A Bocconi "Government" in Vancouver

A Bocconi majority government, with 8 members out of 9 from the University, in positions incluidng the head of state and the Minister of Economics, represented Italy in Vancouver at the G8/G20 summit for youths last month, taking part in lively debates with their peers from all over the world.

Now in its 5th edition, the G8/G20 Youth Summit brings together university students from member countries, hosted in the same country as the official G8. Its objective is to give youths a voice that is heard on the most current global issues which make up the program for the leaders at the official summit.

Candidates for the Italian delegation were chosen by Youth Engagement Promoters, one of the many international student organizations which help organize the event, while the nine final delegates were selected by a committee of three Italian university professors. Bocconi had good reason to be proud, since the majority of the final delegation, which was chosen out of hundreds of candidates, was such a large majority of Bocconi students.

Stefano Greco, Claudia Fraccalvieri, Claudia Pereira da Conceiçao, Chiara Rivera, Francesco Fasiello, Giulia Oberti, Folco Cioni and Lucia Brambilla (along with another student from LUISS) were assigned various roles in the Italian government, from the head of state to various responsibilities for foreign affairs, development, etc. Each student was also assigned the task of preparing two position papers to present in Vancouver for discussion during the various panels.

The Italian delegation

"The idea behind this summit is to give youths' suggestions and our views regarding these global issues a voice and visibility," explained Claudia Fraccalvieri, a student in her 2nd year in the Bachelor of International Economics, Management and Finance.

At the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, five full days were given over to debates between the 130 students. Participants attended plenary sessions, and meetings between representatives of the individual areas to discuss various issues such as global governance, the fight against terrorism and food security. The final objective is to produce a final document, like at the official version, which includes the various proposals and purposes which emerge.

"It was nice to be able to contribute to these important issues and come up with feasible proposals," said Claudia Pereira da Conceiçao, originally from Brazil, enrolled in the 1st year of the Bachelor in Economics and Social Sciences.

"I found it really interesting to see how these issues are dealt with differently around the world," said Claudia Fraccalvieri. "In fact, outside the classroom we were all friends, but debates were very lively and animated! Then, in the evenings we went back to a fun and friendly atmosphere."

"It was also a great opportunity to socialize and network. There was a lot of truly intercultural contact," said Stefano Greco, graduating in the Bachelor of Business Administration and Management, the "head of state" in the delegation. "In particular, it was nice to see how us European delegates were able to easily coordinate ourselves and work together, thanks in part to the EU Voice meeting we attended in Germany before leaving, where we laid out our shared European position. Since we're all young, we hope that this is a good omen for the future of the European Union."

"Now we're discussing how to continue this experience and the ideas that came out of it," concluded Stefano. "The dream, which we're trying to bring about, is to present our final document in Toronto at the end of June at the table of the real G20."