Yenching Social Innovation Forum

Hello everyone,

We write with regret that there will be no Yenching Social Innovation Forum for the 2019-20 academic year.

Despite a strong proposal put forth last month by a new committee of Yenching Scholars, the Yenching Academy administration decided not to approve funding for YSIF.

In the past, YSIF has relied entirely on the generous financial support of the Yenching Academy and Peking University. But a new system implemented this fall has tightened budgets for Yenching events and given administrators more control in allocating funds. PKU regulations also make it nearly impossible for students to independently fundraise or seek external sponsorships for YSIF.

Thank you to everyone who has supported YSIF or attended the 2016, 2017, or 2018 conferences. This page will remain online in the event that YSIF receives funding in the future.

For now, please go check out Yenching Academy's spring global conference, the Yenching Global Symposium, and apply to become a delegate by December 1st! This is another fully-funded conference that has been run by Yenching Scholars since 2016.

YSIF is proud to now be an official ecosystem partner organization of UNLEASH, a fantastic global innovation lab that will be taking place in , this November 6-13! Check them out at https://unleash.org/

UNLEASH - A Global Innovation Lab for the Sustainable Development Goals

After a busy holiday and some technical issues, the YSIF team has finally uploaded our 2018 recap video to YouTube! View, like, and share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I448V47i0Cw&t=15s

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2019 from the Yenching Academy of Peking University!

(Special thanks to Teresa Romero Sánchez-Herrero, Lívia Machado Costa, Antonio Quiroz Soto, and Mengyao Cao for collecting & editing footage as YSIF volunteer videographers!)

2018 Yenching Social Innovation Forum Recap YSIF '18 took place from Dec. 8-9 at the Yenching Academy of Peking University. The conference brought together 25 young entrepreneurs from over a dozen coun...

The 2018 Yenching Social Innovation Forum has successfully ended! From December 8-9, 25 social entrepreneurs from 16 countries convened at Peking University. Representing the top 1.5% of more than 1,600 applicants, these delegates heard top experts speak about smart living and sustainable development in , learned new skills in with successful , and pitched their for from Fresco Capital, Microsoft Accelerator, and Innoway on the big stage.

This year’s conference theme was "Smarter Living: Cities, Jobs, and Health for the Future," tying together the U.N. 3, 8, and 11. Throughout the two-day program, delegates explored and shared to improve 21st-century living -- ranging from urban farming that strengthens environmental awareness and local communities in Hong Kong, to new mobile apps that improve healthcare access in Burkina Faso and Uganda.

The YSIF '18 Executive Committee thanks all of our for your enthusiasm and passion for overcoming social challenges. We also want to thank our , judges, workshop leaders, and org representatives for offering their knowledge and resources. Together, we're providing young talents with a platform, network, and tangible opportunities (and !) to grow and scale their .

If you haven't already, check out our partners:
- UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network - Youth
- YSI
- SEED for Social Innovation
- Solve - MIT

Of course, our student-run wouldn't be possible without generous funding, admin support, and volunteers from the Yenching Academy of Peking University!

Stay tuned for more photos and highlights from the 2018 Yenching Social Innovation Forum! We'll be releasing a recap video in the coming weeks, as well as video with participants.

We're thrilled to introduce 5 of the speakers at the 2018 Yenching Social Innovation Forum! This has been a long time coming.

Coming from all around the world and across industries, these individuals are talented and experienced leaders in business, education, and the social sector.

If you're in Beijing next weekend, don't miss seeing some of them at the opening and closing events of YSIF '18, which are open to the public! You can read speaker bios and check our program on www.ycasocialinnovation.org!

We are excited to introduce this year’s YSIF delegates!

These 25 talented individuals hail from 6 continents and more than a dozen countries. Chosen from among the top 2% of YSIF ’18 applicants, they possess diverse academic and professional backgrounds but are united by a mission to create a more inclusive, productive, and sustainable world.

Visit https://www.ycasocialinnovation.org/delegates-18/ to read their bios and be inspired by their outstanding work in and .

Stay tuned to see them all in action from Dec. 8-9 at Peking University! The Yenching Academy of Peking University welcomes members of the public to the YSIF '18 opening keynote on Saturday, Dec. 8 and the closing ceremony & pitch competition on Sunday, Dec. 9!

Yenching Social Innovation Forum These talented individuals hail from 6 continents and more than a dozen countries. Chosen from among the top 2% of YSIF ’18 applicants, they possess diverse academic and professional backgrounds but are united by a mission to create a more inclusive, productive, and sustainable world.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social development, and much more. Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today and 5 billion people are projected to live in cities by 2030. Urban challenges include congestion, inadequate housing, air pollution, and declining infrastructure.

These issues directly affect the quality of local jobs and personal well-being, leading YSIF to choose U.N. SDG 11 as one of the three pillars of this years theme: “Smarter Living: Cites, Jobs and Health for the Future.”

This year’s YSIF delegates have proposed solutions for cities, ranging from better land and resource management to green buildings.

We’re excited to see some of these solutions pitched at the conference! For more information, please visit it

Home This year's applicants spanned 6 continents, hailed from dozens of countries, and brought hundreds of interesting ideas to solve challenges tied to the SDGs.

and are directly related to substandard working conditions. Different conditions and specific contexts such as genre, disabilities or age make a great number of people vulnerable to abuses that at the end pose obstacles for having access to decent jobs.

chose the no. 8 “decent work and economic growth” as one of the three pillars of this year’s theme: “Smarter Living: Cities, Jobs, & Health for the Future” knowing that in some contexts, having a job does not mean leaving poverty.

We are thrilled to know that our applicants are as aware and have proposed hundreds of solutions to problems related to economic non-discrimination, professional , capacity building, empowerment, apprenticeship opportunities, using for creating jobs, among others.

Stay tuned to see some of these solutions pitched in the 2018 Social Innovation Forum!

As usual, please visit visit it www.ycasocialinnovation.org for for more information.

Home This year's applicants spanned 6 continents, hailed from dozens of countries, and brought hundreds of interesting ideas to solve challenges tied to the SDGs.

We're excited to announce that the application results for the 2018 Yenching Social Innovation Forum have been released by email! Regardless of your result, thank you all for your applications and interest in YSIF.

(Please keep in mind that all application decisions are final -- we will not reply to appeals or messages asking for a change in results.)

The application period for the 2018 Yenching Social Innovation Forum has officially ended! This year's applicants spanned 6 continents, hailed from dozens of countries, and brought hundreds of interesting ideas to solve challenges tied to the SDGs.

We want to thank you all for your support and interest in YSIF. Above all, thank you for caring about achieving “Smarter Living: Cities, Jobs, & Health for the Future”!

Delegates for YSIF '18 will be announced by early October. Stay tuned!

As always, visit www.ycasocialinnovation.org to learn more.

Drawing from 3, 8 and 11, the Yenching Social Innovation Forum crafted its theme for 2018: “Smarter Living: Cities, Jobs, & Health for the Future.”

Why combine these 3 SDGs? Our working conditions and urban environments are closely connected with our personal health. The issues in these SDGs affect many millions worldwide. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) finds more than 2 million work-related deaths and about 160 million new occupational disease cases are reported every year. Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being at all occupational levels is essential to achieve social and .

The Yenching Academy of Peking University now invites young people around the world with innovative ideas for achieving “Smarter Living” to apply for the fully-funded YSIF ‘18 in ! YSIF ‘18 delegates will tackle real-world problems, meet business leaders, improve presentation skills, and network with talented peers in , a world-leading city.

Don’t miss this opportunity — visit www.ycasocialinnovation.org to apply by Sept 17!

No matter where you come from, attending YSIF can extend your reach and open your mind. Hear from Lyssa Freese, a former delegate from the U.S. and incoming Ph.D. student in environmental sciences at MIT:

"YSIF ’17 was an amazing opportunity to meet other young leaders thinking about the way that their niche expertise can be applied to create a more sustainable future."

"From site visits to leading companies such as Goldwind, to start-up pitch practice and presentations, the weekend was packed with opportunities to forge relationships and talk openly about innovation."

To learn more and apply, visit www.ycasocialinnovation.org!

About us: YSIF is a flagship event hosted every year by the Yenching Academy of Peking University and a member organization of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network - Youth. We bring people together to share innovative solutions to challenges facing China and the world.