Panel comments by Phillida Purvis, Links Japan

From the first hand experiences of our speakers from Japan, Germany and the UK, we learn so much about attitudes, government policies and voluntary and community sector approaches to the very important challenges of social inclusion for people with disability through real employment. This reminds us how much we can gain from international sharing, which is the reason, I believe, that we are all here today. We are all aware that, speaking in broad terms, ‘the challenge to humanity is to adopt new ways of thinking, new ways of acting, new ways of organising itself in society, in short, new ways of living’. If we sincerely wish to achieve the greatest improvement to the lives of the most socially excluded in our own and other communities I strongly believe that, at a practical level, it is essential for us, in our globalised and digitally-connected world, to work together, outside the formal sectors of government and business and in whatever ways are appropriate to our needs. We cannot make progress in isolation. We must benefit from new thinking and practices, wherever they occur. The kind organisers of today’s seminar have allowed me the privilege of making some comments on the importance of international exchange and sharing on common issues faced by our societies today, which is the field in which my organisation, Links Japan, operates.

I cannot go any further without first paying tribute to the long-standing exchange with the UK and Europe established about ten years ago by our hosts today, the Japan-UK Research and Development Organization for Ageing, Disability and Technology together with the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability, propelled by the visionary Mr Sumitani Shigeru. With enormous commitment and dedication, supported by generous and foresighted funders, they have, almost annually, organised a major bilateral, or international seminar such as today’s or other exchange visits in both directions. Many experts, from Japan, the UK and other European countries, on ageing, disability, technology and community regeneration more generally have lead these activities and many others have participated. The benefits in terms of learning, inspiration, partnership - not to mention friendship, have been very significant. Thank you Sumitani-san for your wisdom and thank you everyone involved in the demanding

I would like also to take this brief opportunity to highlight some of the specific themes on which Japan’s social sector is collaborating internationally, by way of illustrating the great range of issues on which it has been found worthwhile to exchange. If you will forgive me starting with those that I know best, on which Links Japan has organised exchanges, then I will offer some examples. The UK has a long history of voluntary organisation and from this experience we have shared with Japan on the need to assert and assure the independence of the sector, with appropriate regulation and transparency; to encourage individual giving as part of a diversified revenue stream; to promote debate on the issues, with the object of improving public trust and understanding, including through the use of the media; and on the importance of civil society, as an essential part of a healthy democracy; to lobby, campaign and advocate to the government; to establish intermediary support organisations to help with that purpose and act as a voice for the different parts of the sector, as well as promoting the flow of funds to it, and, for the effective delivery of public services and to focus on the training and professionalization of staff. Over the 10 years of our existence, we have brought together voluntary sector experts to research and debate such diverse subjects as volunteering, citizenship education, youth exchange, fundraising, giving, grant-making, the Compact, local government and civic engagement, coporate social investment, double devolution, community regeneration, social innovation, social entrepreneurship, social firms, international development cooperation, community-based partnerships, rights based advocacy, homelessness, disability rights, gender equality ? the list goes on and on. Without exception, the dozens of people who have participated in these social sector exchanges in both countries have learned that, wherever we are in the world, people have the same aspirations, rights and even duties as citizens and very similar needs. The different cultures and structures of our societies have helped show a different perspective on the comparable issues we face, which has proved very revealing.

There are three main funders who have made these exchanges possible ? the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Japan Foundation. Some other social sector joint work they have recently funded between Britain and Japan makes interesting reading ? a short selection covers: structures for inclusion of students with disabilities at universities; the Hikkikomori phenomenon; tackling bullying at schools; public perceptions of women-only facilities in response to the problem of ‘groping’; a comparative analysis of community, family and work; perspectives on local governance; building social inclusion and delivering local services; reading/writing impairments amongst junior high school students; other related subjects funded last year are psychoanalysis, youth offending and human security. Just to finish with I thought I would also mention exchanges between Japan and the US given (much larger!) funding by the Center for Global Partnership at the Japan Foundation: youth philanthropy education; intergenerational studies; corporate volunteer programmes; disaster volunteer management; service learning; rural independent living; NPOs supporting working women; domestic violence; homelessness; HIV/AIDs; volunteer-run garden programmes in healthcare settings; various environmental programmes and, relevant to us today, employment support for people with disability. I hope this rather long list of examples gives you food for thought as an illustration of the significant and mutual benefit to be derived from talking, sharing, engaging, inspiring and partnering between our voluntary and community sectors. Let’s not forget that these activities also bring great friendships and lots of fun. Thank you again for the sharing that you have all made possible today. And thanks, once more, to our hosts.