Now we all know what sustainable dredging is!

This simulation could be agreed on being one word- sustainable. Sustainable in a different sense because the class was ever persistent in prolonging (or sustaining) the debate and analysis of dredging to go on for quite literally, infinity.
My group with Molly and Kiran represented the South Pacific Business Development. Between sitting in the back and not saying a word for the entire 7000-minute long conversation about dredging, many of my friends asked afterward what was up… well, here it is.
As a microfinance group, our main motives were formulated around the people and our integration plan, which unfortunately got shut down quick, thanks to EJF. We chose not to speak during the dredging debate as it was secondary to our primary focus and by mentioning our opinion, we feared our main motives would then be glossed over. We wanted to keep in line by only mentioning and speaking directly on the issues that the SPBD does and did not want dredging to appear as a primary concern of ours. Additionally, by hearing the other groups' perspectives on this issue, we were able to spend time revising our amendment in attempts to make it fit within the guidelines followed by each group. Although our amendment was not discussed long, I was glad it was able to be mentioned as it represented the SPBD and summarized our strategy document in the best way possible. It would have been interesting to see more of what the other groups thought of it and possible revisions that could have been made, however, I am glad our group was able to mention the SPBD’s main objectives, even if it only lasted 2 minutes of discussion.
Something I enjoyed most about this simulation is how authentic each group was to their motivations as a country or organization. In attempts to follow suit, the South Pacific Business Development has pre-existing work with both China and Japan, as well as an interlocking base with many institutions similar to the other groups present at the simulation. This is why our amendment was proposed with the hopes of involving all the other groups, as a microfinance project does not stand alone and needs sponsors, funding, and support from countless organizations and countries. Overall I appreciated the structure of this simulation as it felt more natural and relaxed, as opposed to the previous simulation. My only wish would be that we had more time to genuinely discuss more issues… and maybe we could have added another word!