Global Negotiation
Conference

Global Negotiation Conference 2024
Topic: 'Negotiating the Governance of Emerging Technologies'
Hosted at the University of Zurich
10-13 July 2024

The annual Global Negotiation Conference (GNC) is the flagship event organised by the IGN. The conference brings together teams of graduate students from around the world to participate in four-days of workshops and presentations by leading academics and practitioners in the field of negotiation and conflict resolution. Each year the conference culminates in a multiparty simulation, designed by members of the IGN, based on a pressing global issue.

In an era of rapid technological advancement, the 2024 Global Negotiation Conference will focus on the theme 'Negotiating The Governance Of Emerging Technologies'. As artificial intelligence increasingly embeds itself across various facets of society, establishing coherent norms and standards will be imperative. The 2024 Global Negotiation Conference will bring together graduate students from around the world to explore the negotiation avenues crucial for developing balanced frameworks to govern emerging technology that ensure their responsible evolution and application.

The GNC was originally founded out of the International Negotiations seminar at the University of Bern where it was held from 2014-2017. The conference was then hosted by the Chair of Negotiation and Conflict Management at ETH Zurich 2018-2019 and since 2020 has been hosted by the Chair of Political Philosophy and the Chair of International Relations and Political Economy at the University of Zurich.

The program consists of three days of interactive workshops and presentations which deal with issues related to negotiation and conflict resolution. The content of the sessions varies each year, examples include leadership and negotiation, peace mediation skills, negotiation engineering, cultural aspects of negotiation, digital diplomacy, negotiation strategy and planning.

Negotiation Simulation

On the final day of the conference the student teams take part in a multiparty simulation which is prepared throughout the year by members of the Institute. The theme of the simulation always centres on a pressing global challenge. Previous topics include climate change, large movement of refugees, the response to global pandemics, lethal autonomous weapons systems, business and human rights, the utilisation of space resources and the Syrian conflict.

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