Study Diary——1st Day

After the exciting opening ceremony yesterday, we started our journey of learning for the first day on August 7th. Having finished breakfast, teachers and students from eight universities gathered in the Piemonte conference room ready to have the very first class given by Linda Deelen, the ITCILO Programme Manager. It was Introduction to the United Nations.

Teachers and students are in the class of“Introduction to the UN”

To begin the class, Linda asked several interesting questions to let us have some basic information about the function and role of the UN in the eye of the mass. And then Linda gave us a whole map of the UN about its history, agenda and instruction, which informed us more detailedly.

Linda in the first class

The most impressive part came after the coffee break. Linda divided all of us into 14 groups randomly and each group represented a country. There were great powers like China, America and the UK, and also some countries with typical problems like DPRK, India and Brazil, as well as countries with complex national conditions like Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Kiribati. Ten members in one group, after detailed investigation and heated discussion, all groups finally came up with a presentation in front of all to give their opinions on the sustainable development goals. A large-scale Model United Nations activity like this can deepen our understanding of the order of the working process in the UN.

A student from BFSU gives a speech in the MUN project

In the afternoon, every member was assigned to one of the three classrooms to have different classes. Some had the lesson given by Linda Deelen, The Green Economy and Green Jobs. In the first part of the lesson, Linda introduced the condition of the green economy and green jobs in the world at the moment.

Linda Deelen with students after the class

After that, to better the students’ understanding of “green”, Linda assigned a group work. Each group should focus on something in the training center and try to make it more “green”. Various creative ideas were aroused and students had a new perspective toward what “green economy and green job” is.

“绿色经济和绿色工作”工作室的同学们

In the second classroom was the lesson taught by Mr. Zu Liangrong and it was about Developing Young Leaders for UN 2030 Agenda. The 17 SDGs were reached again and this time it was about how to achieve these goals when we tried to become a global leader. Some theories were introduced such as3Q( IQ, EQ, CQ), 3P(Profit, planet, people), 3H(head, heart, hands) and so on. The most exciting part came when Mr. Zu talked about the theory of Laozi and explained its role in our life and the spirit of the UN. It was a new thinking style for many members and was challenged by some of them. Kindly and patiently, Mr. Zu used the examples in history to illuminate his viewpoints which inspired us a lot.

In Mr. Zu’s classroom dreaming to be a global enterpreneur

In the third classroom we saw Doctor Joel Alcocer and his lecture about Value chain development. A Nutella case was inferred to explore and research the topic. The class has two parts. The first part focused the students’ attention to the global spread of Nutella and a map was produced after to be discussed in groups. Then the last part was mainly about the problems in terms of labor and environment brought about by Nutella development. A presentation was the end product of the exploration. At the same time, friendship and knowledge grew together .

Joel Alcocer with our students in the Value Chain class

It was nine o’clock in the evening and a live music concert named Flying Shoes was launched in the Valentino bar. All members were entertained dancing through the history of music. During this summer school training, kinds of opportunities were offered for us to participate and to feel the European style.

Live music ------ Flying shoes, in Valentino bar

邵子苏  8.7