An event to share ideas from university students nationwide on social ventures—organizations that combine the characteristics of social enterprises and startups aimed at solving social problems—and to support them was held at the Rahan Hotel in Jeonju on the 17th and 18th.

The event, hosted by the Social Economy University Council (Chair: Ko Young‑ho, Director of the LINC+ Project Group at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU)) and the Social Economy Industry–University Cooperation Association (Chair: Kim Jae‑guk, Director of the LINC+ Project Group at Chonnam National University), and jointly organized by the JBNU LINC+ Project Group and the Jeonbuk Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, drew 20 student teams with outstanding social venture ideas from 20 universities.

Conducted via simultaneous online and offline broadcasting, the event featured business plan presentations by student teams from the 20 participating universities, and established a foundation to concretize students' ideas through memoranda of understanding between organizations implementing social venture development programs and the participating universities.

In particular, social venture companies such as Impact Square, led by CEO Do Hyun‑myung, delivered special lectures sharing practical know‑how on company management with students preparing social ventures. Individual mentoring sessions were also held to support the concretization of students' ideas, with 10 company representatives participating from firms involved in the Jeonbuk social venture development project, including Coolbears, Guseonsonban, Forese, and TODD.

The JBNU Bulsajo Team (Team Leader: Ko Sang‑hoon; presenter: student Yoon Jin‑woo), which presented an outstanding idea and won the Institutional Award from the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, said, "We have long been interested in environmental issues and the creation of sustainable cities and housing, and while taking an industry–university–research linked capstone design course, we wrote a social venture business plan. Through this nationwide university social venture competition, we were able to interact with students from other universities who share our ideas and hear valuable stories from seniors who have pioneered the path, so it was a very meaningful experience."

Ko Young‑ho, Director of the JBNU LINC+ Project Group, said, "We expect that this event will provide a stepping stone for passionate university students who are working to solve local community problems and revitalize the social economy to emerge as the future leaders of the social economy."