Personal review of SEWF2017
Personal Review of Social Enterprise World Forum 2017,Christchurch NZ
This was re-uploaded from my previous Medium series. I made small grammarthical change, keep the contents the same as October 1, 2017. I think think the 2017 event was one of my most favorite of all events I’ve attended offline. I hope those joys could come back.
SEWF2017 happened for 3 days of the main program and several axillary programs attached to the main event, which evoked thoughts and actions. There are diverse sessions; ‘Plenary sessions’ leading a wide range of participants to envision the thoughts of social entrepreneurship, ‘mini plenaries and participative sessions’ intriguing field experts and related students with specific topics worth considering in the field, and ‘workshops’ for practitioners and social entrepreneurs who seek the way of better knowledge and skills to develop their businesses. The main theme of the SEWF2017 was ‘Creating our tomorrow’, and this could be sought from the discussions which covered common value and shared impact of social enterprises, community-led initiatives, technology innovation, impact investment, and people’s passion for solving social problems.
During the opening session, the mayor of Christchurch gave us a speech that insisting Christchurch is the city of people’s republic. She also emphasized that what society values most was changed after the earthquake in 2011. Christchurch people have started to consider what the most important is in their lives. The answer was valuing individuals more and investing for the future.
I took most of the plenary sessions, and smaller sessions aligned with social impact investing and its measuring when time allowed. There were plenary and participative sessions for learning social impact investment and its measurement, as well as meeting the people in the social investment field at investment breakfast and social ventures’ pitching Olympic. The main sessions were enough to stimulate thoughts of the future of social entrepreneurship and find the directions to move and mobilize resources as practitioners in the field. Smaller sessions were good for the SE field practitioners or students who would like to taste the subjects in their hands.
Also, there were opportunities for policymakers and government officers to share their SE strategies and learn from each other’s country under the name of the ‘Policy Dialogue’ organized by the British Council (by invitation). It seems quite an efficient method to reflect each SE strategy for developing a better ecosystem of social enterprises. During the dialogue, I felt proud that JAVARA, Tohe, and Sapa O’chau which — are partners of Smile Together Partnership of the Work Together Foundation — were mentioned by the ministers from their home countries as one of the representative social enterprises in those countries.
In organizing the event, it was great that the SEWF2017 itself showed the effort to reduce environmental harms by replacing plastic bottles with reusable ones, using secondhand papers for notes, and making no placards and coated shiny posters and name badges. Most of the communications were done by the application designed for the SEWF2017 which was efficient with free Wi-Fi internet excess, and there were lunches using paper boxes and wooden forks. They even asked me not to get a new lovely eco bag (conference bag) if I can bring one from home.
For the last, the SEWF2017 showed inclusiveness and equality in reality. I could see lots of participants who could come with bursaries which the Akina Foundation(SEWF2017 host) channeled and the private companies and government agencies sponsored. The fundees were passionate students in SEs or enthusiastic field practitioners, I could feel that they were so satisfied with attending the forum and passionate about networking with others during the forum. I am sure that this will bring positive energy to each of them and the forum itself.
The closing ceremony was also very much impressive. Alex, CEO from the Akina Foundation brought all the staff on the stage and appreciated their efforts, and gave Helene (the director of the event organizing) a warm hug with a big bunch of flowers on the stage, while every audience stood up from their seats and give big applauds to the people on the stage.
This mood continues to the handover ceremony for SEWF2018 host. Initiated by the minister of the Scottish government, the SEWF2018 event promotion was done by all the stakeholders from the UK and Scotland, who will welcome us in Edinburgh, Scotland from the 12th to the 15th of September. The sequence of the whole closing event doesn’t follow the power or hierarchy of the people but the relevance to the events. The current host(Akina Foundation) and the future host(CEIS) got the spotlight that they deserve, considering their devotion and contribution to organizing the events. I sat in the middle of the Isacc theatre, the event venue and I could see a minister of Pacific peoples from New Zealand, who was sitting and enjoying the whole ceremony like anonymous audiences. I believe this is the value we valued through the whole event, equality, and empathy among people.
My first experience of SEWF was SEWF2011 in Johannesburg, Africa. I didn’t attend every event after that, but could see the ups and downs closely. SEWF2017 was four full days of joy. I had the board meeting of SEWF CIC prior to the Forum, supporting Prof. Jaegu Kim, a new board member of the CIC from Work Together Foundation Korea. I say the SEWF2017 was one of the successful SEWF events, and makes me expect the SEWF2018 in Scotland already. Thank you to SEWF2017 organizers, SEWF CIC, and the participants who were with me.
The rest of the forum contents will be shared with my colleague in Korea in Korean. Contact me, if you are interested in sharing information.
By Marie Myung-Hee Lee on October 1, 2017.
Exported from Medium on March 28, 2021.
#socialenterpriseworldforum #sewf2017 #christchurch #socialenterprise