GIN was founded 15 years ago at the International School of Luxembourg and has since become a global phenomenon with over 100,000 members spanning five continents. Its purpose is to empower young people to collaborate locally, regionally, and globally in order to create sustainable solutions for global issues.
Due to its success, the annual conference attracts a whole host of people; this year it includes visiting students from China, America and Europe, high-profile keynote speakers, community leaders, educators, subject experts, and not for profit organisations (NGOs).
This year eight Luxembourgish organisations with a strong focus on sustainability and social initiatives will attend, with many of them also presenting. They include:
- Inspiring More Sustainability (IMS) - A leading network on corporate social responsibility.
- Open Home - An initiative encouraging people to open their homes to refugees.
- TechnoGreen SA - A developer and distributor of eco-innovative products including waterless urinals. (The Techno Green waterless urinal installations saved over 13 million liters of water in Luxembourg in 2017)
- Time for Equality - An NGO dedicated to promoting equality, inclusion and social justice.
- Innpact - An organisation providing finance for sustainable projects.
- PwC and Banque de Luxembourg - Financial organisations encouraging sustainability and social initiatives.
The high-profile keynote speakers include:
- Zoe Tabary of Thomson Reuters Foundation - a journalist and editor who runs www.braced.org<http://www.braced.org> - a news site on climate extremes and disasters and reports on climate adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, migration, and women's rights, amongst other topics.
- Susanna Worth of United World Schools, who is dedicated to improving education for some of the world's poorest children by building schools, training teachers, and delivering a free basic education to children living in remote and marginalised communities.
Time and time again this conference highlights Luxembourg as not only a platform for driving the discussion on global issues, but as a place for devising real plans on paper that are then implemented by students who want to make positive sustainable changes.