<h1>Not Alone, But Together: The Evolving Power of Collaboration Through Networks</h1>

I attended the "2025 Collective Impact Creation Forum" at this year’s Social Value Festa. The photo shows the scene at the event.(Photo by Milly)

On August 25–26, the 2nd Korea Social Value Festa was held at COEX in Seoul, featuring various sessions. Among them, I attended the “2025 Collective Impact Creation Forum” session, which presented why collaboration is important for social economy and social innovation enterprises. In today’s post, I will review what I learned from this session.

 

“Collaboration” is a keyword I have emphasized multiple times on my blog. Climate crisis, low birth rate and aging population, regional extinction, and growing inequality are just some of the social problems that need to be addressed, and individual companies or organizations cannot fully tackle them alone. Therefore, in recent years, Korea’s social economy, social innovation, and social impact sectors have emphasized “collective impact,” and many discussions are held on how to implement it effectively.

 

At the recent Social Value Festa, there was also a discussion on strategies to expand collective impact. Among them, the 2025 Collective Impact Creation Forum I attended was held under the theme “Network Entrepreneurship for the Evolution of Collaboration.”

 

⭐Network Entrepreneurship
The entrepreneurial spirit in which multiple actors form networks to collaborate and create innovation

 

The Most Important Thing for Collaboration: Networks

 

To achieve effective collective impact, networks must first be established. The speaker explained that networks connect “A” and “B” to solve social problems and release powerful energy that can transform local communities. For example, when the cultural and artistic sector combines with various fields such as urban regeneration and the social economy, and a certain budget is invested, the value of culture and art transforms from purely artistic value to social value. This is why network entrepreneurship needs to be utilized and exercised.

 

The speaker continued, emphasizing that to build a network, it is important to know who you should be connected with and who should be connected to whom. Network entrepreneurs mainly connect people, spread this power to society, support local community ecosystems, and ultimately enable greater social change.

 

Various forms of collaborative networks are being created to support this. During the session, there was a presentation on the Social Value CSR Alliance. The Social Value CSR Alliance was established to serve as a key actor in solving social problems, bringing together public and private organizations, including the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, that work to expand social value.

 

Although not a speaker that day, the “Impact Alliance,” a representative coalition in the social innovation sector, actively operates with social ventures, social enterprises, nonprofits, impact investors, and growth support organizations to address social and environmental issues.

 

I attended the "2025 Collective Impact Creation Forum" at this year’s Social Value Festa. The photo shows the scene at the event.(Photo by Milly)

Collaboration Itself Can Become Innovation

 

In the social innovation field, collaboration has become a necessary trend. Collaboration can generate greater power than expected, which positively transforms society. Yet, many organizations still operate separately. I think this is because the method of creating value through collaboration has not yet fully taken root in society.

 

This issue is not limited to Korea. Globally, transitioning from competition to collaboration is an important task. I feel that for social innovation to expand further, organizations and companies must not just walk side by side but find ways to move forward together.

 

I will continue to write about collective impact and collaboration on my blog. Soon, I plan to meet with relevant stakeholders to learn more about the situation in Korea and share the insights here.