Development of Japan's First 'School-version Social Impact Evaluation' - Okayama Prefectural Takahashi Jonan High School and JONAN Holdings Inc.
JONAN Holdings and Takahashi Jonan High School developed Japan's first 'School-version Social Impact Evaluation' to systematically visualize and measure the societal impact of high school students' inquiry-based learning and business activities.
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- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 03:01
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JONAN Holdings Inc. (Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture), in collaboration with Okayama Prefectural Takahashi Jonan High School and Takahashi Learning and Work Future Co-creation Consortium, has developed and implemented Japan's first "School-version Social Impact Evaluation".
In this initiative, we built a new evaluation method that visualizes, from both quantitative and qualitative aspects, "what kind of impact students' activities have on society," which has been difficult to see until now.
*First framework in Japan to systematically evaluate the social impact of inquiry-based learning and high school students' business activities (according to our research)
◾️ Download Detailed Materials
Detailed materials are here (can be downloaded): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y6W1-C6GgYbPwF0mjqOQyRRjbWGK0cMy/view?usp=sharing
■ Background | "Impact Evaluation" advancing in companies, unequipped in education
Behind this evaluation lies the concept of "social impact evaluation" and "impact investing" that have been spreading in the corporate sector in recent years. For companies, not only profit but also what kind of value they have created for society is becoming an important evaluation axis.
For example, ADDress Inc., which develops multi-base living services, visualizes social impacts such as "what kind of related population multi-base living has created in the region" as indicators, and utilizes them for business evaluation.
Also, Amenokaze Taiyo Inc., which operates the direct-from-farm platform "Pocket Marche", creates social values such as "creation of related population" and ripple effects on the regional economy by directly connecting producers and consumers, and such social impacts are positioned as business value.
Reference: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000167.000046526.html
Furthermore, in recent years, a movement called "Impact IPO" has emerged to evaluate the coexistence of sociality and economic efficiency, creating a trend where companies that simultaneously achieve social issue resolution and economic growth are evaluated in the capital market.
On the other hand, similar evaluation methods were not sufficiently equipped in the education field.
■ Challenges | How to measure the results of inquiry and business activities
In the educational setting, the results of inquiry-based learning and regional collaboration remained at qualitative evaluations such as "grew" or "contributed to the region," and its value was fully...
In this initiative, we built a new evaluation method that visualizes, from both quantitative and qualitative aspects, "what kind of impact students' activities have on society," which has been difficult to see until now.
*First framework in Japan to systematically evaluate the social impact of inquiry-based learning and high school students' business activities (according to our research)
◾️ Download Detailed Materials
Detailed materials are here (can be downloaded): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y6W1-C6GgYbPwF0mjqOQyRRjbWGK0cMy/view?usp=sharing
■ Background | "Impact Evaluation" advancing in companies, unequipped in education
Behind this evaluation lies the concept of "social impact evaluation" and "impact investing" that have been spreading in the corporate sector in recent years. For companies, not only profit but also what kind of value they have created for society is becoming an important evaluation axis.
For example, ADDress Inc., which develops multi-base living services, visualizes social impacts such as "what kind of related population multi-base living has created in the region" as indicators, and utilizes them for business evaluation.
Also, Amenokaze Taiyo Inc., which operates the direct-from-farm platform "Pocket Marche", creates social values such as "creation of related population" and ripple effects on the regional economy by directly connecting producers and consumers, and such social impacts are positioned as business value.
Reference: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000167.000046526.html
Furthermore, in recent years, a movement called "Impact IPO" has emerged to evaluate the coexistence of sociality and economic efficiency, creating a trend where companies that simultaneously achieve social issue resolution and economic growth are evaluated in the capital market.
On the other hand, similar evaluation methods were not sufficiently equipped in the education field.
■ Challenges | How to measure the results of inquiry and business activities
In the educational setting, the results of inquiry-based learning and regional collaboration remained at qualitative evaluations such as "grew" or "contributed to the region," and its value was fully...