PGD Session 2-3
Session Theme: Dialogue: Building Practical Collaborations Maximizing the Strength of Asian Social Enterprise: Overcoming Social Exclusion in Rural Areas with Social Entrepreneurship and Solidarity Economy
Session Time: 9:00~11:30, Nov. 30
“Farming Areas are Aging and even being Isolated in University Research.”
In the 2nd Asian Social Entrepreneurs Summit (ASES) held on 30th, the Director General of the Korean Society for Research on Sustainable Agriculture, Food, and Environment Young-Geun Kwon who presided over the Rural Economy Group Discussion, started the discussion about rural areas overcoming constant social exclusion.
The first speaker of the session Jung-Hoon Seo, CEO of Kong-Se-Al, highlighted that “Only when agriculture becomes a Developed Nation-type sixth industry, then can the rural areas and the agricultural industry be revived in society and becomes a future growth engine”. He also stated that “By producing, refining, and distributing agricultural products of Gangwha region, Kong-Se-Al aims at supporting sustainable farming of local people, creating new jobs and contributing to revitalization of the area.”
Ooe Tadaaki, is President of “Commons Publishing Company”, which is a new form of publishing company that covers environment, Asia, agriculture and food as subjects; and delivers easy and high-quality messages helping readers to look back upon their own lives. He introduced some eye-catching case studies of people who are deeply attached to local community, utilize natural, environmental, and human resources for making a vibrant community. These cases existed despite the reality of high economic growth impoverishing island regions’ local economy, and a serious aging phenomenon in agriculture, forestry, and the fishing industries.
Bambang Ismawan, Chairman, Self Reliance Development Foundation (Bina Swadaya), brought up the problems of the gap between city and rural area and sexual discrimination by saying “Many Asian countries are still having city-centered and man-centered mindset. Poverty is a deep-rooted problem in rural areas. Women’s role in social development is also a subject that should be seriously dealt with.”
He also highlighted that “Rural development paradigm needs transition to more constructive ways, especially in the socio-economic field, by developing people’s potential and concern for meeting their basic needs.”
The last speaker Sonehara Hisashi, the representative Director, NPO Egao Tsunagete, emphasized that “By having contracts of human interchange between cities and rural villages we should build our societies so that people of each side can enjoy equally, the bountiful life.”
