GLOBAL NEGOTIATION CONFERENCE
The Global Negotiation Conference (GNC) aims to promote the interdisciplinary study of practical and theoretical negotiation to students from all over the world. The GNC was born out of the International Negotiations lecture at the University of Bern. With the support and encouragement of Professor Felix Addor, former students decided to set up a conference that would be open to students from all academic backgrounds who have an interest in developing and practicing their negotiation skills.
Global negotiation conference 2022
The Global Negotiation Conference (GNC) is an annual international competition that brings together independent teams and university groups to showcase their negotiation and mediation expertise, enriched by principles of international law and political science. The five-day event, hosted at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, includes two main components: four days of intensive workshops aimed at developing participants' practical skills, followed by a one-day simulation round where these skills are applied and evaluated. GNC stands as a premier forum for advancing and celebrating the art of political negotiation.
At the close of the academic year, Nicole Yacoubian, Mathieu Koot, and Andrea Onofrei represented their university and Negotiation Project Twente while also serving as delegates for the United States of America in a complex multi-party negotiation simulation. Their objective was to build consensus on principles for a new international treaty governing outer space. Representing one of the larger parties in the simulation, each team member contributed their respective specialized expertise: argumentation and efficiency, argumentation and quantitative analysis, and relationship building. The simulation showcased a nine-hour negotiation simulation reflecting real-world discussions on international space cooperation, tackling critical issues such as space debris management, resource exploration and utilization, benefit-sharing, technology transfer, and capacity building.
In addition to the overall experience, the workshop featured a compelling program of presentations and workshops led by esteemed experts, including Michael Ambühl (ETH Zurich), Valentina Tamburello (University of Zurich), Peter Cunningham (Geneva Centre for Security Policy), Mazlan Othman (Former Director, UNOOSA), Geraldine Goh (University of Singapore), and Eemeli Isoaho (ETH Zurich), along with members of the IGN team. Topics spanned a wide range, from the mathematical underpinnings of negotiation and leadership dynamics to mediation strategies and the intricacies of international space governance.
While rankings are not the primary measure of success in the competition, the team earned an impressive standing, reflecting their consistent performance in the past and subsequent years. Competing as one of the larger parties in the Global Negotiation Conference, they continue to showcase their abilities in this challenge.
The GNC 2022 team with Michael Ambühl.