Dear VA family, our partners and friends:
The most challenging time will be over soon. No one will doubt that the Winter of 2022 will be the shortest winter ever, and that Shanghai will never miss another Spring. Once we are through with the last wave of bitter cold, we will be able to embrace warmth and freedom again.
Many organisations have been doing public advocacy for years, with various programs and settings, however, the results are not as ideal as they expect. These programs focus on awareness raising, which is easier to realise through education. However, the most difficult part of public advocacy is the inconsistency of awareness and action, namely, people can tell what is right but sometimes do not act in that way. The root cause of it is our thinking and decision-making pattern which does not always remain conscious and rational.
Chinese enterprises have suffered challenges in the past two years, and the uncertainty is still mounting.
Dear VA family and friends,
The pandemic is still lingering on. When facing uncertainty, people look for beautiful things as they bring hope. Christmas trees in Costco were sold out early in Shanghai, and membership registration in Suzhou hit this international retailer’s global record. Although people can be locked down, never will their desire for better life.
Joint Philanthropy, also known as Collaborative Philanthropy, is defined as investors and nonprofits working together toward a social cause. Joint Philanthropy is of great significance to developing the social sectors and solving social issues. In China, the existing social issues are massive, wide-ranging and complex. The Joint Philanthropy, compared to single sectors with less power and resource, is more likely to find solutions with magnified effect to social issues by virtue of resource integration, capability complementation, and knowledge reciprocity within the collaboration among involved sectors.
Read morePreface: September 20, 2021 marks the 33rd “National Dental Care Day” in China. On this day, local health committees, hospitals, NGOs, and companies actively make advocacy efforts to enhance the public’s understanding of oral health and the importance of developing good health habits. Therefore, VA would like to talk about public advocacy and how to maximize the possibility of success in advocacy activities, hoping to inspire organizations that conduct public advocacy.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has taken children’s development as a major strategic task. The country as a whole adheres to the principle of giving priority to children, vigorously develops children related service, and further improved the laws, regulations and policy system to protect children’s rights. In the end, children’s survival, security and development have made great achievements under the guidance of national policies. This year marks the first year of China’s Fourteenth Five Year Plan, and it is also an important timeslot to formulate a new ten-year outline for children’s development, which means children’s development face unprecedented opportunities. Therefore, VA selects some topics which was the focus for central government in recent years including early childhood development, children’s protection, children’s mental health and obesity, and presents the main findings in this essay.
The ocean covers 70% of the earth’s surface. While it is the home to over half of the known species on the earth, ocean provides living space, atmospheric environment, food and livelihood for human beings. Meanwhile, ocean’s health influence the survival of the earth and human beings, but its’ status quo is not optimistic.
As June 8th marks the 13th “World Ocean Day” and the 14th “National Marine Awareness Day”, VA would like to present the observations on marine conservation in China and globally.
The year of 2020 will be remembered. For the first time in the last 18 years, I can’t fly across Atlantic to celebrate my son’s birthday. Christmas will not be white this year. Yes, COVID-19 ravaged our life, business, and cast doubts in the future: will the world really never be the same?
At present, one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted at various degree in the process of food production and consumption. With China’s rapid economic growth and improvement of living standards, the problem of food waste has become increasingly prominent. What roles can NGOs and social enterprises play in reducing food waste, which has been a topic of global concern? What are the opportunities and approaches for these organizations to contribute? Here Venture Avenue is to provide some thoughts and suggestions.