Global Negotiation Conference 2024
Hosted at the University of Zurich
10-13 July 2024
The Global Negotiation Conference 2024 will take place from 10-13 July 2024 at the University of Zurich. The conference will include workshops and presentations on theoretical and practical aspects of negotiation before culminating in a simulation in the field of governance of AI and emerging technologies. We are please to announce the following speakers will conduct workshops and presentations alongside members of the IGN Team.
Further Speakers will be added to this list as they are confirmed.
Michael Ambühl
Michael Ambühl is a Professor Emeritus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) where he was formerly Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management and the Director of the Swiss School of Public Governance. Previously, Michael Ambühl spent over thirty years as a Swiss Diplomat where he served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and State Secretary in the Finance Ministry. Throughout his career, he was a member of the “Swiss-EU Bilateral I”- negotiation team, he led the negotiations of the “Swiss-EU Bilateral II”- agreements (including Schengen), he was facilitator of the Geneva Iran-P5+1 talks, and in the Armenia-Turkey Protocols, signed in Zurich in 2009. He also negotiated the Swiss-US UBS-deal, the Tax treaty Switzerland-UK & Austria, the Swiss-US FATCA Agreement and the Swiss-US Tax deal.
Gérardine Goh Escolar
Gérardine Goh Escolar is Professor (Adjunct) at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. Concurrently, she is Deputy Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, where she also heads two divisions: International Commercial, Digital and Financial Law; and Transnational Litigation. Previously in practice, Geri has acted in numerous international negotiations, and litigation and arbitration proceedings. Formerly Legal Advisor to the President of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and principal legal officer in a Judge’s chambers at the International Court of Justice, her earlier roles include legal officer in government service, in-house counsel at a NewSpace company, and vice-president at a legaltech startup. Geri focuses on finding solutions to global transborder issues at the intersection of emerging technology (outer space, blockchain and crypto, fintech, digital and quantum communications), sustainability and social impact.
Mark Davis
Mark Davis is an entrepreneur, executive coach, lecturer, and Founder Director of The Negotiation Initiative; a consultancy specialising in commercial and cross-cultural negotiation development. Certified as a cultural intelligence advocate, his organisation’s commercial methodology combines cultural capabilities with the intellectual (IQ) and emotional (EQ). For almost two decades he has trained, coached, and mentored Executives and their teams, around the globe. Many of the world’s largest organisations including Coca Cola Company, L’Oréal, Mars, Microsoft, Novartis, Philip Morris, Rolls Royce, UNICEF, Unilever, Walmart and Wella have utilised his expertise. He has been called upon by BBC World News, Forbes Magazine, and the American Negotiation Institute for his insights. As well as being a Visiting Lecturer at the Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong in Dubai, Davis is also a member of the Board of Governors at the University of Birmingham School. Mark is a Law graduate of the University of Durham, College of St. Hild & St. Bede.
Eemeli Isoaho serves as Program Coordinator for the Master of Advanced Studies ETH Mediation in Peace Processes (MAS ETH MPP) program at ETH Zurich. In that role, Eemeli is responsible for the development and management of the program, including its curriculum, administration, and strategic partnerships. Eemeli previously worked as Programme Management Officer at CMI, a peace mediation organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate President Martti Ahtisaari. At CMI, Eemeli specialized in the provision of mediation support to African regional and sub-regional organizations as well as the establishment of track 1-1.5 mediation and dialogue initiatives in several countries in East, West, and Central Africa.
Eemeli Isoaho
Tea Mustać
Tea Mustać is an IP and privacy specialist at Spirit Legal. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Rijeka and specialised in IT, IP and competition law at the Karl-Franzens-University in Graz. In summer 2022 she received the European Young Lawyers Award of the European Law Institute. Since 2022, she has been advising companies and writing on topics at the intersection of law and technology with a particular focus on artificial intelligence. She also regularly holds seminars at the BeckAkademie and hosts the podcast RegInt: Decoding AI Regulation.
Patrick Wall
Patrick is an Independent Consultant working on a wide range of global affairs and international law. With postgraduate degrees in international relations and international law and previous experience working for the Australian Government and the United Nations, he provides advice and services to governments, think tanks, NGOs and private companies on a wide range of international issues ranging from forced displacement to money laundering, United Nations sanctions and sustainable business practices.
Belinda Cleeland
Belinda is the Director of Policy at the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI), a Geneva-based think tank that works to mitigate global catastrophic risks. At SI, she leads the content team to synthesize research and develop policy recommendations for the multilateral system to ensure the safe development of transformative technologies.
Originally from Australia, Belinda has 15 years of experience working in the international sector in Geneva. Prior to joining SI, she was the Head of Research and Innovation at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), leading ISO’s foresight efforts to identify future opportunities for standardization, and its research efforts to better understand the impacts of international standards. She also has experience working in risk governance through her time at the International Risk Governance Council, a science-based think tank developing frameworks for improving global governance of risk, identifying and making sense of emerging or systemic risk issues, and providing risk governance policy advice for decision-makers. Belinda holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute, Geneva, as well as a Bachelor of Arts with Honors (Political Science and French) and a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Genetics) from the University of Melbourne, Australia.