Manifesto for more equitable and secured access to food

As an impact driven hub, we are thrilled to share a moment commemorating and signaling a massive step towards more equitable and secured access to food for the people of Geneva. This is particularly following COVID-19, where thousands of people in Geneva found themselves in a situation of food insecurity.

Following months of preparation, the first "Forum Demopratique 2023 on the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty" was finally launched on the 19th of April 2023 in Refettorio Geneva. The three days forum was organized by Chef Walter el Nagar, founder of MATER Fondazione, and in collaboration with FIAN International the Global Shapers Community of Geneva, la fondazione pistoletto, and the Social Gastronomy Movement.

The forum followed the method of Demopraxis" by Fondazione Pistoletto, founded by the influential artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. It strived to engage experts and various stakeholders from the public/private sector, academia, and direct beneficiaries to demo-practically and constructively create a political proposal and launch a campaign to support the inclusion of the right to food and food sovereignty in the canton's constitution. That is in light of the recent parliamentary initiative to include the Right to food adopted by the grand council (cantonal parliament). The population of Geneva will be asked to vote on this inclusion in June 2023.

It is with honor that we share that the head of the coordination and facilitation of the forum was our newly joined shaper, Masa Awad.

““Being part of impactful moments stays with you forever.””

— Geneva Hub

Here she signs the manifesto outcome of the forum, which will be introduced into the Geneva constitution if the people of Geneva vote in favor of this inclusion.

MEET THE SHAPER

Masa AWAD

Shapers at summer Davos 2018

From the 18th to the 20th of September, the city of Tianjin hosted the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, the foremost global summit on innovation, science and technology, promoting entrepreneurship in the global public interest. It brought together more than 2,000 leaders from government, business, science and civil society from all over the world. With a group of fellow shapers from all over the world, our shapers Giulia Zanzi and Giovanni Porcellana were invited by the World Economic Forum to represent the Global Shapers Community! They joined three-day intense discussions and panels gathering forward-looking minds to explore the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolutions and take value-driven actions.One of the main themes of Summer Davos was Artificial Intelligence and how it will change our life.Giulia summarized the takeaways of this in three main points:

1. AI is enhancing our understanding of the world.Hardware enhancement is allowing machines to compute big data and to learn: this is at the foundation of deep learning, and is unquestionably behind the explosion of AI from a developer’s laboratory to its massive exploitation with real-time applications.

2. AI is changing the power structure. Artificial intelligence is a unique opportunity to bring equality and overcome infrastructure limitations. We need to make sure that AI is not increasing the gap between high-skilled and low-skilled workers but is actually empowering the broader population.

3. The importance of human skills in an AI world. Skills needed are changing rapidly and the best skill to learn is actually the “skill of learning”.

Giulia and Giovanni, together with other Global Shapers who attended the event, were invited to participate in an exclusive session with Jack Ma, founder of the global giant Alibaba. Jack Ma shared the idea that “heart, values, and intellectual thinking are what can’t be replaced by technology”.

This was probably the biggest lesson from the Summit: the Fourth industrial Revolution needs to be human centric. All technologies need to be used in a beneficial way and artificial intelligence needs to be at the service of humans.

Are you willing to read more about the Annual Meeting of the New Champions?

Have a look at the articles below!

• 10 highlights from AMNC18

• How AI will change your life: 3 lessons from Summer Davos

• Globalization is unstoppable and we must fix its flaws. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s speech in Tianjin.

• Goodbye drugs, hello electroceuticals. The top 10 emerging technologies

Youth Voices at Davos

On January 23-26, under the theme “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”, the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) took place in Davos.

The meeting brought together leaders from business, government, international organizations and civil society in order to promote stronger multi-stakeholder collaboration and address the political, economic and societal challenges of our times.

50 Shapers - the #Davos50, the best young minds in the world - had the chance to bring their voices and ideas to Davos, as representatives of the Global Shapers Community. The Geneva Hub took part to some of the most amazing moments and initiatives of the Annual Meeting.

To start with, on January 19-21, the Hub went to Zurich to be part of the Pre-Davos Summit 2018. This event was hosted by the Zurich Hub with the goal of gathering together the #Davos50 and many Shapers from the Swiss Hubs. Shapers had the opportunity to actively engage in discussions on “How to use technology to create positive impact in our communities”.

For instance, they worked together in workshop sessions with the aim of creating and scaling local and global projects focused on Integration & Tolerance, Nutrition & Food Waste, Healthcare, Climate/Finance, Future Mobility, and the Future of Work.

After the Pre-Davos Summit, the actual WEF Annual Meeting started on January 23rd. This year Zineb El Ouazzani, Vice-President of the Geneva Hub, was selected as one of the #Davos50 to officially represent the voice of youth in Davos!

As a forward-looking female leader and entrepreneur, she has always put her passions and skills to good use by supporting organizations and projects focused on healthcare, education, e-waste and entrepreneurship at the local and global level. Various experiences brought her to be one of the 30 young talents for the Middle East and Africa’s MACH program (Microsoft Academy for College Hires). Recently, she moved to Geneva where she has undertaken a new amazing professional adventure. Indeed, Zineb has decided to apply her relentless can-do attitude to her start-up Rising Stars – a company whose purpose is to help millennials to thrive as they enter the workforce.

At Davos, she had the opportunity to share projects achieved by the Geneva Hub and bring forward her expertise in different topics related to the 4th industrial revolution and its impact on employability and on the transformation of workplaces. She met with Ellyn Shook (Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer of Accenture), to talk about what being a Shaper means as well as about how to tackle challenges in local communities. If you lost it, you can re-watch the video of the discussion at the following link!

Furthermore, together with other fellow Global Shapers, Zineb had a great discussion with Jean-Philippe Courtois (Executive VP and President, Microsoft Global Sales) and Mary Snapp (Corporate VP and Lead for Microsoft Philanthropies) on how to leverage Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain to drive the digital conversation and shape the world for future generations.

Last but not least, she had the opportunity to meet and be inspired by Jack Ma (Alibaba Group) during the “Meet the Leader” session in Davos.

In this occasion, the Global Shapers had the chance to ask him questions about the impact and risks of Artificial Intelligence and new technologies and on the matter of gender equality. Jack Ma explained the possible risks deriving by the recent scientific and technological discoveries and underlined his optimism in thinking that it will be possible to fight and win against hunger, diseases, global warming and discrimination.

To know more about our initiatives, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

rE-Use it!

Geneva Shapers –rE-Use Gare Cornavin train station

Creating impact is about finding a space where change can happen. For many Global Shaper Hubs around the world this space is found where there is an urgent need for change: climate change, migration, education, security, and public health, etc. For us, Global Shapers in Geneva, this space for positive impact was found in a trashcan – literally! – and decided to tackle the problem of electronic waste (also known as e-waste).

Switzerland is the 2nd highest e-waste generator per capita (26.3 kg/inh.) according to the United Nations Global e-waste monitor. Although in Switzerland - as in most European countries - there is detailed regulation regarding collection and e-waste processing, Swiss citizens are generally unaware of the impact of their “e-trash”.

This habit is at the hearth of the problem and here is why we created project rE-Use.

rE-Use project originally started with the idea to embed educational contents in second-hand devices. But later, it evolved as we realized the impact of re-utilizing and recycling devices at the national level. Through rE-Use, we aim to create community awareness around the e-waste issue. Every year, thousands of electronic devices are tossed by corporations and individuals, just to be replaced by new ones. At the same time, there is a huge demand of devices to be used by non-profit organizations for educational and operational purposes. So, before any old but functioning device is thrown into a trash can, we decided to interrupt the vicious cycle and give a second life to those devices.

Thanks to the 2015 Shaping a Better Future challenge grant, sponsored by Coca Cola, the Geneva Global Shapers prepared an awareness raising campaign to invite individuals and organizations to donate their devices. Over the last year, we reached out to our employers, friends and other people in our network. And they did respond to our call: Uber has actively supported our online campaign, while P&G and Salesforce have donated some of their corporate desktops. Many individuals have also donated their laptops after seeing our Facebook and Twitter posts.

On 21st January, we extended our call for donations at Geneva’s main train station, Gare Cornavin: during a 6-hour in-person outreach campaign, we directly reached out to more than 700 people about the important issue of e-waste, and explained how they can help their community by giving their devices a second life. Any computer, cellphone, monitor, tablet, iPod that is “useless” to many, for the Geneva Shapers represents a unique resource to improve the life of those most in need. It could be an opportunity for amigrant to learn the local language, or for an unemployed person to learn new skills that will enable her to find a new job. rE-Use is about empowering people by giving your tech device a second chance.

In our digital communications campaign, we reached out a total of 177,000 people counting together website visitors, social media visitors, live-stream viewers and partners’ online channels reach. Many of our donors mentioned they saw our ad and wanted to contribute to the project.

Do you want to help local Swiss organizations by donating your old functioning device or replicate the project in your Hub?Join us on our project page and get in touch! Let’s shape our community together!

See all photos and live-streamed video of the event STOP E-WASTE! on our Facebook page

EdCamp Ukraine 2016

During the Annual Curators Meeting 2015, my dear friend Olexandr, Curator of the Kharkiv Hub, invited me to be a speaker at his EdCamp Ukraine event in April 2016. I have to admit that I accepted without really knowing all the details of the event. The only thing I knew was that it was dedicated to empowering and inspiring teachers, and that alone was enough for me to say “Yes!”

I am so happy today that I was able to experience and report not only the extraordinary success of this initiative but also the warmth, love and hospitality of the Kharkiv Shapers and people. Staying in Ukraine was like rediscovering a part of my family that I had not seen for a long time: pure pleasure and joy!

The EdCamp (un)conference was organized in two days, and several Shapers took active part in the discussions as speakers and moderators: Katya and Daria from Kharkiv, Liliya from Lviv, Yauheni from Minsk, Yori from Amsterdam and myself. We brought new ideas, inspiration and energy to 500 teachers - passionate individuals who strive to raise, prepare and inspire their students to become great citizens - from all over Ukraine.

Among the other contributors, Yori and I gave insights on technology and innovation, new trends and possibilities (from 3D printing to particle accelerators in medicine; from robotics and genomics to the use of fundamental research in society), to highlight what the future will look like so that the teachers, in turn, can convey it to their students. Finally, the Shapers organized a special celebration for the 5th anniversary of our beautiful Community, involving teachers and young students and making us realize, once again, how powerful this incredible Community can be.

On the day after the conference, the wonderful Jane and Katya brought Yori and myself to visit the Bogodukhiv Orphanage for mentally and physically disabled children outside Kharkiv. There Yori shared his moving and inspiring story to show them how, even in the most adverse conditions, you should keep fighting for your dreams and what you think you deserve from life, and never give up.

"You have to change what you cannot accept, you have to accept what you cannot change, but is only you that has to decide what to accept in your life"

Even now, while writing, I get goose bumps and feel the strong emotions evoked by his powerful story.

Then we returned to Kharkiv, where we met young people with different types of disabilities, members of the Charitable Foundation called “Hesed Shaare-Tikvah” and some of them participants of the Kharkiv city public organization “Creavita”. The conversation that started after Yori's presentation was very touching and just the expressions on the faces of the audience - of excitement, hope and joy - were enough to make the whole day unforgettable.

Finally we also had a brainstorming meeting with the Livelihood Development Programme team and we ended the day with the lovely company of Katya’s family.

I left Ukraine with an intense feeling of gratitude for these beautiful people, with big hearts and shining eyes, fully committed towards their community, who made me feel part of their family and always at home. Dyakuyu!

This article is a personal reflection of the author, Giovanni Porcellana, Global Shaper at Geneva Hub

#shapersacm Media Team 2015

This week, from 13 to 17 August 2015, over 450 curators will gather together in Geneva for the Global Shapers Annual Curators Meeting (ACM), hosted and organized by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Every year, the ACM aims to energize and strengthen the Global Shapers community. The curators of each city hub in the network have the opportunity to exchange project ideas, interact with WEF staff on pressing global issues, and strengthen cross-hub links.

For the Geneva Hub, this will be an important week, and this year more so, given the exceptional supporting role that it will be playing. In fact, the Geneva Shapers are proud to announce that, for the first time, they have been tasked to assist the Forum in its Media activity during the ACM. More specifically, the hub established an ACM Media Team, composed by about 20 of its shapers and structured in the following way:

This team will focus its work on three main areas:

• Production of an informative, fun, and easy to read daily ACM Magazine

• Organization of social events for the curators, to get to know each other better and let them discover Geneva

• Social media action, to engage shapers at home and inspire those outside the community

The daily ACM Magazine will provide curators with a recap of the previous day, in-depth interviews with some Young Global Leaders (who will be also in Geneva from 10 to 14 August for the YGL Annual Summit), interviews with other fellow curators, information on upcoming events, what to do in Geneva, and much more.

In order to prepare for this special week, the Geneva Hub organized an intensive weekend retreat at the Maison de la Paix, thanks to the continued hospitality of Interpeace. Everyone in the team put a lot of energy and passion in the different preparation activities: from writing articles, to graphic design, video training, social media, and interviews scheduling, just to mention a few.

The Geneva Hub Media Team is very excited to welcome all the amazing curators attending the ACM and is looking forward to continue shaping the world together.

For updates on the ACM 2015 follow the Geneva hub on Twitter @GenevaShapers and Facebook at Geneva Hub, in addition to the official Global Shapers social media accounts.Use the official hashtag #ShapersACM. Other hashtags include #ACM2015 & #ShapeTheWorld.

Photo credit: Geneva Hub

It's time for peace!

“It’s time for peace!” is the very appropriate theme of this year’s Geneva Peace Talks in light of daily news about rising levels of conflict and violence in many parts of the world. The Geneva hub of the Global Shapers is again partnering with the Geneva Peace Talks to inspire people from all walks of life to take action for peace.

Many of today’s crises do not only require holistic solutions, but also point to the need for greater efforts to prevent the eruption of violent conflict in the first place. To that end, fostering the inclusion of all different social groups in a society is an important endeavour. Making sure everyone has access to economic opportunities, political participation, social connections and feels a sense of belonging is not only a moral imperative, but a prerequisite for everyone to enjoy peace.

At the same time, the prevailing sense of gloom also blinds us to the strengths that reside in many societies which experience conflict. As one of Interpeace’s local Somali peacebuilders once said “A failed state does not mean a failed people”.

Co-organized by the United Nations at Geneva, Interpeace, and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, the Geneva Peace Talks expands the space for dialogue about building peace and resolving conflict. Through individual Peace Talks, speakers from different sectors and countries share their personal stories, ideas and practical solutions to resolve and prevent conflict.

The Geneva Peace Talks also illustrate that everyone of us has a role to play for peace to take root in our societies. Peace is not only a task of governments, the international community, and NGOs. Peace is not only something conflict-affected countries strive for. Peace is everyone’s business, no matter where you live and what you do.

In this vein, the Geneva hub of the Global Shapers is engaging with local organisations in Geneva who support marginalised communities and try to foster their integration into society, such as l’Espace Solidaire de Paquis, La Roseraie etc.

Have you thought of reaching out to someone in your environment who is experiencing any form of exclusion? It’s time for peace! Get inspired by the Geneva Peace Talks.

This year’s Geneva Peace Talks take place at the Palais des Nations on 18 September from 16.30h to 18.00h. Registration is required and will open on 17 August. The event is also live webcast. For more information or to tune in, go to http://peacetalks.net/peace_talks/geneva-peace-talks-2015/

Photo credit: Interpeace

Geneva hub hosts its Annual Workshop

On a beautiful, sunny (and very hot!) Sunday, 12 July, in Geneva, the Geneva hub hosted its Annual Workshop. Thanks to the hospitality of Interpeace, the Shapers were able to run a day-long workshop in their beautiful office in the Maison de la Paix, a brand new building part of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies located at the heart of International Geneva.

The workshop served as a great opportunity to discuss the values of the hub and how they relate to the broader mission of the Global Shapers Community. Following an interactive group exercise, three main values were identified: Impact (Our projects are driven by the real needs of our community); Connector (Being based in Geneva we have a special responsibility in bringing the other hubs and shapers together); Growth (We learn from each other to become better leaders.

Through this workshop, the Geneva hub was also able to welcome and get to know some of the new shapers that have just been recruited. Moreover, having a couple of teambuilding activities in the fantastic Perle du Lac parc served as a perfect way to strengthen ties between shapers.

Finally, on this occasion shapers had the opportunity to discuss how to scale up existing projects, as well as to propose new ones for the upcoming months. Some of the most popular project areas suggested were education, innovation, technology and food.

In addition, shapers discussed their engagement in the upcoming Annual Curators Meeting, held in Geneva from 13 to 17 Geneva. Over 400 curators will be attending this important meeting and we are looking forward to welcoming all them.

Overall, the workshop was very successful and the hub decided to host it every six month, as a way to ensure coordination and share information on our activities. All the shapers who participated were very happy with the outcome and felt even more motivated to contribute to the activities of the hub for a positive impact in our local community and beyond.

A new Hub is part of the community: the Lyon Hub!

“With great power comes great responsibility”

I have always considered this quote, from a well-known hero of our times, as a guiding one for me and my life. This applies to the Global Shapers Community as well: it is the root of our existence and the leading engine of our actions.

I believe that, in this case, “power” means experience, knowledge, passion, while “responsibility” means giving back. For example, mentoring projects - as the Geneva hub’s one - or in general Shapers supporting and assisting other hubs in their path toward growth and success are great ways of giving back to our local and global Community.T

hat is exactly why I had no hesitations in going to Lyon when Laurent Javaudin, the Founding Curator, invited me to attend their official inauguration.

It was an absolute honor to represent Geneva and Turin and to be part of this historical moment for France, as the newborn hub has already become an official association according to the French law and a couple of projects are already in the pipeline. Four highly motivated people, Zoé, Jimmy, Alexandre and Laurent, are ready to shape their city and make it a reference model for this great nation. And I am sure they will do a great job!

Headquartered in one of the most problematic districts in the city that happens to also be one of its most innovative coworking spaces, the new hub is in the perfect location to concentrate impact and deliver results that can positively affect the community. The proposed hub projects are focused on educational and social issues, both original to the hub and imported from other hubs.

On that beautiful evening, the topics discussed ranged from the entire Shapers Community to the local problems of Lyon such as youth unemployment and integration. We also talked about structuring and creating the foundation of the new hub. In particular, we were able to take into account best practices - and errors - from other cities and accordingly tailor the rules regarding recruitment, projects, activities as well as team building events and general hub life.

Personally, it was a highly enriching experience and I am grateful to Laurent and the Lyon hub for having hosted me and made me part of their new family. Merci beaucoup Mes Amis ! Un grand futur vous attend !

An important day at the Swiss Parliament

On Tuesday, 16 June, a group of Shapers from Geneva, Zurich and Bern had the great opportunity to visit the Swiss Parliament, also known as Federal Palace, in Bern. The purpose of this event was to provide shapers with a better understanding of the Swiss parliamentary system and to foster interactions between Swiss hubs and local politicians.

This special visit was organized by four Swiss Young Global Leaders (YGLs): Congresswoman Christa Markwalder from the Canton of Berne (YGL 2011), Congressman Guillaume Barazzone from the Canton of Geneva (YGL 2015), Senator Pascale Bruderer Wyss from the Canton of Aargau (YGL 2009) and Congressman Thomas Aeschi from the Canton of Zurich (YGL 2014), all of whom are involved in politics and are affiliated with four different parties. This visit, which represents the first YGL event of the year in Switzerland, was also attended by other YGL alumni, including Christoph Sutter (YGL 2009), Samuel Elia (YGL 2012), and Georges Kern (YGL 2005).

Two exceptional guides, Pascale and Christa, accompanied Shapers and YGLs. In addition to explaining how the Parliament works and describing the beautiful art of the palace, they were also happy to talk about the reasons why they chose this career and share interesting insights about their personal experiences in politics.

Pascale is a member of the Social Democratic Party and has been a Member of the Parliament of Switzerland since 2002. She started her career in politics motivated by the need to secure equal rights for people with disabilities. Her main focus lies on energy policy, social services and education.

Christa started her political career as a Member of the Municipal Council of Burgdorf and the Parliament of the Canton of Berne. In 2003, she was elected Member of the National Council, the House of Representatives in the Swiss Parliament, for the Liberal Democratic Party. She currently co-chairs various parliamentary groups on renewable energy, ecologically sustainable economies, relations with Eastern Europe and promotion of voluntary work.

Given the international nature of the Geneva Hub, this visit was particularly helpful to get Geneva Shapers closer to the Swiss community and have a better impact through our projects locally. It also represented a fantastic opportunity to strengthen ties between YGLs and Shapers across Switzerland.  To continue along this path, the Geneva Hub is excited to host Shapers from Bern and Zurich on 11 July to work together and gather new ideas on how to improve our own communities.

We have summarized a few interesting facts about the Parliamentary system in Switzerland. Enjoy the read!

• The Federal Assembly is bicameral, composed of the National Council and the Council of States. The houses have identical powers.

• The National Council has 200 members elected in their canton of residence for a four-year term. The number of seats allocated to each canton is based on their relative populations.

• The Council of States has 46 members elected for a four-year term according to cantonal rules. Each canton has two seats, with the exception of Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Appenzell-Innerrhoden and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden, which have one seat each.

• The Federal Assembly possesses the federal government's legislative power, along with the separate constitutional right of citizen's initiative. For a bill to become law, it must be passed by both houses.

• The Federal Assembly normally convenes in Bern four times a year, in spring, summer, autumn and winter. These ordinary sessions last for three weeks and are open to the public.

• On average, members of both chambers devote around 60% of their working hours to their parliamentary duties; most of them have a career not related to the Parliament.

• Switzerland's National Day is Open Day at the Parliament Building. On 1 August, the presidents of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly traditionally address the public and answer their questions.