G Adventures Seeks Global Ideas to Solve Local Issues

TORONTO, April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- What will you do today, for tomorrow? This is the question being asked in a global initiative seeking ideas to generate positive change in the world.

The G Project, powered by G Adventures and its non-profit foundation Planeterra, encourages people to submit ideas that will help solve social and environmental issues at a local level.

Submissions will be collated and showcased on the G Project website and the four people with the ideas with the greatest potential will be invited to pitch to a panel of high-profile judges in Costa Rica. The person with the idea the judges believe will have the most positive impact will receive a US$25,000 development grant and the backing of Planeterra to bring their project to life.

Participants can register their ideas up until June 3, 2013 in one of four categories: Community, Freedom, Beauty or Knowledge. Entrants must complete a questionnaire identifying the critical need, the impact their idea will have and the feasibility of execution. Opinions on the ideas submitted will be publicly canvassed online and a list of 16 will be announced on June 4, 2013.

A panel of thought leaders, innovators and social entrepreneurs, including Lonely Planet's Tony Wheeler and Dr. Jane Goodall, will then select a shortlist of four finalists based on a set of criteria that favour small-scale, sustainable ideas that focus on local communities and have a strong social element.

The four finalists will be announced on June 24, 2013 and they will then be flown out to the inaugural Summit in the Jungle in Costa Rica in September. Here they will hone their ideas before pitching them to G Adventures' founder Bruce Poon Tip and a selection of judges.

"The G Project is more than traveller philanthropy or charitable giving. It's a unique initiative designed to bring people from different backgrounds together to lead, build and foster positive change all over the world," says Poon Tip.

"The G Project was devised as a means to help and enable aspiring change-makers to take their idea from conception to action and impact."

Meet the Panel

• Braulio Dias - Assistant Secretary General of the UN & United Nations Executive Secretary on Biological Diversity
• Jane Goodall - Founder, Jane Goodall Institute; Humanitarian; Primatologist; Conservationist; Author
• Jonathan Tourtellot - Founding Director of National Geographic Centre for Sustainable Destinations; Writer Editor
• Cameron Sinclair - Co-founder, Architecture for Humanity
• Tony Wheeler - Co-founder of Lonely Planet; Traveller; Entrepreneur
• Les Stroud - Star of the TV series Survivorman; Filmmaker; Outdoor Adventurer
• Wade Davis - Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic; Anthropologist
• Jennifer Adams - Founder & Executive Director of Places We Go; Filmmaker
• Jordan Romero - Youth Health Advocate; Mountaineer; Fundraiser

The winner will be announced on September 24, 2013 at the Future of Tourism event in Toronto, Canada.

For more information please visit: www.thisisyourplanet.com.

About G Adventures

G Adventures is an adventure travel pioneer offering the widest selection of affordable small-group tours, safaris and expeditions to more than 100 countries on all continents. It was the first adventure travel company to offer 100% guaranteed departures in 2013. Powered by an international team of passionate travellers, the award-winning trips embrace authentic accommodation, exotic cuisine and local transport to put travelers on a first-name basis with the planet's people, cultures, landscapes and wildlife. The intimate, authentic and sustainable approach to small-group travel introduces travellers to the highlights of a destination while offering the freedom to explore it on their own. Whatever age, interest, ability or budget, G Adventures has a genuine life-changing experience. For more information please visit www.gadventures.com.

About the Planeterra Foundation
Established in 2003 by adventure travel tour operator G Adventures, Planeterra is a non-profit organization that supports social and environmental solutions in destinations around the world via its global network of travellers. The foundation focuses on local education, health, small-business development, emergency relief and conservation work. For more information please visit www.planeterra.org.

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SOURCE G Adventures