Melati Wijsen

YOUTHTOPIA, Netherlands

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.

Sara López Selga

EAIE President, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Spain

Sara is President of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) and Director of International Relations at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain. She is responsible for influencing and implementing internationalisation strategy, promoting agreements and projects for mobility and academic cooperation worldwide, supervising international student services and programme development. Previously, she gained professional experience at the Teaching and Learning Institute of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – UPC) and in Brussels, Belgium, thereby becoming involved in coordinating an EU capacity-building project with Latin America. In 2014, Sara conducted research in international education as a Schuman-Fulbright Scholar in the USA. She received the EAIE Bo Gregersen Award for Best Practice as part of the Network of Catalan Universities. She holds a dual Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences and Sociology and a Master’s in Public and Social Policies from UPF. She also received executive training at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), USA.