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Activities in Fiscal 2009

Overview

The Toyota Foundation's founding philosophy is "to contribute to the realization of a human-oriented society for the sake of greater human happiness." To broadcast this philosophy to society through its grant programs as a more practical message, the Foundation sets "realizing a sustainable society" and "community revitalization and coexistence" as common goals of its three publicly solicited grant programs.

"Realizing a sustainable society" is an important theme for the international community as it addresses such issues as the finite nature of resources and environmental problems. It will help to promote partnership (collaboration/cooperation) with other foundations in Japan and with overseas and international organizations.

With society facing a variety of issues, the aim of "community revitalization and coexistence" is to create richly dynamic, living communities by focusing on people's efforts to support one another.

Grant Programs

In fiscal 2009 the Foundation will implement the following three publicly solicited programs in line with these two common goals.

Grant Program for Community Activities

Under the basic theme of "Forming a Sustainable Framework Within the Locality: Toward a New Community of Self-support and Symbiosis," this program supports ambitious projects with local residents as the main actors creating frameworks that will lead to concrete solutions to issues their communities face in the course of their revitalization and advancement. There are three categories; (A) revitalizing the local community, (B) symbiosis in the community, and (C) fostering young generations to carry the community forward. This program is limited to activities in Japan.

Asian Neighbors Program

The Toyota Foundation has relaunched the Asian Neighbors Network Program, which has run for six years, as the Asian Neighbors Program. This fiscal year the program is soliciting practical, problem-solving projects premised on the importance of networks.

This program began as a subprogram of the Research Grant Program in fiscal 2003 and was made independent as the Asian Neighbors Network Program in fiscal 2005. In 2009 the Toyota Foundation is relaunching it as the Asian Neighbors Program. Under the basic theme of "Toward Community Formation Based on Mutual Reliance and Collaboration," the program solicits practical projects that aim to resolve the issues faced by Asian communities from the perspectives of "relationships with nature" and "relationships with people."

Research Grant Program

This flagship program of the Toyota Foundation has provided grants for over 2,000 publicly solicited projects since it was initiated in 1975. Since fiscal 2008 the program has been focusing on "Revitalizing Local Communities Under Globalization," based on the basic theme of "The Search for the Richness of Human Life and Activity." Special priority is given to research projects that harness the dynamism of communities.

In addition to the above, the Foundation also operates the following two programs for which applications are not publicly solicited.

Communication with Society Program

This is a program that transmits and disseminates the results of grant projects to society. The Foundation selects candidate projects through monitoring and other means and cooperates with grant recipients to ensure that results are transmitted and disseminated to society in an effective manner.

Initiative Program

This program supports projects that are likely to contribute to the development of new grant programs, such as projects undertaken in partnership with the Foundation's own survey activities or study groups; current grant projects judged through monitoring and other means to have the potential to produce greater results; and joint projects to create broad networks with other organizations. It also includes the Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program (SEASREP). SEASREP is jointly funded by the Toyota Foundation and the Japan Foundation and is planned and administered by the SEASREP Foundation.