At last, the second "Korea Social Value Fest" (hereafter "Fest") has begun. Held at COEX in Seoul for two days, August 25 and 26, the Fest offers an abundant program under the theme "Designing the Sustainable Future" — booths of some 170 participating organizations, and presentation and discussion sessions bringing together government, companies, and academia. When you're pondering how to navigate the Fest venue, refer to the booths that ESG.ONL toured and recommends in person.
[Locolor market booth, a social-venture company strengthening regional mutual prosperity © ESG.ONL]
① Path of Cooperation — Strengthening Regional Mutual Prosperity: Locolor
The "Locolor" booth, with its familiar yet cute character visuals, makes passersby stop in their tracks. Locolor, which created popular regional characters such as Daejeon Metropolitan City's "Kkumdori" and Suwon Special City's "Suwoni," is a social-venture company that develops products and content using regional resources. Containing, as its name suggests, the meaning of "adding color to the local," it builds brands that convey the charm of a particular region and returns part of its profits, creating a virtuous cycle of growing together with the region.
[Equal Table, which offers "low-carbon coffee" © ESG.ONL]
② Path of Cooperation — Overcoming the Climate Crisis: Equal Table
About 15 kg of carbon dioxide is emitted per 1 kg of coffee beans? Equal Table's "Tomorrow's Coffee" booth showed the connection between coffee and carbon emissions intuitively. Collaborating with an outside environmental-assessment specialist institution, they precisely measured the carbon footprint via LCA and presented "Low Carbon Coffee," which systematically reduces carbon emissions across the entire process from production to packaging. This coffee, which you can also taste at the booth, is said to be grown at carbon-neutral-certified farms using organic fertilizer and renewable energy while reducing water use as much as possible. At the booth, the carbon figure that one cup of Tomorrow's Coffee reduces is visualized so that the actual carbon-reduction effect can be easily understood, and companies such as hotels actually use Equal Table's coffee and use the coffee-consumption data in their sustainability management reports.
[Green Oceans' eco-friendly resource-conversion products from oyster shells © ESG.ONL]
③ Path of Cooperation — Promoting Natural Circulation: Green Oceans
Korea is the world's second-largest oyster producer. In particular, Tongyeong alone is said to produce 80% of the oysters produced in Korea. But behind this hides a serious environmental problem. Of the annual oyster production of 350,000 tons, a full 310,000 tons of shells come out as waste in order to obtain 40,000 tons of oysters. There is a startup that noticed the situation in which, this problem unresolved for the past 20 years, more than 1 million tons of accumulated oyster shells are now being dumped into the East Sea — the company called Green Oceans. Green Oceans, noticing calcium carbonate, the main component of oyster shells, is developing various eco-friendly upcycling products, from art-education supplies to plastic fillers, reusable containers, construction boards, and artificial leather.
[The Happiness Alliance's "Happiness Photo Studio" booth © ESG.ONL]
④ Path of Future Generations — Happiness Alliance: Happiness Photo Studio
As hot as the interest gathered at the Fest venue, there were also booths where visitors lined up waiting to enter. The Happiness Alliance booth was one of them. The Happiness Alliance, operated by SK Happynarae, offers various campaign programs with the goal of providing a social safety net for children. When you enter the Happiness Photo Studio booth following the docent's guidance, you can accompany the journey of a child growing together with the Happiness Alliance. Through video viewing and hands-on programs, you can experience the companionship with the Happiness Alliance, which approaches children in difficulty and helps them with a healthy meal and everyday life, extending beyond simple growth to self-reliance. Fitting the concept of a photo studio, you can also take a commemorative photo together. As you move along the route, the information about the Happiness Alliance's services, which you naturally become familiar with, is a bonus.
[Products that Peace Hana provides in cooperation with local communities © ESG.ONL]
⑤ Path of Cooperation — Overcoming the Climate Crisis: Peace Hana
Agricultural products discarded for lack of marketability — must they really just be thrown away? Peace Hana is an upcycling innovation company that creates fragrances and functional products that enrich daily life, using as raw material agricultural products whose value went unrecognized due to prejudice over appearance or falling short of specifications. From aroma oils to functional bio products, it makes eco-friendly products usable in daily life. Peace Hana aims at realizing a sustainable circular ecosystem that goes beyond mere product manufacturing. It gives resources on the brink of disposal a new reason for existence, and through mutually beneficial partnerships with local agricultural communities, simultaneously realizes the dual values of environmental conservation and local-economy vitality.
[The Social Solidarity Bank booth and finance Jenga © ESG.ONL]
⑥ Path of Cooperation — A World We Make Together: Social Solidarity Bank
Social Solidarity Bank proposes solving social problems based on social finance. It provides problem-solving measures — from emergency-fund support to financial solutions and financial education — so that financially vulnerable groups such as youth preparing for self-reliance, low-income or low-credit people, and small business owners can achieve financial self-reliance. At the Social Solidarity Bank booth, which creates a virtuous cycle in which such support helps vulnerable groups find stability and contribute to our economic life, you can check and build knowledge about social finance through activities, and experience a Jenga game that teaches how to manage your credit score. Experience vicariously, at Social Solidarity Bank, the virtuous-cycle loop that runs from sponsorship to support for vulnerable groups and on to their self-reliance.
by Editor L