Your Guide to Gross Global Happiness 2023!
Welcome to the Gross Global Happiness (GGH) Summit! Launched in 2019, GGH is an initiative born out of a partnership between the Centre for Executive Education at the University for Peace, established by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and the World Happiness Academy. With participants from all around the world, the event gathers experts in distinct subject areas of well-being to offer inspirational and practical sessions that span the scope of happiness research.
This year, Gross Global Happiness will be held both online and onsite at the UPEACE campus, and this website is designated specifically for those who will be with us in-person at the UPEACE campus in Costa Rica. Get ready for 3 packed days of learning, growth and deep connection!
Important Information:
Agenda: Please find the latest version of the agenda here. We have 40 AMAZING sessions, 3 keynote speaker session, and plenty of time built in to network and connect with fellow attendees!
Who will be there? Check out our list of presenters!
Session Descriptions: We’ve packed quite a bit of content into these 3 days. Sessions will be running in parallel, stay posted for session descriptions to start choosing which you’ll be joining! Please note that most sessions are highly interactive!
Happy hour: Join us for a kick-off happy hour starting at 5:30 on Thursday, March 9th at the Murazzi restaurant located in Plaza Itskatzú.
For those traveling into Costa Rica
- Airport – hotel transfer upon arrival – This is for those who registered with the travel package that includes your arrival transfer. If you have not yet sent me your arrival info, please do so we can coordinate for this! To pick up your transport, when you exit the airport, walk all the way down to the right and you’ll see a small restaurant called el Malinche. Once there you will find a driver holding a sign with the Courtyard by Marriott logo. Should there be any changes to your arrival information, please communicate this to the following 2 email addresses- Krissia.villalta@marriott.com and amarten@upeace.org .
**Special Announcement! Gross Global Happiness onsite counts toward our Diploma in Social Innovation or Global Leadership Diploma, a 5-course program designed for innovators and leaders at all levels. If you love what you’ve seen so far and want to continue your learning journey, by the end of this event you will be 20% of the way to completing your Diploma. Email centre@upeace.org for more details.
Please select how you will participate:
Contact Information: Many of you will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Escazú. Should you need to contact the hotel prior to or upon arrival, simply write to Krissia.villalta@marriott.com or call +506 2588-4300. Should you need to contact a member of the UPEACE Centre team, write to centre@upeace.org or call +506 8719-0449.
Parking Directions at UPEACE: If you are driving, be sure to check Google Maps or WAZE – simply enter ‘UPEACE’ in all caps to find us. Upon arrival, you will be met by a guard and directed to a nearby parking lot.
Daily Transport: For those of you staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Escazú, a bus will pick you up each morning to go to campus. Exact times and bus details coming soon.
What to wear: Please wear whatever you feel most comfortable in, whether that’s more on the business or more on the casual side. It gets warm on campus, and there will be some walking from session to session, so we recommend that you wear comfortable shoes. While it can be warm, it also tends to get quite windy in March, so you might want to bring along a light jacket!
What to bring: Come ready to learn and engage! You do not need a laptop, though you may want to bring one. You might also want notebooks, pens/pencils, and whatever else you think you might need to get the most out of this experience.
Video Resources: Below are a few resources to help you get inspired and ready for the event!
- Why Costa Rica Is One Of The Happiest Countries In The World
- The Happy Planet Index (TED talk by Nic Marks).
Get ready for an amazing conference! The session types that you’ll be able to partake in include –
- Workshops: A 75-minute interactive and hands-on workshop allows you to experience a new idea, skill, methodology or take on a key question facing the world today.
- Ignite Sessions: Also highly interactive, the 45-minute-hour Ignite Session takes a deep dive into a specific topic, leading you through an engaging activity or discussion.
- Be the Change talk: A 15-minute Be the Change talk is modeled after the TED-style talk and is designed to awaken curiosity and share insight into a particular theme. Though these talks will offer a chance for Q&A at the end, they are the least interactive of the session types.
UPEACE and the Centre for Executive Education
Located in Costa Rica, the University for Peace (UPEACE) was established in December 1980 as a Treaty Organization by the United Nations General Assembly. UPEACE is the only university in the United Nations system authorized to offer academic degrees in the field of peace and conflict studies.
Within the University for Peace, the UPEACE Centre for Executive Education was launched to deliver dynamic workshops, seminars and training courses. In a world that needs more changemakers, these courses are designed to empower people and provide them with the skills, mindsets and networks to make a positive impact on the world.
**Special Announcement! Gross Global Happiness onsite counts toward our Diploma in Social Innovation or Global Leadership Diploma, 5-course programs designed for innovators and leaders at all levels. If you love what you’ve seen so far and want to continue your learning journey, by the end of this event you will be 20% of the way to completing your Diploma. Email centre@upeace.org for details.
Open enrollment courses offered by the UPEACE Centre: Click here
Get to know the Centre Team: Click here
World Happiness Academy and World Happiness Fest
The World Happiness Academy and Fest are the world’s largest, most diverse, polycentric and comprehensive forums and networks of happiness and well-being experts, thought leaders, activists, shapers, and game-changers. Founded by Luis Gallardo. Get access to monthly meetups online with the Gross Global Happiness Community and hundreds of hours of content recorded from the worldwide leading experts on happiness and wellbeing. With presence in more than 60 cities around the world, our higher purpose is to realize a world with a free, peaceful, conscious and happy humanity. #TenBillionHappy by 2050.
