I was part of a youth delegation to the BWC in 2017, and I think the greatest benefit I got was that it raised my aspirations. I’m not sure I’d previously conceived of myself as the sort of person who could speak at the UN. I also heard an expert bowing out of dinner early because they had to go finish their slides for the next day, and realized there isn’t some upper echelon of governance and society where everyone is hypercompetent and on top of things; even at the friggin’ United Nations people are making their slides the night before.
I don’t know how much of an effect this had on my decision to start a biosecurity meetup the next year and eventually transition to full-time biosecurity work, but I think it played a role. There are other benefits too; Schelling-point NGO networking, collecting lived-experience stories that make your understanding of diplomacy more vivid, and creating a pressure of prior consistency that increases the chance of that a delegate will continue to work on biosecurity (YMMV on whether the last item is a benefit).
I was part of a youth delegation to the BWC in 2017, and I think the greatest benefit I got was that it raised my aspirations. I’m not sure I’d previously conceived of myself as the sort of person who could speak at the UN. I also heard an expert bowing out of dinner early because they had to go finish their slides for the next day, and realized there isn’t some upper echelon of governance and society where everyone is hypercompetent and on top of things; even at the friggin’ United Nations people are making their slides the night before.
I don’t know how much of an effect this had on my decision to start a biosecurity meetup the next year and eventually transition to full-time biosecurity work, but I think it played a role. There are other benefits too; Schelling-point NGO networking, collecting lived-experience stories that make your understanding of diplomacy more vivid, and creating a pressure of prior consistency that increases the chance of that a delegate will continue to work on biosecurity (YMMV on whether the last item is a benefit).
Thanks for sharing, yes motivational benefits do seem important too!