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IGN History
 

The International Guardianship Network (IGN) was founded in Berlin in December 2001 by international adult guardians and judges. Now we have more than 176 members from 25 nations and 4 continents. Most of our members come from Europe or from English speaking countries like the U.S., Canada and Australia.

The International Guardianship Network is a non-profit and non-government organisation.
Everyone who is working in the international adult guardianship area (adult guardians, volunteers, judges, social worker etc.) can be registered in the IGN Mailing List with name, title, website and email address. The registration is voluntary and free.

The missions of IGN are to provide support, information and networking opportunities and to put the legal proceedings of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into practice. We initiate international projects and congresses. IGN is independent of political and religious ideologies.

Our first IGN Conference was in Berlin, April 6 to April 9, 2003, with 35 guardianship professionals from 7 nations (Australia, Israel, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, USA). The conference reader "International Adult Guardianships - Presentations from the International Guardianship Network Conference in Berlin" (9 presentations from 6 nations, 190 pages) was published in April 2003.

The second IGN Conference „Adult guardianships in Central Europe“ was held in St.Pölten, Austria, September 21st to 23rd, 2005, with more than 50 guardianship professionals from 11 nations (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Luxembourg, Hungary, Slovenia, Netherlands, England and Scotland, USA, Australia). This conference was organised by IGN in cooperation with the Austrian organisation NÖ Landesverein für Sachwalterschaft und Bewohnervertretung Niederösterreich, and sponsored by the Austrian Ministry of Justice.

The third IGN Conference (only for German speakers) „Adult guardianships in Europe – chances and borders“ was held in Olten, Switzerland, May 10 to 12, 2007 with 25 guardianship professionals from 7 nations (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Denmark). The conference was organised by IGN and supported and sponsored by the Swiss Guardianship Association.

The fourth IGN Conference was held in Bergen an Zee, The Nertherlands, September 11 to 13, 2007 with more than 60 participants from 14 nations (Canada, USA, Australia, Japan, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, England and Scotland). The conference was organised by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Law, and by the organisations MEE Noordwest-Holland and Stichting Mentorschap Alkmaar in cooperation with IGN. Further, the conference was supported and sponsored by Mentorschap Netwerk Nederland.

The IGN member organisations Betreuungsverein Treptow-Köpenick e.V.,
Mentorschap Netwerk Nederland and NÖ Landesverein für Sachwalterschaft und Bewohnervertretung started the EU-Project „Education of volunteer guardians in Europe“ in November 2007.

The fifth IGN/CCELS Conference was held in Vancouver, Canada, November 13 to 15, 2008 with 128 participants from 10 nations (Canada, USA, Netherlands, Sweden, Bermuda, Israel, Australia, UK, Japan and Afghanistan). The conference was organised by The Canadian Centre on Elder Law Studies (CCELS) in cooperation with IGN.

IGN was one of the co-organisers of the World Congress on Adult Guardianship Law in Yokohama, October 1-4, 2010. The conference was organised by the Japan Adult Guardianship Law Association (JAGA). This was the biggest conference in the international adult guardianship history with more than 450 participants from 15 nations (Japan, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Korea, Samoa, Australia, USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Austria, UK, Finland, The Netherlands).