From August 12- 14, 2012 the first China Japan Korea Youth Corporate Social Responsibility Conference (hereinafter as First CJK Y-CSR Conference) was held by the United Nations Global Compact(UNGC) Korea Network. It was hosted in Seoul, Korea. As a delegate from the Center for International Business Ethics at the University of International Business and Economics, it was my great honor to be one of nine Chinese representatives to take part in the CSR project.

 

On the evening of August 11, more than 30 young students from China, Japan, and Korea gathered in Sejong Univeristy in Seoul, Korea. After meeting with each other, the group divided and went to various presentations for our assigned topic. There were three groups and in each we discussed the given topic in depth and gave a presentation to the other groups. Take my own team for example. Our topic was the innovation of social enterprises and the way to move forward. We started with the concept of social enterprises and moved through their history and current problems. We ended with suggestions moving forward. We argued about the precise definition of social enterprises, the content and way to present, and we were surprised by the promotion of social enterprises policies carried out by the Korean government. I was excited about the ideas and insights people shared of different backgrounds. Our discussion went until 2 AM, before we began to prepare the Power Point.

 

On the morning of Aug. 13, the Y-CSR Conference officially opened. Seunghan Lee, the president of UNGC KOREA NETWORK welcomed all the participants. Then speakers from Kyunghee University and HOME PLUS gave wonderful speeches on GLOBAL LANDSCAPE OF CSR and CSR THROUGH TRILATERAL EXCHANGES, from which we gained a much deeper understanding of CSR and the significant role of youth in the development of Asian Economy, sustainability, and CSR practice. UNGC Korea Network took the lead to establish Y-CSR Conference, which aimed at promoting communication among youth from China, Japan and Korea, and encouraging them to make positive contributions to CSR development. During the group discussion, I fully understood the importance of interaction among young generations from the three countries, not only in sharing information, but also in leading the society as a whole.

 

On the morning of Aug. 14, the second day of the conference, an awards ceremony was held for the CSR Strategy Proposal & Thesis Competition. Over 1,000 Korean students were involved. We listened to a speech by Korea Network Secretary General Chulki Ju, official from United Nations, as well as speeches on Meaning of CSR & Direction to move forward and Creating Corporate Value Through Creative CSR Management given by other professors. Several young Korean leaders shared their experience in CSR and how to build ethical ecosystem of economy, which reminded us about the social responsibility that youth shoulder. Their presentation motivated us to take action.

 

In the afternoon, students from three countries gave presentations on Role of Students In CSR Promotion. As the Chinese presenter, I understood the social obligations of students were consistent with those of enterprises. I described the new image of Chinese university students and their role promoting CSR by sharing my own practice experience, as well as suggestions given by Chinese representatives through the Fifth CSR Essay Competition. Kana Aoki and Yurika Goto, presenters from Japan, presented that students are catalysts for change and stakeholders of CSR. Juhyun Cha and Yuha Jin, presenters from Korea, thought Korean students were executives of CSR and pioneers of a social economy, and further stressed that it was of great value to train proactive leaders.

 

I learned a lot of valuable insights from the First CJK Y-CSR Conference. Although, most importantly, I will treasure the friendships I made with representatives from Japan and Korea.