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Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI)

Major International Trade Reports Symposium Parsing and Précis

 

Course Description


A seven-session symposium showcasing and packaging in an accessible, shareable format the insights of flagship reports by major international organizations (IOs), while equipping students to parse complexity, and summarize it accessibly without losing critical nuance - skills highly in demand in the private, public, and legal sectors.


Students will attend presentations by major Geneva-based IO representatives, benefit from skills-based training and networking opportunities, and work in teams to deliver easily digestible summaries to actual stakeholder- beneficiaries from the private and public sectors.

Course Background and Objectives

Modern international organizations (IO) possess vast research, analytical and investigatory resources which annually produce flagship research publications providing state-of-the-art assessments on many of the most pressing topics in international affairs. The information and insights contained within this IO research has incredible potential to inform the work of not only academics and think tanks, but governments, civil society, and the business community. 

The reality however is that the complexity, density and length of traditional IO research significantly decrease their usability and likely audience.  

This symposium has three objectives: 

- Educate: Through a series of dedicated sessions, expose students to the latest flagship reporting coming out of the WTO, UNCTAD, ITC and World Bank, taking advantage of many of these organizations either being headquartered or having a strong presence in Geneva to invite representatives and authors to present their findings to, and network with, the students; 

- Build Skills: Task the students with learning by doing through having them summarize and orally present, in teams, relevant IO reports, or critical chapters of such reports, for easy consumption by specific stakeholders from business, governments, or civil society. 

External speakers representing such stakeholders will be invited to share insights into their requirements and expectations, while an experienced external editor will teach the précis methodology they use and provide feedback on students’ work. 

- Disseminate: Collectively, the completed and edited student assignments should constitute an accessible, consolidated snapshot of many of the key reports on trade over the last 12 months, ready to be shared through various social channels to improve visibility, strengthen the policy discourse and provide a useful Graduate Institute product of immediate use to many segments of the academic and policy communities. 

Students completing this program will be able to boast proven summation and briefing skills highly sought after by employers, a polished and accessible published product bearing their name, and broad knowledge of the latest developments across international trade policy.

Course Content 

Session 1, March 1, 2023:    Introduction to the course, objectives, summary of IOs and beneficiaries, course expectations and evaluation, formation of panels, teams and allocation of beneficiaries. During this session, beneficiaries will briefly introduce themselves and their organizations. We will also start skill-building with a focus on effective presentations and the importance and challenges of translating complexity into bite-sized pitches and précis writing. 

Guest: Dmitry Grozoubinski, Executive Director, Geneva Trade Platform

Session 2, March 15, 2023:  Open to the public- Technical presentation and précis methodology skills workshop. Readings and examples will be posted on the moodle page of the course.

Guest: Derek Carnegie, Independent Consultant

Session 3, March 29, 2023:  Open to the public- World Trade Organization (WTO): 2022 World Trade Report – Climate Change and International Trade

Guest: Anabel Gonzalez, Deputy Director-General, WTO

Session 4, April 19, 2023:  Open to the public- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD): 2022 Trade and Development Report - Development Prospects in a Fractured World: Global Disorder and Regional Responses 

Guest: Richard Kouzul-Wright, Director of the Globalisation and Development Strategies Division, UNCTAD 
Session 5, May 3, 2023:    International Trade Centre (ITC): 2022 SME Competitiveness Outlook – Connected Services, Competitive Businesses
Guest: Barbara Oliveira Ramos, Chief, Research and Strategies for Exports, ITC 

Session 6, May 17, 2023:    Open to the public- World Bank: 2023 World Development Report – Migrants, Refugees, and Societies

Guest: Pierre Sauvé, Senior Trade Specialist, World Bank

Session 7, May 31, 2023:    Oral presentations with team briefing to the various beneficiaries (each group gets 10 mins to present which means, assuming teams of 5, 2 mins per person).
 

Director
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Joost PAUWELYN
PROFESSOR, INTERNATIONAL LAW
Co-Director of the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration