Speakers
Melati Wijsen
Plenary
The official start of the conference week, the Opening Plenary festively kicks off the programme with a warm welcome from EAIE President Sara López Selga. It will be followed by the opening keynote, Melati Wijsen, an internationally recognised change-maker. At just 12 years old, Melati co-founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags with her younger sister, launching a grassroots movement that ultimately helped ban plastic bags, straws and styrofoam on the island of Bali. Over the past decade, she has become a leading advocate for environmental education and policy change, speaking at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Davos, and the Earthshot Prize. Melati’s keynote will inspire us to think more consciously and act sustainably.
Melati Wijsen is an international full-time changemaker and embodiment of youthful energy. With a passion for the natural world and a commitment to protecting it for future generations, she founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags with her younger sister in 2013 at 12. After years of committed campaigning by many, Melati and her community celebrated the passing of a ban on plastic bags, straws and styrofoam on the island of Bali.
Melati has developed a passion for environmental education and policy change. This led her in 2020 to the World Economic Forum as part of their first-ever official youth cohort. She also sat on the inaugural Expert Advisory Panel for the Earthshot Prize. In 2021, she premiered her film, Bigger Than Us, at the Cannes Film Festival.
Building on ten years of change-making, Melati continues to share what she’s learnt in classrooms, boardrooms, and world stages through her company, YOUTHTOPIA. She is an in-demand speaker on the global stage, including opening for President Barack Obama at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. She has also given two TED talks and spoken at the UN headquarters in New York, all before turning 21.
