Model G8 USA

2009 Milan, Italy

The fourth-annual G8 Youth Summit was held from March 15 to March 21, 2009 in Milan, Italy. The event was sponsored by Youth Engagement Promoters (Y.E.P.) and hosted by Bocconi University, one of Europe's leading institutions in business and economic education. The Summit commenced with the Opening Ceremony in the Bocconi University auditorium where the host university and the Heads of State of the participating countries all gave welcoming speeches.

The following day, the American delegation visited the U.S. consulate located in Milan and had a teleconference interview with a representative from the embassy in Rome. Delegates were allowed to ask questions and left with information packets about the United States' role in Italy. Later, all delegations were brought into Bocconi's auditorium for a briefing on the 2008 financial crisis, presented by Bocconi staff members of the Italian parliament.. To prepare for negotiations, delegations met with their counterparts for dinner and participated in a team-building scavenger hunt through downtown Milan.

The following day, negotiations began. For agenda, click here. As the summit took place, the world was close to its lowest point in the economic crisis. Each country had distinct views on the causes of the crisis and how the world should proceed moving forward. Economic perspectives penetrated every aspect of the summit and through negotiations participants had a greater understanding of their counterparts views.

Negotiations were held for several days and sometimes lasted late into the night. In addition to formal meetings, many groups spent time together over dinner or seeing sites in downtown Milan such as the 600 yr old Milan Cathedral . The American delegation frequently met with each other to discuss how negotiations were progressing. Fortunately, a consensus was achieved and the Final Communiqué was signed on the fifth day at the Closing Ceremony of the Youth Summit. To read the full document, please click here. At the Closing Ceremony, the Heads of State were again called upon to make brief speeches.

Before leaving, members of the American and other delegations took a day long trip to Venice.

Written by: Michael Massiwer of the 2009 Milan Team

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