Yachiyo Engineering and Higashiomi Sampo Yoshi Fund Launch Collaboration to Create New Funding Circulation Mechanisms on a Watershed Scale

Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Taito-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Tsutomu Takahashi; hereinafter "Yachiyo Engineering") and the Higashiomi Sampo Yoshi Fund Public Interest Incorporated Foundation (Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture; Chairperson: Chie Ikenaga; hereinafter "Sampo Yoshi Fund") have launched a collaboration to create new funding circulation mechanisms targeting watershed scales.

This collaboration will combine Yachiyo Engineering's expertise in natural capital assessment and watershed management with the Sampo Yoshi Fund's experience in community-based funding circulation and support in Higashiomi City. Together, they will work on structuring watershed issues and building impact investment mechanisms based on new value assessments (impact assessments), as well as conducting research and studies for their implementation.

Background of this Collaboration

As the connection between forests, villages, rivers, lakes, and people weakens, the region's natural capital, biodiversity, and the local livelihoods and cultures supported by them are quietly disappearing. These issues do not appear in isolation but manifest as a "weakening of relationships throughout the watershed," where ecosystems, economies, people, cultures, and systems mutually influence each other.

Addressing these challenges requires not just one-off support for individual issues, but a framework that re-examines regional relationships on a watershed unit basis and provides continuous funding, support, and evaluation mechanisms. On the other hand, mechanisms to connect small-scale local practices to sustainable businesses and funding flows are still not sufficiently established.

The Sampo Yoshi Fund, established in 2017 with initial capital from donations from 772 citizens, is a community foundation that has independently designed and implemented diverse funding channels tailored to local conditions, including donations, grants, Higashiomi City's version of SIB (Social Impact Bond), system loans in collaboration with local credit unions, and grants utilizing dormant deposits. Furthermore, beyond financial support, they have accumulated a unique approach of forming initiatives through dialogue with the community and providing support with an eye toward results.

Overview and Future Prospects of this Collaboration

As a comprehensive engineering consultant, Yachiyo Engineering has been addressing social issues and has accumulated over 60 years of deep knowledge and achievements through environmental assessments, watershed management, and support for government agencies. In recent years, they have also focused on initiatives to achieve nature positivity. The Sampo Yoshi Fund has served as an intermediary support function in Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture, by conducting research and studies on regional issues, providing consultations and grants, and connecting resources such as funding to public interest activity providers.

The two organizations will work to create mechanisms for valuing regional resources and new funding circulation on a watershed scale, building upon the regional practices and funding circulation foundation cultivated by the Sampo Yoshi Fund in the Higashiomi-Aichigawa watershed. Through this collaboration, both parties aim to realize a sustainable regional society where "money with purpose" that supports the region's nature, people, livelihoods, and culture continues to circulate within the region.

Overview of Collaborating Partner

Higashiomi Sampo Yoshi Fund Public Interest Incorporated Foundation

The Higashiomi Sampo Yoshi Fund aims to create "future capital" by establishing a system where citizens themselves support diverse entities and their initiatives that aim to solve regional issues by leveraging "regional resources" such as natural capital, artificial capital, human capital, and social capital in Higashiomi City. This contributes to regional revitalization and the creation of a circular and symbiotic society. It functions as an intermediary support organization in the region, conducting research and information gathering on regional issues, providing consultations and support for problem-solving, and securing resources such as funding to provide grants, loans, and other forms of support to public interest activity providers.

Location

9-19 Yokaichi Honmachi, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture, 527-0012

Representative

Chie Ikenaga, Chairperson

Establishment

June 12, 2017 (Established as a General Incorporated Foundation) / July 2, 2018 Certified as a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation by Shiga Prefecture

URL

http://3poyoshi.com/

*This press release is for informational purposes only and is not intended to solicit or recommend investment.

Inquiries regarding this matter

Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.

Development Promotion Department, Business Development Division, Contact: Tokita

E-mail: marketing@yachiyo-eng.co.jp

Higashiomi Sampo Yoshi Fund Public Interest Incorporated Foundation

Executive Director and Secretary General / Nishimura

E-mail: 3poyoshi.kikin@gmail.com