project at Hosei University Satta Hall on October 27, 2018. Among the participants were the winning teams of social business contests hosted by Yunus Center AIT (Asian Institute of Technology) in Thailand, Yunus Social Business Center at National Central University in Taiwan, the non-government and not-for-profit organization myHarapan in Malaysia, and Sukiya Ltd., the winner of the YY Contest SBFA Award in Japan. They all successfully delivered their prize-winning presentations, as if competing in an Asian version of the YY Contest.

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion on the theme of “Yunus Social Business Network in Asia,” moderated by Kennosuke Tanaka, Professor at the Hosei University Faculty of Lifelong Learning and Career Studies. The panelists consisting of Jutiwat Sangiamsakdikorn, National Program Liaison Manager at the Yunus Center Asian Institute of Technology, Dr. Chien-wen Mark Shen, Director of the Yunus Social Business Center at National Central University in Taiwan, Nurfarini Daing, Chief Executive Officer of myHarapan in Malaysia, and Masaharu Okada, Professor and Executive Director at the Kyushu University SBRC, shared their past activities and future projects.

The SBRC actively promotes collaboration with businesses highly interested in social business.

In December 2017, NTT West and the Kyushu University SBRC signed a memorandum of understanding for an industry-academia partnership aimed at solving social problems by promoting research projects and other initiatives related to social business. NTT West is committed to building a better society through various activities, such as utilizing its information and communications technology (ICT) to offer “Smart Hikari (fiber-optic) Solutions” to social problems, promoting alliances with a wide variety of partners, and implementing open innovation.

NTT West and Kyushu University share their initiatives and promote industry-academia collaboration to create new businesses, with the aim of further contributing to solving social problems. They also cooperate in organizing social business contests, events, and workshops.

Established in March 2007, Borderless Japan Corporation aims to change the world through social business and promotes Borderless Group businesses at home and abroad to provide business solutions to social problems, including discrimination and prejudice, poverty, and environmental issues.

Certified by Yunus Social Business Company in March 2018, Borderless Japan signed an industry-academia partnership agreement with the Kyushu University SBRC, and collaborates in promoting Yunus Social Business and producing new social business entrepreneurs.