28 October 2025
28–30 October 2025 | LuxExpo The Box, Luxembourg
The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) is hosting the Innovation Conference 2025 from 28–30 October at LuxExpo The Box in Luxembourg, bringing together more than 400 experts, policymakers, researchers, and innovators from across sectors to explore how innovation can accelerate progress toward a world free of landmines and explosive remnants of war.
“When a third of the world’s countries remain contaminated by mines, cluster munitions and explosive remnants of war, accelerating progress in mine action isn’t optional, it’s urgent,” said Ambassador Tobias Privitelli, GICHD Director. “At GICHD, we convene the sector to turn ideas into lifesaving solutions.”
Organised with support from the Governments of Luxembourg and Switzerland and the European Union’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, the conference highlights new approaches that go beyond technology, focusing on collaboration, problem-solving, and context-specific solutions that improve safety and efficiency in mine action.
Innovation Award: Recognizing Breakthroughs in Risk Management
The conference features the first-ever GICHD Innovation Award, recognising creative approaches to two pressing challenges in explosive ordnance (EO) risk management.
Award 1: Improving the Accuracy of Estimating EO Hazardous Areas
- Winner consortium: Japan International Cooperation Agency, Cambodian Mine Action Centre, and NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH
- Project: Exploring AI-Assisted Survey for Humanitarian Mine Action: A Pilot Study in Cambodia
- This pilot explores how artificial intelligence and satellite imagery can support survey teams in identifying hazardous areas more precisely, helping to save time, reduce costs, and increase safety.
Award 2: Quantifying Residual Risk in Land Release
- Winner consortium: EODynamics AB and Matthew Hartung
- Project: Applying the FAIR Model to Quantify Residual Risk in Humanitarian Land Release
- This approach adapts the FAIR model — a widely used risk-quantification framework — to help practitioners better estimate and communicate residual risk after clearance operations.
The winning submissions received a CHF 4,000 prize and presented their work on 28 October 2025 in Luxembourg.
“Innovation isn’t just tech — it’s new ways of working, collaborating, and applying research to real problems,” said Armen Harutyunyan, Head of Research and Innovation at GICHD. “Through the Innovation Hub and this conference, we’ve created concrete examples of how bringing diverse actors together generates solutions that actually reach the field.”
Conference Themes and Highlights
Sessions throughout the week explore critical themes shaping the future of mine action, including:
- Financing and scaling innovation – making innovation more sustainable through flexible funding models.
- Sustainable partnerships – strengthening collaboration between humanitarian, academic, and private-sector actors.
- Emerging technologies and methods – advances in mechanical land release, underwater explosive ordnance management, and the use of AI and data to improve decision-making.
- Operational effectiveness – linking innovation with measurable impact for affected communities.
“Innovation thrives when minds meet,” added Ambassador Privitelli. “This conference sparks new thinking, encourages collaboration across sectors, and generates actionable solutions that practitioners can put to work immediately.”
Interviews
Members of the press are invited to attend the conference for interviews and photo opportunities. Interviews in Switzerland or by phone with GICHD Director, staff or Innovation Award winners can also be coordinated by contacting Laura Collier at l.collier@gichd.org
Media contact:
Laura Collier, Communications Manager, GICHD
Email: l.collier@gichd.org