How can we better collaborate on social issues?
By Florentyna Leow
How do you solve social issues? What is the best way to collaborate across industries and sectors to tackle them? Are there differences in how cross-collaboration takes place inside and outside Japan?
These are questions without straightforward answers. But these are the issues worth exploring for anyone who wants to dive into tackling social issues and actually make an effective impact. That’s why we held a meetup at Shibaura House on 17 February 2019.
We invited Kenji and Lisa Hosokawa, founders of Third Space Tokyo, to talk about their Japan-specific and international experience in collaborative efforts to solve social issues. Bringing together 40 people from a variety of industries and backgrounds, this two-hour event saw illuminating insights from our presenters as well as plenty of lively discussion from our guests.
Social Issues vs. Social Problems.
Lisa kicked off the event with a few terms and phrases commonly seen in the social sector, encouraging us to keep these in mind throughout the next two hours.
One especially thought-provoking notion was the use of ‘social issues’ instead of ‘social problems.’
If there’s a problem, there’s a solution — but reality isn’t so straightforward most of the time. Reframing ‘problems’ as ‘issues’ allows us to see them as complex challenges, and therefore adopt a more nuanced approach from the start.
Venture Philanthropy and the Japanese Social Sector
Following Lisa’s opening remarks, Kenji talked us through his work in venture philanthropy with Social Venture Partners (SVP) Tokyo. It was a fascinating insight into philanthropy spaces both in the States and in Japan.
For instance, he outlined how investors at SVP Tokyo work with NPOs in a collaborative, ‘side-by-side’ capacity, rather than the more traditional ‘top-down’ hierarchical relationship you see in philanthropy spaces in the States.
His closing thoughts on the Japanese social sector were especially interesting.
- Money is not an issue — at least in Tokyo. Whether it’s from angels or Venture Capitalists, there’s no shortage of capital floating around. It could even come from dormant bank accounts holding money adding up to trillions of yen. But without initiatives that scale, or have a useful impact, having surplus capital doesn’t mean much.
- There’s a leadership deficit. Collaboration alone doesn’t get things done: organisations need effective leadership to focus their resources and make good decisions.
- Insularity. The Japanese social sector can be quite self-contained — language barriers are part of it — and bridging the domestic and international scenes would help bring about better collaborations overall.
Group Discussions
After Kenji’s presentation, participants split into different groups for discussions themed around various social issues, such as gender in the workplace, environment, education, technology and Corporate Social Responsibility.
These are a few of the themes and insights that cropped up during the discussion:
1. The Importance of Leadership and Capacity-Building
Good intentions are all very well, but that doesn’t lead to effective outcomes. It’s like asking someone to build a house without any tools. To begin tackling social issues, you need to first have people capable of addressing them in the first place.
So, to do effective work in the social sector, stressed Kenji and Lisa, it helps to have other skills and background experience to bring to the table.
Just like any other industry or business, you have to ask the practical questions: Can NPOs and NGOs make full and effective use of money received? Are they staffed by those with enough experience in running organisations? Are their leaders able to make effective decisions? Are these efforts financially sustainable in the longer term?
Sustaining an initiative once it’s begun is even more important. Take education, for example — “schools are hard to die,” noted an audience member, meaning that there’s a real responsibility to the community to continue keeping a school open once you open one.
2. Impact: Why, How, Etc.
Wanting to make an ‘impact’ is just the start. It’s crucial for anyone wanting to tackle social issues to consider the kinds of impact they want to have, the scale of it, and why.
In other words, service and advocacy should always take precedence. Making an impact is ultimately not about “fancy terms” like “capacity-building” and “venture philanthropy,” but about the work done and effects felt at the grassroots.
3. Working Under Capitalism: Creating Win-Win Situations for All Stakeholders
Most social issues aren’t solved by a single organisation. Usually, it will take a whole web of stakeholders to solve a problem. Every one of them will have different interests, so engaging everyone and helping their interests align will be challenging. But it’s a much more effective way to generate real impact.
One of the best ways to solve a social issue under capitalism is to leverage economic self-interest. Or in other words, make it profitable to do so. It’s just good business sense!
4. Safeguarding vs. Innovation; Stewardship vs. Disruption
One group brought up another oft-forgotten idea when it comes to tackling social issues: how important it is to safeguard what already exists. This can include things like cultural heritage and linguistic diversity.
Innovation in the name of solving a social issue can sometimes leave existing communities behind. Sometimes it happens when their needs aren’t taken into consideration, or when innovation takes place too quickly.
Achieving social impact, they noted, should not come at the cost of communities or culture. Any endeavours tackling social challenges must include and work with the relevant communities to create effective, sustainable, and long-term impact.
Further reading and listening
- Creating High-Impact Nonprofits (Stanford Social Innovation Review) Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie R. Crutchfield examine the practices of effective and successful NPOs. A comprehensive and illuminating overview of the ingredients behind large-scale social change.
- Choosing impact over location: the myth of the “global health gamble” (PH Spot). Lawrence Loh offers useful counsel and career advice on how one can best make an impact in the long-term. The subject is public health, but is entirely applicable to any areas and social challenges.
- Which jobs help people the most? (80,000 hours). Making an impact isn’t limited to just working at NPOs. Benjamin Todd outlines four ways you can use your career to tackle social problems you want to work on.
About Florentyna Leow
Florentyna Leow is a writer and photographer based in Tokyo. Things she shoots/writes about include food, travel, travel-in-Japan, books, walking, plants, places. Her newsletter is called the adventures of furochan, and you can find her on Instagram here.
About Social Innovation Japan
Social Innovation Japan is a platform for social change. We organise events, workshops, and programs for people to learn, connect and take action on some of today’s most pressing challenges. Together, we are building a movement for social good from Japan, with the rest of the world. Find out more here.
