Why is Costa Rica ideal for inaugurating the GIN Conference ethos in Central America?  Well, let us count the ways. Geographically, Costa Rica is ideally suited for travel, with its central location, perfectly nestled between North and South America.  We offer a unique opportunity to establish connections amongst students and schools in the entire western hemisphere. Add to this the fact that Costa Rica is world renowned for its commitment to peace, to sustainable environmental policy, to quality education, and to protecting human rights.​

 

​Our Report Card

 

• In 1948, Costa Rica constitutionally (and permanently) abolished its standing armed force to fully focus on education, social welfare, and cultural development.
• Appropriately, because of Costa Rica’s long standing commitment to freedom, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is based here, charged with promoting basic rights and freedoms throughout all the Americas.
• Also, Costa Rica is the only country on the planet to commit to be “Carbon Neutral” by the year 2021.
• Costa Rica has been coined the ‘happiest’ and the ‘greenest’ country in the world by the New Economics Foundation (NEF).
• We are the only Latin American country in the world’s 22 oldest democracies.
• Costa Rica meets all five criteria established by the United Nations Development Program for environmental sustainability, ranking first among all the Americas and fifth in the entire world on their Environmental Performance Index.
• Costa Rica boasts the largest percentage of protected lands of any country in the world at 25% and arrived at a rate of zero deforestation by 2005.
• Ninety percent of Costa Rica’s electrical energy comes from renewable sources, with a goal of 95% by 2014.

Clearly, Costa Rica has been walking the walk, and talking the talk for some time now, setting an example for the world to follow. What better place to bring students to engage the tough issues facing our planet?