Griffith University has announced a series of G20-related initiatives in the build-up to the Leaders Summit in Brisbane in November.

The program of events involves high-level debates on G20 issues plus a range of activities designed to inform university and high school students about the G20 and its role.

“The G20 Leaders Summit offers an excellent platform for Griffith University to lead debate around related issues and prompt informed discussion across the wider community,” Vice Chancellor Professor Ian O’Connor said.

The events include:

  • G20 and Development Conference
  • G20 Debating Competition (involving High School students)
  • G20 Scholars Program
  • G20-themed Lecture Series (involving High School students)
  • Toward Integrity 20
  • East-West Dialogue on Tourism and Chinese Dream

“The quality of the program highlights the calibre of expertise at Griffith University in the G20 sphere. It also demonstrates the university’s focus on community engagement and ensuring Queensland’s general public is part of the G20 discussion this year,” Professor O’Connor said.

“Our students are the global leaders of tomorrow and their involvement and participation in G20 activities will have far-reaching benefits into the future.”

The program’s first instalment is the G20 and Development Conference to be hosted in Brisbane in May. Griffith University and the Lowy Institute for International Policy will bring together leading academics and international experts from organisations including the World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Vision and the OECD for the event.

Also in May members of the Griffith Organised Debating Society will join forces with high school students from Brisbane in a specially-convened G20 Debating Competition. High school students will also be part of the G20 discussion through a series of Griffith Business School lectures on Politics of the Global Economy where they will join university peers for five weeks.

A G20 Scholars Program will be set up offering 20 Griffith students the opportunity to engage with a series of G20-related events between July and November, following an intensive training course.

In September, marking the 25th anniversary of the handing down of the Fitzgerald Inquiry report, Griffith University will host Towards Integrity 20 in conjunction with its annual Fitzgerald Lecture.

A two-day, high-level symposium, Towards Integrity 20 will involve delegates from more than half of the G20 countries aiming to establish new leadership in the area of integrity.

Later in the year, the G20 Leaders Summit in November will provide the backdrop for the first East-West Dialogue on Tourism and the Chinese Dream to be hosted by Griffith University. International tourism experts from Australia and China will explore emerging markets during three days of high level dialogue.

Professor O’Connor said the G20 Program builds on the momentum generated by two key events hosted by Griffith in late 2013. Former Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin and internationally renowned G20 authority Professor John Kirton took part in separate high-level strategic roundtable discussions at Griffith’s Nathan campus.

“Research around G20 policies and the impact of the G20 on Brisbane is ongoing at Griffith, and will continue after the November Summit and the G20 focus turns to Turkey.”