Funded by the European Commission and coordinated by Glasgow Caledonian University, the Southeast Asian Social Innovation Network (SEASIN) project aims to develop a network of universities that will help support its goals of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth, social cohesion, and equity in Southeast Asia through intercultural, curricular, and extracurricular activities. Launched in 2016, the project currently partners with four Southeast Asian countries—Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Malaysia—and involves 15 partners, which include 11 universities and four social innovation partners in seven countries across Asia and Europe.

Business for Good in East Asia

This collection of articles, sponsored by the Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation, delves into the cross-sector collaborations driving the latest social and environmental innovations throughout East Asia, including China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.

Collaborating with local universities is the first step to better understanding how higher education institutions may support social impact in the communities surrounding them. With this knowledge, SEASIN established Social Innovation Support Units (SISU) at universities in Myanmar (Cooperative University, Thanlyin, and Yangon University of Economics), Thailand (Kasetsart University and Thammasat University), Cambodia (National University of Management and the Royal University of Phnom Penh), and Malaysia (Universiti Teknologi MARA and Sunway University).

Through these partnerships, SEASIN promotes and supports university-social enterprise cooperation, social entrepreneurship, and graduate employability with an emphasis on social innovation projects, incubation, and training. The units aim to achieve these goals through a range of learning and teaching tools, from the development of postgraduate programs to creating virtual spaces for sharing best social innovation practices and learning outcomes.

While the SISUs instituted by the eight Southeast Asian universities in SEASIN share an overall aim to support social innovation, generate impact, and demonstrate the value of social innovation to policy makers, each university’s focus is dependent on and adapted to local priorities and reflects the characteristics of the universities themselves, their contexts, and current and potential user needs. For instance, the Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, spotlights impactful social innovation projects, while the National University of Management, Cambodia, provides space and resources, and Kasetsart University, Thailand, fosters research and impact measurement.

As more universities become aware and committed to their role in social innovation, increasing importance is placed on what the education system can and should do to break down barriers to social innovation and become powerful forces for impact.

For more information on the project, visit www.seasin-eu.org. 

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Read more stories by Carolyn McMillan & Mark Anderson.