Think about “happiness” that will continue into the future. Two days of social good filled with lots of hints

“Social Good Week 2022” was held at NOMURA Co., Ltd., Ltd.’s Odaiba headquarters on November 10th and 11th, 2022, blessed with fine autumn weather. This is the 3rd time, and we will report on the scaled-up event.

What is “Social Good Week”?

From 2021, NOMURA GROUP has started various activities that lead to social contributions with the keyword of social good. Social Good Week is held every year as an event to disseminate these initiatives and ideas widely inside and outside the company, share social good information with everyone, and provide an opportunity to think together about "happiness that will continue into the future."

You can see the report articles of Social Good Week so far from here.

Social Good Week 2022 Program

・Talk session
・Sustainable Cafe
・Introduction of R&D activities
・Sustainable Marche

"Talk session" full of hot passion

Six talk sessions were held with guests working on social good at the forefront of society. All of the seminars were backed by passionate passion and calm research and analysis, and were full of hints for thinking about the future of society. The venue was packed every time, and many viewers listened online.

If you would like to watch archived footage of the talk session, please register here.

"Special Lecture" with a special guest who is currently talking about

A special lecture on how to contribute to society in the future. Two groups of guests who made an offer thinking "I would love to hear your story!"
Both lectures touched the hearts of the audience with their enthusiastic presentations of the "feelings" and "convictions" of top runners.

Special Lecture 1 "Changing Society with Welfare as the Starting Point - Possibilities of Art and Spatial Design"
Mr. Takaya Matsuda, Representative Director and CEO, Heralbony Co., Ltd.
Mr. Fumito Matsuda Representative Director and COO, Heralbony Co., Ltd.
Akane Yamaguchi Design Director, NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd.

Special Lecture 2 "Between Nature and Architecture"
Mr. Sou Fujimoto Architect
Keita Aono NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. No.10 Design Director

"Well-being seminar" to think about future urban development

NOMURA Co., Ltd. has been holding seminars on the theme of well-being since this year. As part of this series, two programs were held under the theme of "town development" at this event.

Well-being seminar ①
“Well-Being Town Development ~Community Space and Town Development with Local Residents~”
Mr. Ryo Yamazaki Representative of studio-L / Professor, Faculty of Architecture, Kwansei Gakuin University / Community Designer / Social Worker
Ayako Harada H2O Retailing Co., Ltd. Corporate Planning Office Open Innovation Promotion Department
Mr. Shinji Kanba studio-L community designer
Naomi Kajimura Planner, NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd.

Well-being seminar②
“Well-Being Town Development-Creating liveliness and affection for the town through public-private partnership”
Mr. Hiroyuki Ishimaru, Director of Planning and Finance Division, Koshimizu Town, Hokkaido
Mr. Shigekazu Fujimori Renaissance Co., Ltd. Regional Revitalization Promotion Department Regional Revitalization Team Dedicated Manager
Ryuta Ohashi Planner, NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd.

Hints for the future from academia "R&D Seminar"

In order to realize a socially good society, great possibilities are expected in the efforts of industry-government-academia collaboration, as well as the evolution of technology and ergonomics. This time, we welcomed three guests who are collaborating with NOMURA GROUP 's R&D activity team to talk with them.

R&D Seminar ①
“Art communication co-creation base for creating a “cohesive society” through industry-academia collaboration-Creating a new form of community that connects diverse people through “art x technology” initiatives”
Mr. Tatsuya Ito Deputy Director/Specially Appointed Professor, Social Collaboration Center, Tokyo University of the Arts
Mr. Mitsuru Sugawara, President of QD Laser Co., Ltd.
Mari Matsumoto Design Director NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd.

R&D Seminar②
"The Story of Sound Surrounding Humans"
Mari Ueda Associate Professor, Faculty of Informatics, Kanagawa Institute of Technology
Keita Aono NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. No.10 Design Director
Akane Yamaguchi Design Director, NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd.

If you would like to watch archived footage of the talk session, please register here.

sustainable cafe

Last year's Social Good Week consisted mainly of seminars, but this year's "exhibitions" that you can actually see, touch, and feel have captured the interest of our customers. The most popular among them was the “Sustainable Cafe,” which uses only sustainable materials to create a space.
This is an attempt to "convey the charm of sustainable materials" by creating a "space implementation" that cannot be understood from the 10 cm square sample that is often used at the design stage.

What caught my eye was the material upcycled from marine plastics that REMARE Co., Ltd. is working on. REMARE recycles plastic collected from marine debris, which is often talked about in the news, into an artistic material. Our designers noticed the fun and beauty of the expression, and many customers sympathized with the concept.

In addition, we have upcycled the gypsum board, which is almost always used in interior design, by On-Co Co., Ltd., "resecco," and "Resecco," which we borrowed from Nishikawa Baum LLC in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture. We gave you lots of ideas and tips, such as “drying” wood*.

*Reference: Nishikawa Baum LLC x NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. collaborative project

By the way, the happi coat worn by the staff. This item was designed and sewn by Ms. Mitsushi Yanaihara (Studio Nibroll), an art director who is active mainly in Yokohama. thing. Here too, waste materials are reborn into wonderful works.

Introduction of R&D activities

As a more active social good, NOMURA GROUP has been actively working on R&D activities since this year. More than 100 volunteer members in the entire group are divided into seven themes and are working on independent research and development. This time, five teams exhibited and made presentations, giving enthusiastic presentations. With the approval of many customers, we are about to start a new collaboration.

Sustainable space solution

As an initiative to reduce CO2 emissions and realize zero waste, we introduced the visualization of CO2 emissions using BIM, the development of precut construction methods, and sustainable materials that lead to the utilization of recycled resources.

A large audience gathered at the four mini-seminars on the "precut method" that were held at the venue, and we could feel the high level of attention in various industries. Expectations for future R&D will increase.

Rediscovering local resources and creating local value

At this booth, which is marked by an indigo-dyed noren, the mission is to "create a starting point that connects with the community." introduced.

In fact, at this event, what was called the “shadow MVP” and grabbed the hearts (tongues) of many people was the lemon soda that lavishly used whole eco-lemons from Setoda, Hiroshima Prefecture. This project was born out of a relationship that was connected to regional revitalization activities, and the vivid scent of Setoda lemons gave the venue a refreshing feeling.

joy and emotion

NOMURA Co., Ltd. 's job is to create "joy and excitement" through space, and this theme is to scientifically verify the mechanism of this joy and excitement.
We introduced research themes such as "analysis of the relationship between space and sound", including the eye-gaze and electroencephalogram measurement experience based on photographs of completed properties.

At the installed booth, a demonstration was held to see changes in brain waves by actually wearing an electroencephalograph and looking at photos and VR space.

inclusion & art

This team aims to connect diverse people with society and the world through space, design, culture and art experiences, and encounter new values. We announced the results of three projects that we did this year.

fairwood project

In recent years, the utilization of domestic materials, which has been accelerated in research and development and implementation. NOMURA Co., Ltd. has been focusing on the use of Fairwood for about 10 years. This year, in order to explore the new value of solid wood, we are utilizing a project subsidized by the Forestry Agency and promoting demonstration experiments in collaboration with Mitsubishi Estate, the University of Tokyo, and Kanagawa Institute of Technology.

During this Social Good Week, two types of woody spaces with different materials will be on display. We will analyze how interior materials change moods and emotions. Visitors commented, "A space made of solid wood is more comfortable and makes me want to stay forever."

Sustainable Marche

A unique event-like initiative is a market that sells vegetables and flowers. The Marche that suddenly appeared surprised me and asked, "Why!?"

“Vegengers Veggie” is a market business operated by Tridente Co., Ltd. that connects producers and consumers with the aim of solving social issues such as the shortage of human resources for production farmers and food loss. The fresh and delicious looking vegetables produced repeat customers in two days and sold out beautifully.

"MY FAVORITE THINGS" is a lifestyle brand developed by three wonderful sisters, based on the concept of "customizing everyday life with your favorites". Flowers and flower materials based on the concept of well-being and upcycling were opened, literally adding "flowers" to the venue.

“Making friends” to make society better

Social Good Week was held with the theme of thinking about “happiness” that will continue into the future. Through this event, I was reminded of the importance of making friends. We received various impressions and comments on the seminars and exhibitions, and the seeds of specific collaborations and joint research were born, such as "We definitely want to do this together" and "We are doing this kind of thing."

When it comes to social contribution, many people still ask, “Will it become a business?” Many people are skeptical. However, on the other hand, it is also true that more and more people are starting to take action with ideas that are good for society and can also be viable as businesses. During the two days, I felt that gathering such people, connecting them, and making friends who can empathize with them is the most important thing.
If you would like to work on social good with us, please let us know.

​Click here for NOMURA GROUP 's social good activity introduction page