The Beautiful Foundation’s Center on Philanthropy participated in the 2025 ISTR (International Society for Third Sector Research) Asia Pacific Regional Conference held in Cebu, Philippines from April 23-25. This conference, themed “Civil Society’s Role in Sustainability – Social, Economic Development, and the Environment,” explored how civil society can contribute to sustainable social and economic development and environmental protection through diverse perspectives and experiences. Scholars and practitioners from across the Asia-Pacific region gathered to present and discuss various issues including community-based problem solving, inclusive development, and environmental protection. We were also able to witness firsthand how civil society practices are changing and evolving. Click on each title below to view the summary reports.

DAY 1

Session A

1. A systematic review of the program strategies and their effectiveness in the nonprofit sector: Forecasting future trends in global aid (Comfort Ninson)

• Purpose: Systematically review program strategies and effectiveness in the nonprofit sector and predict future directions of global aid
• Methodology: Systematic literature review using PRISMA model across 70+ databases
• Key Content:
  • Derived effective strategy elements through comparison of success and failure cases
  • Particularly focused on nonprofit strategies post-COVID
• Significance: Provides theoretical and practical foundation for designing sustainable aid in the future

2. The Role of NGOs in Sustainability Managing Common Pool Resources and Empowering Communities in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (Amir Sohel and Farhat Naz)

• Purpose: Emphasize the role of NGOs in sustainable management of common pool resources and community empowerment in India’s Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR)
• Methodology: One-year field research and in-depth interviews
• Key Content:
  • Providing alternative livelihoods: Aquaculture, beekeeping, livestock, climate-smart agriculture to reduce dependence on natural resources
  • Women’s empowerment: Women-led mangrove restoration activities combining traditional knowledge with scientific technology
  • Accountability and participation: Community participation in resource management and promotion of sustainable harvesting
• Significance: Contributes to achieving SDG 1 (Poverty), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 13 (Climate Action)

3. Exploring the sustainability interventions of international aid program: Western-based perspective (Comfort Ninson, Emmanuel Oke and Kristina Jaskyte)

• Purpose: Bridge the gap between theory and practice through analysis of sustainability intervention cases in international aid programs
• Methodology: Qualitative multiple case study approach based on Brundtland Report and institutionalization theory
• Key Content:
  • Case organizations demonstrate high integration and comprehensiveness in strategies with multi-layered implementation approaches
  • Confirmed differentiation from conventional general intervention methods
• Significance: Provides practical insights for NGOs to consider when designing sustainable interventions

Session B

Panel Session: Local Civil Societies in Global Comparison

Five presentations covered Nepal, Thailand, Japan, multinational comparative studies, and an Asian nonprofit research resource mapping project, each addressing the development processes and current challenges faced by civil societies in different countries and regions.

Civil Society in Nepal: Historical Trajectories and Contemporary Challenges (Dipendra K.C.)

• Analyzed historical transformation of Nepalese civil society over 100+ years divided into 6 stages
• Traced evolution from traditional community structures (pre-1900) to modern NGOs
• Early stage (1900-1960): Centered on political activities and democratic aspirations
• Opening stage (1960-1990): Transition to charitable activities and human rights advocacy
• ‘Associational Revolution’ stage (1990-2006): Strengthened state-civil society partnerships
• Identity-centered period (2006-2014)
• Current legitimacy crisis stage (2015-present): Shift toward service provision focus
• Highlighted dynamic relationship where state-civil society relations changed from adversarial to cooperative

Building sustainable communities in Thailand: CODI’s model of people-driven development (Piyasuda Pangsapa)

• CODI (Community Organizations Development Institute) established in 2000 through merger of two community development funds
• Paradigm shift in state-civil society relations by positioning local citizens as protagonists of community development
• Rapid growth from 950 community savings groups in 2000 to over 78,000 in 2007
• Provided cumulative housing loans of 8.9 billion baht, benefiting over 410,000 households by 2023
• Success factors: Thailand experienced the most coups in Asia in early 1990s, spurring community formation; bottom-up, decentralized approach further promoted inclusive development

Civil Society in Japan (Akinobu Ogawa)

• Analyzed difficulties faced by Japan’s nonprofit sector 30 years after NPO law implementation
• Japan’s nonprofit organization growth rate remained low compared to other Asian countries
• Attributed declining NPO registrations to regulatory reforms allowing nonprofit organizations to choose new legal establishment paths beyond traditional NPO forms
• Despite different legal structures, tax benefits for donations are similar, and regulations are less stringent for public interest corporations
• Japan’s underdeveloped donation culture compared to the West contributes to deepening government dependence, making donations less significant

A new take on the historical evolution of local civil society organizations (Cristina Balboa)

• Criticized limitations of existing civil society comparative research: Biased toward Northern Hemisphere country data, overlooking diverse experiences of Southern Hemisphere countries, particularly impacts of colonialism and anti-colonial movements
• Attempted decolonial approach through comparative analysis of Brazil, Ghana, Poland, and Nepal
• Currently researching CSO ecosystems and population changes, original conditions, transformations through major turning points, and which CSOs survived and why others didn’t

Asia nonprofit research resource mapping project (Aya Okada)

• Purpose: Research Asian civil society which remains largely unknown due to language barriers
• Challenge: Too many different terms referring to CSOs
• Systematic documentation of academic programs, research associations, region-specific terminology, publications, local databases
• Collection of context-specific knowledge resources through local scholar networks
• Aims for in-depth understanding of nonprofit sector characteristics across Asian societies
• Research ongoing and open for more countries to participate

DAY 2

Session C

The Philippine Community Development Programs Framework as Benchmark for Practices of the UST-AMV College of Accountancy (Ginavee Dapula)

• Purpose: Analyze how the Philippine Community Development Programs Framework is reflected in UST-AMV College of Accountancy practices
• Methodology: Qualitative research using university community development annual reports from 2018-2023
• Key Content:
  • Confirmed framework’s core elements were reflected in university’s community development practices over 5 years
  • Framework application contributed to strengthening university’s service delivery capacity
  • Provided practical guidelines for program sustainability and expansion activity design/evaluation
• Significance: Expanded literature on rural community development programs; highlighted need for diverse capacity-building programs in health, education, employment, and social enterprises

Project-based Learning for What? A case study of nonprofit education in Japan (Yuko Nishide)

• Purpose: Re-examine purposes, content, methods, outcomes, and challenges of nonprofit education through Japanese university project-based learning cases
• Methodology:
  • Case study of nonprofit education program implemented in Japanese university for 15 years
  • Analysis of social value co-creation theory and student competencies (behavior, thinking, teamwork)
• Key Content:
  • Through project-based learning, students strengthened competencies in social problem-solving, initiative, listening, questioning, and teamwork
  • Some students established nonprofits, engaged in social activities, or became researchers after graduation
  • Nonprofit education contributed to cultivating talent spanning research and practice
• Significance:
  • Emphasized importance of university-nonprofit-stakeholder cooperation
  • Practical benefits for all: field problem-solving capacity, organizational awareness and supporter expansion, sustainable ecosystem development

Experiential Philanthropy in China: Qualitative Insights on Student Perceptions of Philanthropic Identity (Lindsey McDougle)

• Purpose: Explore how Chinese university students form philanthropic identity through experiential philanthropy courses
• Methodology:
  • Pre- and post-course surveys of students who took experiential philanthropy courses at Northeast Normal University, China (2016-2018)
  • Identity formation theory and thematic analysis, cross-analysis with demographic factors (gender, major, nonprofit experience, etc.)
• Key Content:
  • Actual participation in fund allocation and group discussions contributed to strengthening students’ social participation and philanthropic identity
  • Before course: limited donation to monetary support; after course: expanded perception to include volunteering, advocacy, skills-based giving
  • Students with nonprofit experience had stronger initial identity but smaller change amplitude
• Significance: Suggests experiential philanthropy education is effective in developing Chinese students’ civic capacity and social participation consciousness

Session D

Asset Measurement for Museums as Corporate Foundations (Masayuki Deguchi, Eliya Onoe)

• Purpose: Review US/Europe-centered foundation typology and analyze characteristics of Japan’s unique corporate museum foundations
• Methodology:
  • Case study of 15 Japanese corporate museum foundations (2021-2023)
  • Comparative analysis with European foundations, compatibility review with IFR4NPO (International Financial Reporting for NPOs) draft
• Key Content:
  • 43% of Japanese corporate museums operate as independent foundations (vs. 12% in US, 27% in Europe)
  • Multiple cases found corporations valuing collections at over 200% of book value when donating to foundations
  • Unlike European industrial foundations, Japanese model focuses on cultural asset management without management rights transfer
  • 73% of artworks processed as intangible assets, causing accounting transparency issues
• Significance:
  • Contributed to establishing new foundation typology reflecting Asian specificities
  • Presented corporate-foundation cooperation model for cultural heritage preservation

Corporate Charitable Giving in the Netherlands: Determinants of corporate charitable giving and socio-sponsorships (Stephanie Koolen, Marlou Ramaekers)

• Purpose:
  • Identify determinants of Dutch corporate charitable giving (39% of total national donations) and social sponsorships
  • Multi-level approach (institutional, organizational, individual levels) to analyze causes of 34% non-participating companies
• Methodology: Survey data from 990 Dutch companies in 2023
• Key Content:
  • Company size and profitability affect donation participation rates
  • Companies with high R&D concentration prefer social sponsorship activities
  • CFO trust in nonprofit organizations significantly influences donation amounts
  • Family-owned companies show 23% higher tendency in donation participation
• Significance:
  • Provides empirical evidence for corporate social responsibility policy development
  • Contributes to developing corporate-nonprofit cooperation strategies for UN SDGs achievement

Corporate Social Responsibility collaborations with Local Government Units during the COVID-19 in the Philippines (Risako Ishii, Erwin A. Alampay)

• Purpose: Analyze impact of Philippine corporate CSR activities on local communities through local government cooperation during pandemic
• Methodology:
  • In-depth interviews with 6 major corporate CSR organizations and 12 local governments in 2023
  • Analysis of vaccine support (45 cases), medical equipment supply (32 cases), isolation facility provision (18 cases)
• Key Content:
  • 89% of responding companies increased CSR budgets by over 200% during pandemic
  • 67% of local government cooperation cases started with corporate-led proposals
  • 82% of medical support activities extended beyond employee residential areas
  • CSR organization cooperation networks increased by 150% (2020 vs 2023)
• Significance:
  • Empirically demonstrated CSR’s disaster response role in developing country contexts
  • Presented public-private cooperation model for achieving SDG 17 (Partnerships)

DAY 3

The 3-day ISTR Asia Pacific Regional Conference concluded successfully with active sharing of diverse civil society cases and research from various countries. Notably, on the final day, Professor Jinkyung Jung from Kwangwoon University’s Department of Public Administration and Associate Director of The Beautiful Foundation’s Center on Philanthropy presented in Session E, with many attendees participating in in-depth discussions.

Session E

Government Regulation and Nonprofit Self-Regulation in South Korea: An Empirical Analysis of Perceptions and Practices (Jinkyung Jung)

• Purpose: Empirically analyze relationship between Korean government regulation and nonprofit self-regulation
• Methodology:
  • Survey of 141 public interest corporations subject to National Tax Service disclosure obligations in 2022
  • Correlation analysis between self-regulation practice levels (internal regulations, information disclosure, stakeholder communication, etc.) and government regulation perception intensity
• Key Content:
  • Empirically presented how perceptions of government regulation importance and intensity relate to self-regulation necessity and actual practice levels
  • Self-regulation measured across three dimensions: internal charter/guideline development, transparency assurance, stakeholder communication
• Significance:
  • Policy contribution: Contributes to designing balanced regulatory model that can enhance nonprofit autonomy and accountability alongside government regulation rationalization
  • Practical contribution: Provides evidence to encourage more active nonprofit participation in self-regulation

The role of nonprofit from a perspective of coproduction – Longitudinal single case study based on GREENRIVER nonprofits in China (Jiaqi Zhang and Huiquan Zhou)

• Purpose: Analyze nonprofit organizations’ roles and positions from coproduction perspective through Chinese local environmental nonprofit GREENRIVER case, exploring how they build effective production in local governance
• Methodology: Long-term single case study of environmental nonprofit GREENRIVER active in Southwest China since 1995
• Key Content:
  • Coproduction foundation lies in diverse partnership capacities: ‘volunteer participation’, ‘university-nonprofit cooperation’, ‘media-nonprofit cooperation’, ‘corporate-nonprofit cooperation’, ‘government-nonprofit cooperation’
  • Clear role boundary definition and trust building among participants are key to sustainability
  • Nonprofit organizations perform roles as professional consultants and mediators
• Significance:
  • Nonprofit organizations’ flexible advocacy strategies and multi-party cooperation experience contribute to community innovation
  • Network managers can reference clear demands, horizontal coordination, partner capacity building, omnidirectional communication for building coproduction relationships

Session F

Wagamama Lab: Empowering local communities and fostering innovation (Ayaka Nagai, Takahiro Yatsu, Hitomi Kurosu, Emi Makino and Masao Ishihara)

• Purpose: Share cases of youth empowerment and regional revitalization through Japan’s regional community innovation platform ‘Wagamama Lab’
• Methodology:
  • Analysis of Wagamama Lab operation cases and regional success stories (women’s leadership, intermediary organization growth)
  • Application of innovative methodologies including design thinking, app development (MIT App Inventor)
• Key Content:
  • Promoted community-led innovation centered on regional youth and women
  • Intermediary support organizations played key roles in strengthening regional community networks and women’s leadership
  • Presented framework for converting individual ‘wagamama’ (personal aspirations) into social value
• Significance: Substantial contribution to regional problem solving, women’s empowerment, and sustainable ecosystem development

Have Civic Forums Functioned as Deliberative Systems: Exploring Mechanisms to Deepen Grassroots Democracy (Maria Faina Diola and Bryan Ezra Gonzales)

• Purpose: Analyze whether civic forums jointly operated by Philippine NGOs and local governments realize deliberative democracy principles
• Methodology:
  • Case study of 15 regions and 5 NGOs (2022-2024) using surveys and interviews
  • Measurement of civic participation and deliberation indicators (autonomy, public reasoning, political equality) within Local Special Bodies (LSB)
• Key Content:
  • Partial realization of deliberative democracy elements (autonomy, public reasoning, equality), confirmed civic participation and capacity building
  • Identified limitations in creating deliberative environments and need for improvement
• Significance: Empirically demonstrated civic forums’ impact on grassroots democracy and policy innovation; presented ideal deliberative conditions and practical improvement measures

Conclusion

Through this conference, we gained a more concrete understanding of what strategies and roles civil society is performing as a ‘key actor’ in sustainable development. The practices and research conducted within the diverse contexts of the Asian region offer many implications for Korea’s nonprofit sector.

The Beautiful Foundation’s Center on Philanthropy will continue to participate in discussions connecting local and global perspectives, expanding the intersection of philanthropy, civil society, and sustainability.