The ultra-real challenges on the ground connect to the challenges facing the planet.

The " Challenge Lab," established by the Japan NPO Center and Dentsu Inc.

It's a think tank for discovering challenges – the kind that seemed obvious yet didn't exist – where people with different skills and from different industries gather to tackle cutting-edge issues collected nationwide through the Japan NPO Center's network.

In this series, we plan to uncover slightly unexpected yet compelling "challenges" related to themes like "children," "food," and "seniors," and explore hints for solving them.

For the first installment, we present a roundtable discussion with Kenji Yoshida, Executive Director of the Japan NPO Center and a founding member of the Challenge Lab; Hidetoshi Kurashige, former Dentsu Inc. employee and Representative Director of Creative Project Base; and Naoki Tanaka of Dentsu Inc. Why did they start the Challenge Lab? What are they aiming for? They look back, sharing stories from the early days of its launch.

Japan's network of 50,000 NPOs is a treasure trove of challenges!

Tanaka: It all started back in 2017. I attended the Japan NPO Center's annual general meeting for the first time after collaborating on projects with them for over a decade. I was shocked (laughs) to see Mr. Yoshida on stage and the NPO participants engaged in such a heated debate.

Yoshida: It was right in the middle of a major transition period. The SDGs were adopted by the UN in 2015, and companies were starting to focus on "solving social issues through their core business." At the same time, more NPOs were actively adopting business-like approaches to tackle challenges. As a result, the line between for-profit and non-profit became blurred. This forced us to ask: "What makes NPO initiatives unique?" and "What do we truly value in our work?"

Tanaka: I vividly remember an NPO representative at the general meeting exclaiming, "Where are we headed?!" Later, as I spoke with Mr. Yoshida in more detail, I realized that while both corporations and NPOs were bewildered by the major societal shifts, he also saw this as an opportunity for something new to emerge. That's when he consulted Mr. Kurashige.

Kurashige: I remember it well. I was told, "We need your wisdom because an organization we deeply care about is struggling," and brought to the meeting. As I learned more about the organization there, what particularly surprised me was hearing, "The Japan NPO Center has a network of 50,000 NPOs nationwide."

Considering that NPOs exist to solve societal problems, each NPO tackles at least one issue. That meant the Japan NPO Center was an organization aware of 50,000 problems. And Japan is often called a country facing advanced challenges. The idea that they could gather the world's most cutting-edge, on-the-ground issues was incredible.

Tanaka: You suggested, "Why not reverse the direction of the arrow?"

Kurashige: Exactly. Instead of connecting corporate CSR departments or government requests to NPOs, I wanted to create a system that collects the real challenges NPO members face on the ground and connects those to companies and government.

Because in the new business divisions of the companies I work with, everyone says "Identifying problems is more important than solving them!" and there are tons of books on it, but there were hardly any good systems for actually discovering those problems.

Yoshida: That was the exact moment "Challenge Lab" was born.

The "Challenge Lab" mechanism. It creates the flow of the lower arrows, the opposite of the dotted arrows above.

Copywriters make problems "visible" through naming

Kurashige: When launching the "Challenge Lab," we had two ideas. One was to collect frontline challenges from NPO sites. Only the Japan NPO Center, with its outstanding nationwide network of 50,000 members, could do this.

The other was naming the challenges. Social issues like "Ocean Microplastic Problem" or "Waste Problem" only gain recognition once they have a name. Therefore, naming them as "○○ Problem" helps bring unseen cutting-edge challenges to light, makes them feel personally relevant, and broadens understanding among more people.

Dentsu Inc. copywriters would name the issues collected by the Japan NPO Center as "XX Problem." That was the initial core idea.

Tanaka: We immediately gathered representatives from the new business development and CSR departments of over a dozen companies and experimented with what would happen if we shared "children's issues." It generated far more excitement than expected, giving us the certainty that this would definitely be interesting! Mr. Yoshida, is there any issue that particularly stands out for you?

Yoshida: The "problem of lack of career opportunities in educationally disadvantaged schools," which came from a talk by Mr. Ishii, the representative of Panorama, an NPO supporting children and youth in Kanagawa Prefecture. He explained how being unable to access cultural experiences due to family circumstances or other reasons impacts opportunities to grasp a career. I was surprised that such a perspective existed.

Kurashige: It was about how, when a topic comes up in communities like schools or workplaces, whether you have related experiences can affect subsequent communication, relationships, and ultimately, life itself. For example, many kids have never left the prefecture they live in. If they haven't left, they can't follow conversations about other prefectures. That's the impact of economic disparities.

He said that experience can be something simple. For instance, just having tasted coffee made from freshly ground beans can become a conversation starter or broaden the scope of discussion. I found that very clear.

Yoshida: When Mr. Ishii described creating cultural experiences within oneself as a "cultural hook," it instantly brought the image to life in my mind.

Tanaka: During the session, we also discussed creating "Hook Inc." because companies can also create cultural experiences. As a challenge lab, we position ourselves not as a supporter/supported relationship between companies and NPOs, but as a community jointly aiming to solve social issues. We want to continue activities where we bring our respective expertise together to create something interesting.

 

A scene from the interview with Mr. Ishii, Representative of NPO Panorama ~ Cultural Hook (School Café as a Place to Belong). During the Challenge Lab session, videos like this from the field were shown to convey the reality of the challenges.

Every human is an expert. Let's shine a light on individual challenges.

Yoshida: Another striking aspect was how many participants, while representing their organizations, spoke about their personal challenges as individuals.

Tanaka: It's incredibly important to hear people express their genuine feelings and heartfelt thoughts.

Kurashige: We once held a mini "Challenge Lab" session gathering corporate representatives and university students. It was a new experiment: instead of challenges gathered by the Japan NPO Center, participants named and shared problems they personally noticed and felt. A female university student presented a striking challenge: "Tokyo's Vomit Problem" (laughs). The name was unconventional, but it stemmed from a perfectly reasonable question: "During my morning commute, I see vomit left on the street. Is it really okay for no one to clean it up?"

In response, a railway company representative shared their professional experience of handling it with sawdust placed at the edge of platforms. Then, someone from a company accumulating physical activity data added, "Maybe we could use wearables to sound an alert before someone vomits." Business ideas started expanding rapidly.

Social issues often tend to focus attention on large organizations or experts' opinions, but I believe the challenges individuals experience daily should be recognized equally. There's a problem where we tend to think issues raised by experts are inherently more important.

Tanaka: The real-world perspective from the field, along with individuals' strong convictions and sense of excitement, is crucial. When I learn about challenges discovered and tackled proactively by NPOs, it makes me reflect on what I didn't know and feel compelled to do something. Because you can sense someone is genuinely committed to addressing it.

Kurashige: I believe everyone in society is an expert. Everyone has a job in this world, pays taxes, and lives their life. Everyone is an expert on this society. Wouldn't it be great if we shared that knowledge and worked together to solve problems?

Yoshida: Many difficult problems involve complex intertwined issues. So it's crucial to think through them while talking with people who understand that structure—meaning those actually facing the challenges on the ground. That said, strictly speaking, even what we're discussing here isn't the voice from the field, so there's the question of whether we should just speak for them.

We want you to bring precisely those challenges that can't be solved by your company alone to the "Challenge Lab."

Tanaka: As the Japan NPO Center, what are your expectations for the "Challenge Lab" going forward, and what areas do you want to focus on?

Yoshida: We want to expand the opportunities for dialogue even further. We sometimes hear from companies participating in the "Challenge Lab" saying, "We want to do this within our own company too," so it would be great if activities could branch out from the lab.

Furthermore, I believe we need to create more connections between the frontlines of NPOs and companies beyond just identifying challenges.

Tanaka: In recent activities, we've had cases where we conducted sessions entirely remotely and successfully guided participants to create an issue book. Compared to before COVID, the environment now allows easier access to remote locations like regional areas, expanding the possibilities for collaboration.

Kurashige: Since this is still a new initiative, I believe it has the potential to evolve into various forms. For instance, we'd be delighted to discover unexpected uses, like organizations utilizing the "Challenge Lab" workshops to drive organizational transformation.

Tanaka: We're already receiving diverse inquiries from companies and organizations. Some cases involve multiple organizations tackling a single challenge together to find solutions. If you feel limited in solving an issue solely within your own company, please feel free to reach out to the "Challenge Lab."

Moving forward, we'll set a monthly theme and introduce many "challenges" and "solutions." Please look forward to future installments!

< Challenge Lab >
Established in 2018 through collaboration between Dentsu Inc. and the Japan NPO Center. This lab aims to foster relationships where NPOs and companies are not just "recipients of support" and "providers of support," but rather "collaborative entities working together to solve social issues."

Guided by the concept "Problem discovery precedes problem solving. Hints lie in the field, not the boardroom," it connects with cutting-edge frontline initiatives addressing social issues nationwide.

It currently provides services in both consulting and business development.

1. Communication/Branding (Sustainable + Field Perspective)
2. &nbsp;Product/Business Development/Platform Development (e.g., service development centered on diversity & inclusion)
3. "Problem Discovery"-Oriented Talent Development Program
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・What's the Waste Problem Caused by Aging? Considering SDGs Through Waste[2020/09/09]
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