Inside Korea’s Social Impact

  In a previous blog post, I introduced a learning group that I participate in called Social Peer Learning (SPL). We had another SPL meeting on February 28, and in this post I would like to share some of the key ideas discussed during that session.   👉Read related articles A Monthly “Social Peer Learning” Gathering: A Learning Community I Am Part Of The topic of the session was “Corporate Social Responsibility and the Social and Solidarity Economy.” We discussed why corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are important for the social impact sector.   🌞The Situation of Social Impact Organizations in Korea   What distinguishes social impact organizations from conventional businesses is that their primary goal is to address social problems. Because of this mission-driven nature, many social impact organizations tend to be relatively small and often face limitations in terms of resources.   As a result, questions about long-term sustainability...

  Cooperatives are organizations formed by their members. Naturally, they operate on the principles of solidarity and cooperation among members while engaging in market activities and addressing social problems. However, although they take the form of cooperatives, many operate similarly to small social economy enterprises. Because of this, individual cooperatives often face limitations in terms of market influence.   For this reason, the importance of cooperation between cooperatives has been increasingly emphasized in Korea. When cooperatives collaborate, they can carry out joint projects, organize collective purchasing, and respond more effectively to policy issues. Through such cooperation, cooperatives can gradually grow and strengthen their impact.   Scene from the Vision Declaration Ceremony of the Inter-Sectoral Cooperative Federation for People with Developmental Disabilities, founded in 2023.(Photo by Milly)  👉In the Past, Institutional Barriers Li...

  Korea may be a society where experiences of solidarity and cooperation run especially deep. For generations, people have relied on one another, solved problems together, and met shared needs through collective effort.   I believe this spirit lives on in Korea’s cultural memory. And today, it reappears in what we call the social and solidarity economy.   In this article, I explore how Korea’s long tradition of cooperation has evolved into its modern social and solidarity economy.   Is the Social and Solidarity Economy a Foreign Concept in Korea?   When I first began working as a journalist covering social impact, I had a question: Is the social and solidarity economy — cooperatives, social enterprises, community enterprises, self-reliance enterprises, and social ventures — an imported idea?   In its early development, many explained that the model was inspired by European examples and later adapted to fit the Korean context.   ...