Ford Korea wrapped up the ‘2022 Ford Environmental Assistance Program’ successfully with the ‘Ford Grants Night’ held at Jeongdong 1928 Art Center in Seoul on the 7th. This year’s event was conducted in person for the first time in three years, allowing participant teams to present their results and actively share their thoughts and efforts on environmental issues with attendees.

The ‘2022 Ford Environmental Assistance Program’ began in July under the name ‘We Are GREEN Future’, focusing on various carbon reduction activities related to resource circulation, biodiversity, low-carbon food, carbon offset activities, and carbon absorption activities, with six themes. Nine teams were selected to conduct these activities, each receiving up to 4 million KRW in operational funds.

At the closing event of the 2022 Ford Environmental Assistance Program, ‘Ford Grants Night’, the supported organizations shared their results and reflections from the program and exchanged genuine opinions regarding environmental issues. On this day, broadcaster Tyler Rasch and Hong Soo-yeol, director of the Resource Circulation Social Economy Research Institute, held an environmental talk concert addressing the topics and .

Participant Park Kyubin from ‘Neoulneoul Studio’, which took part in this year’s funded activities, shared, “Through the Ford Environmental Assistance Program, we were able to explore and put into practice various activities to respond to the climate crisis” and expressed hope that “in the future, more diverse participants will engage in the Ford Environmental Assistance Program to conduct various environmental protection activities.”

In her remarks, No Sun-hee, Executive Vice President of Marketing Communications at Ford Korea, stated, “Ford Korea, which conducts various social contribution activities, has been continuously supporting environmental initiatives of various organizations for the past 21 years,” adding, “Through the Ford Environmental Assistance Program, Ford Korea will continue to support diverse activities of individuals and organizations working towards a sustainable future.”

Initiated in 2002, the ‘Ford Environmental Assistance Program’ has been consistently operating for 21 years, supporting individuals and organizations engaged in ecological and environmental protection in Korea, contributing over 700 million KRW to more than 151 organizations during this period. Moreover, to enhance professionalism and fairness, the Ford Environmental Assistance Program has been co-hosted with the Korea Foundation for Environmental Protection, the country’s first environmental-focused public foundation, for the past four years.

Recognizing the importance of sustainable development through environmental protection, Ford launched its first environmental protection program in Europe in 1983 under the name ‘Henry Ford Environmental Protection Award’. The program was introduced domestically in 2002, coinciding with the beginning of discussions on corporate social responsibility, and has supported various community-based eco-friendly projects.

Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr