GIN Conference, Geneva 2009

This year the fourth annual Global Issues Network (GIN) Conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland from March 19 through the 21st. Among those participants from our school were myself, and Director of the Center for International Education, Kate Meenan-Waugh. This was not the first contingent of our school to attend such a conference. Just a week earlier, webmaster Mark Schulte attended the second conference in the series, at the American School of Doha. Both faculty members were amazed by this student-led and -organized conference and hope for more participation from our school in the coming years. “Students, including WIS students, need to see that they don’t have to feel overwhelmed when they look at some of the problems confronting the world. There are little things they can do that add up. The GIN conference in Doha really underlined the value of doing what you can, and spreading the word,” said Mr. Schulte

The Global Issues Network was started by teachers and six international schools in Europe. Its mission is clear: “to help students realize that they can make a difference by empowering them to work with their peers internationally to develop solutions for global issues.” Their whole program is based on the renowned High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them by Jean-François Rischard (the former Vice-President of World Bank of Europe, and former speaker and parent at our school).

Three to four conferences are held each year that focus on separate themes such as human rights or the natural environment. It is through these conferences that students from all over the world come together and think of different solutions to the many problems the world faces.

In recent weeks, a GIN conference was held at the Centre International de Conferénces, Genève in Geneva, Switzerland. Hosted by the International School of Geneva, the conference was primarily organized by their GIN club. Most of the 400 participants arrived from Central and Eastern European countries such as Hungary, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Belgium, Italy, United Kingdom, Turkey, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and of course Switzerland. Each day consisted of different student presentations and keynote speakers.

At the conference in Doha, Mr. Schulte particularly enjoyed a presentation by Chiara, a high school senior from Cape Town, South Africa. “She raised awareness for recycling in her school by writing raps about it, kind of like the Soulja Boy movie that some of our Upper School students made last year. She became known as the girl who raps about recycling, and succeeded in making many of the students in her school understand the importance of recycling, without being preachy or nagging,” said Mr. Schulte

However, this conference’s theme being human rights, all presentations and speakers were related to human rights. The speakers included Andy Cunningham, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER), 17 year old abolitionist Zach Hunter, the Deputy CEO/Director of the Global Humanitarian Forum, Martin Frick and many others. Not only were the presentations inspiring, but the younger speakers (Hunter and Cunningham) definitely had lifelong impacts on the students. Knowing that as young as we all are, we can do something to help was definitely encouraging when it came to coming up with our own solutions to these many problems.

Participants arrived at the Geneva conference with research and perspectives on Martin Luther King Junior’s quote, “The hope of a secure and livable word lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood.” Student discussions were then carried out in order to share ideas and information. Towards the end, students gathered in their respective school groups and developed action plans based on what they had learned at the conference. They varied from introducing fair trade coffee to creating disciplined recycling programs in their schools.

Observers from our school loved the experience they gained from these conferences. “The conference left me with a powerful feeling that there are a lot of motivated middle and high school students in the world who are out there making a difference in their communities. It was great to hear the stories that the kids who came to Doha had to tell, especially since most of them were from the Middle East, which I had never visited before. As for the trip – I had a lot of fun meeting students and teachers at the American School of Doha, and was fascinated by the look and feel of the city. I’ll never forget seeing the full moon rise above a mosque outside an old soul,” Mr. Schulte said. Ms. Meenan-Waugh thought the conference was, “fabulous…so exciting to see students meaningfully engaged in all sorts of learning and action having to do with critical global issues.”

Not only was there a learning experience fundamental to this conference, but the International School of Geneva also planned a memorable cultural experience for all of the participants. A traditional cheese fondue dinner accompanied by yodeling and music from the alpenhorn (a six-meter curved wooden horn) acted as a time for students to get to know each other while having an authentic Swiss dinner. A fondue dinner normally consists of two courses: salad/cold meat plate and the fondue. The fondue was brought in a round earthenware pot, hot and bubbling, with pieces of bread and boiled potatoes as the accompaniments for dipping.

WIS is hosting its own First Annual Global Issues Action Institute from June 22-26. “We are hoping that many of the same schools that participate in the GIN conferences (this year they were in Geneva, Doha, and Bangkok) will come to our Summer Institute,” Ms. Meenan-Waugh said. Although our turnout in the other GIN conferences was minimal, we hope to have many of our students attend this one at Tregaron!