Title:
International Symposium
Japan-Europe Cooperation on Social Firms

Date: Sunday, January 30, 2011 10:00 - 16:30
Venue: Nadao Hall, Japan National Council of Social Welfare (Zenshakyo)
3-3-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Organized by the Japan Foundation
In cooperation with Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD)

For more information and registration, please visit the Japan Foundation website http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/intel/new/1012/12-01.html

[Theme]
With the development of information technology, the diffusion of the concept of accessibility, and the effectuation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the environment for promoting social participation of persons with disabilities has been improved. Under such circumstance, social firms are now attracting attentions as a new approach to employ persons with disabilities that crosses over the existing social welfare. Social firms are one type of social enterprise that engage in the general market while aiming at hiring persons with disabilities and disadvantages in the labor market. Social firms are growing in countries around the world; in Japan, the Social Firm Japan has been established and new approaches for promoting employment of persons with disabilities are being implemented.

In this symposium, experts from European countries will be invited to discuss with Japanese experts strategies and the potentials for Japan-Europe cooperation for the development of social firms, based on experiences in each country and the results of field research in Japan.

[Keynote Speech] "Toward Development of Social Firms in Japan"
Mr. Shigeru Sumitani, President, Social Welfare Organization Saiseikai Imperial Gift Foundation, Inc.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Social Firm Japan Former Administrative Vice Minister, Ministry of the Environment

[Panelists from Europe]
Marjatta Varanka (Finland), Managing Director, VATES Foundation Pernilla Svebo Lindgren (Sweden), CEO of Vagen ut! kooperativen
Lars Rene Petersen (Denmark),Managing Director at the Danish Center for Social Economy Sally Reynolds (United Kingdom), Chief Executive of Social Firms UK Gerold Schwarz (Germany / Serbia), Coordinator of joint program between MDG (Millennium Development Goals) Achievement Fund and the Serbian Government

[Panelists from Japan]
Yasuhiro Oyama (Chairman, Nihon Rikagaku Industry) Akira Terashima (Dean/Professor, Faculty of Child Study, Urawa University) Nozomu Miyajima (Director of Kyodogakusha Shintoku Firm, Vice-president of Kyodogakusha) Yoko Ueno (Professor, Director of Department of Psychology and Education, Faculty of Humanities, Tokyo Kasei University)