The Center for International Development has relaunched its signature annual event, the Global Empowerment Meeting (GEM), realizing important first steps in the center’s ambitious goals to grow the gathering not only in size, but also scope and year-round impact.
Themed around exploring climate solutions at a global scale, the “GEM23: Growing in a Green World” conference at Harvard Kennedy School on May 10-11 was co-hosted by Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and was part of Harvard Climate Action week. The GEM conference brought together more than 160 researchers, public policy officials, private sector leaders, civil society representatives, and philanthropists from 35 countries.
More than 1,300 people from around the world registered to watch live-streamed portions of the programming, which emphasized climate challenges faced by developing countries and included a keynote address by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu.
Year-round Impact
In addition to speeches and panels, the conference also featured four “Climate Incubation Rooms,” which were facilitated by Harvard faculty, practitioners in the climate field, and students. Participants were encouraged to network and develop early-stage research ideas on four topics: sustainability in the Amazon; food security and emerging technologies; evidence-based disaster responses; and solar geoengineering.
Later this year, some of those ideas could become funded research projects, as GEM23 was also the launch platform for the GEM Incubation Fund, which will support collaborations between researchers and practitioners through a collaboration between CID and Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The fund will open for proposals later this summer. Teams that developed research ideas through the fund will report back on their progress next year at GEM24.
The leadup to the conference also included several months of programming, with the launch of CID’s inaugural “Road to GEM” series earlier in the spring. Students played a crucial role in organizing and hosting live events, film screenings, and podcasts with leading climate experts across academia, civil society, and the private sector.