Several participants from the Executive Master in International Negotiation and Policy-Making (INP) attended the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos in January, led by Professor Cédric Dupont (Director of Executive Education and INP Programme Director), accepting an invitation arranged by current INP participant Barbara Engeli, who works at the World Economic Forum in Geneva.
The Forum, an International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation, aims to improve the state of the world by engaging the foremost political, business and other leaders of society. During the Annual Meeting in Davos, discussions explore cross-cutting issues high on the agendas of governments and companies alike—including the world’s most pressing and challenging dilemmas for global leaders. “The knowledge and skills that I have gained since I started the Executive Master programme, namely on the subjects of global governance and advocacy, prepared me to be fully engaged in Davos,” said Solange Ingabire, a current INP 2016 participant.
Over 2,500 participants from over 100 countries attended the Annual Meeting in Davos, and while the event is huge in scale, making connections among the world’s foremost leaders and bridge-building between organisations are often what drives interest. “In Davos, I was able to meet some of the world’s top leaders who discussed Africa's role in international affairs, a subject that is very dear to me,” says Solange (photo). “In one of the sessions I attended where the panel included my idol Bono, Co-Founder of One Campaign, leaders discussed Africa’s inclusiveness in global discussions and negotiations.”
Cross-sector discussions and policy-making are a key learning focus of the Executive Master INP programme. Participants attending in Davos could experiment with some of the decision-making tools provided in the programme. “Among the decision-making tools we teach in the INP is a foresight methodology”, says Professor Dupont (photo, left). “Part of that is to look at potential futures, including potential disruptive forces that challenge status quo.” Several sessions held in Davos put this methodology in practice with attendees’ contributions to spot signals of change and their implications for public and private strategies. The general idea is to endow decision-makers with a higher capacity to master disruptive changes.
While there have been prior participants enrolled in the INP programme who were working at the World Economic Forum, this was the first INP group visit to Davos. “We are so grateful to Barbara and the team at the Forum for allowing us this unique experience,” said Solange, expressing a sentiment echoed equally by Professor Dupont and others in attendance.
Next up for the INP participants is their module on Negotiations, which includes a visit to Brussels to explore negotiations within the context of the EU.
Applications are open for the 2016-17 edition. Visit the INP programme page to learn more!