QCAA Years 11 12 Introducing G20 Teaching and Learning Resources

Years 11–12 Introducing G20
Teaching and learning activities

Using G20 as a context for teaching and learning

The Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders Summit will be held in Brisbane, Queensland on 15 and 16 November 2014. At the summit, leaders of the world’s most economically developed countries discuss and make decisions about important economic and financial issues. The 2014 G20 summit is based on the themes of stronger economic growth and employment outcomes, and protecting the global economy from future shocks.

The G20 summit provides an opportunity to connect student learning with this event.

The suite of resources that teachers may access includes:

· Introducing G20 (www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/11-12-teaching-learning.html), which contains introductory information and activities

· Exploring G20 (www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/11-12-teaching-learning.html), which contains teaching and learning linked to curriculum areas

Introducing G20

The Years 11–12 Introducing G20 package provides introductory activities that can be implemented as a stand-alone program or as part of the Years 11–12 Exploring G20 package for Senior Economics and Geography.

However, there are opportunities to implement these teaching and learning activities in a range of subjects or in co-curriculum courses. The activities may be used in the background or orientating phases of senior Economics or Geography units.

This package provides educational experiences for students based on the following questions:

· What is the G20 summit?

· Why is the G20 summit important to Queensland and Australia?

· Why is the G20 important to young people?

Teacher information about G20

The Group of Twenty (G20) is a group of 20 representatives from the major advanced and emerging economies.

The group was formed in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.

The first G20 Leaders Summit was held in 2008 to address the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). There is now a G20 Leaders Summit held each year.

In 2014, Australia is the president of the G20. Australia’s G20 presidency runs from 1 December 2013 to 30 November 2014. Hosting the G20 in 2014 gives Australia a valuable opportunity to influence the global economic agenda and to strengthen engagement with the world’s major economies.

The G20 member countries represent:

· approximately 85% of global gross domestic product (GDP)

· more than 75% of global trade

· two thirds of the world’s population.

The G20 members include representatives from:

· Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States

· the European Union[1], which includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungry, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.

The 2014 G20 guest countries include:

· Spain (as an agreed permanent guest)

· Myanmar (as the Chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN))

· Mauritania (as the Chair of the African Union)

· Senegal (as a representative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD))

· New Zealand and Singapore (countries invited by the 2014 G20 President, Australia, reflecting its regional relationships).

The role of the G20 is to:

· discuss international economic cooperation, focusing on ways to strengthen the global economy, reform international financial institutions and improve financial regulation.

The G20 2014 Leaders Summit will be held:

· on 15 and 16 November

· in Brisbane, Queensland

· at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

· with as many as 4000 delegates and 3000 media representatives expected to attend.

The 2014 G20 events include:

· Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on 20 and 21 September in Cairns, Queensland

· G20 Leaders Summit on 15 and 16 November in Brisbane, Queensland.

Hosting the 2014 G20 represents an opportunity for Australia to:

· influence the global economic agenda and strengthen our international engagement with the major economies of the world

· showcase Australia, and in particular Queensland, as world-class destinations for tourism, education and business

· build international networks.

Teaching and learning

Teachers may use the G20 activities before, during and following the summit and these can be adjusted to suit your specific school or classroom context.

Note: It is recommended that these activities be implemented prior to the Leaders Summit to help students to understand its role and purpose.

What is the G20 summit?

This question orients students to the purpose of the Leaders Summit and G20 membership. It also encourages students to investigate the notion of leadership and to view Australia as an important contributor to world affairs.

Teaching and learning activities
Activity 1 / The G20
View the What is the G20? (Dr Matthew Burke) video (www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/expert-videos.html).
Discuss the purpose of the G20 summit by considering the following questions:
· What is the G20 summit?
· Where is the G20 summit being held in Australia?
· Which countries’ leaders are attending the 2014 G20 summit?
· When is the G20 summit held?
· Why is the G20 summit important?
· What significant issues will world leaders focus on when meeting at the G20 summit?
Locate information in Appendix 1: About the G20, to answer questions about the G20 in Appendix 2: G20 Q&A.
View the Secondary G20 virtual field trip (www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/virtual-field-trips.html) to explore the characteristics of the Brisbane G20 precinct.
View the Story of the G20 Australia 2014 logo video (https://www.g20.org/news/video_gallery). Discuss the logo, which was designed by Torres Strait Islander artist Riki Salam.
Activity 2 / G20 members and their location
Using the Interactive G20 map (Advanced) (http://g20.qcaa.qld.edu.au) or an individual map, locate the G20 member countries and European Union.
Identify the guest countries as being:
· the permanent guest (Spain)
· the Chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Myanmar)
· the Chair of the African Union (Mauritania)
· a representative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) (Senegal)
· regional countries (New Zealand, Singapore).
Research, and make a list of, the different perspectives that some of the leaders and guests may bring to the discussions of the issues at the G20 Leaders Summit.
Activity 3 / Types of leaders and their roles
Different types of leaders are attending the G20 summit. Some are elected and some are representatives of various organisations. All of the representatives are leaders in the areas of government and economics.
Using the G20 (www.g20.org) and Queensland 20 (Q20) (www.g20.org/australia_2014/queensland_20) webpages, identify the leaders on the Q20 organising committee. Research information about one of the leaders. Write a short (e.g. 150-word) biography of them.
Note: The Queensland 20 (Q20) is a group composed of high-level representatives from Queensland's business, community and government sectors. The group was established to ensure that Queensland gains the maximum benefit from Australia’s G20 presidency in 2014.

Why is the G20 summit important to Queensland and Australia?

This question orients students to the importance of the G20 Leaders Summit from three perspectives, namely the:

· importance of leaders from many countries meeting to share ideas and listen to others’ views

· important role media play in reporting, commenting and prompting discussion in Australia and other G20 countries about the G20 summit

· importance of hosting the G20 to Australia and Queensland.

Teaching and learning activities
Activity 4 / The importance of leaders
List the advantages and disadvantages of people meeting to listen to each others’ ideas and to share their own.
Using the G20 website (www.g20.org/australia_2014) as a reference, discuss the roles of Australia’s leaders at the 2014 G20 summit.
Activity 5 / The role of media
Compare overseas news about the 2014 G20 Leaders Summit with Australian news. Consider:
· similarities and differences in topics
· images used
· reporter interpretation
· priorities of G20 stories
· the cultural or political perspective or view.
Activity 6 / The importance to Queensland and Australia
Different cities in Australia are hosting the engagement group forums. Identify why hosting engagement groups should be shared by cities across Australia.
Using the Community Information section of the G20 website (www.g20.org), investigate the forum that Cairns is hosting. Identify why hosting a G20 forum is important for Cairns.
View the Secondary G20 virtual field trip (www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/virtual-field-trips.html) to explore the features of Brisbane. Discuss why hosting the G20 Leaders Summit will benefit Brisbane.
Prepare a pitch for a proposal for an advertising campaign to showcase Queensland’s contribution to the world, e.g. trade, education, arts, sport, science and culture.
Identify Australian products and services that are exported to G20 member or guest countries. Discuss the benefits to Australia of exporting goods and services interstate and overseas, e.g. employment.

Why is the G20 important to young people?

This question focuses senior students on the activities of the Youth 20 (Y20) and asks them to investigate the importance of this engagement group to proposing ideas about issues important to them.

The (Y20) is the official youth engagement group of the G20, and is an essential component of the Australian Government’s engagement of stakeholders with the 2014 G20 agenda.

The Y20’s vision is twofold: to influence the present and to shape the future. The 2014 key themes are:

· economic growth and jobs creation

· global citizenship

· sustainable development.

The Y20 Australia 2014 summit was held in Sydney, Australia from 12 to 15 July 2014.

The summit hosted 120 youth delegates from G20 member countries, representing young people from across the world and 12 delegates from invited guest nations (Myanmar, Senegal, Singapore, New Zealand, Spain and Mauritania, as the 2014 chair of the African Union).

Teaching and learning activities
Activity 7 / Y20 Planning Group
The 2014 Y20 Planning Group (www.y20australia.com) is a selected group of young leaders from around Australia who have shown leadership and achievement in the areas of entrepreneurship, social capital and global affairs.
The Planning Group’s main purpose was to plan, design and manage Australia’s delivery of the Australian Y20 in 2014 to ensure meaningful engagement between young people and the G20.
Using the Y20 website, investigate the members of the Y20 Planning Group and the Australian delegates. Develop a list of issues that the group believe are important to young people.
Activity 8 / Key themes
The 2014 Y20 summit has focused on three key policy areas:
· growth and jobs creation
· global citizenship
· sustainable development.
Why might it be considered that these three themes are important to young people?
Research one of the themes (www.y20australia.com/key-themes) and develop a factsheet or infographic (such as those available at www.lowyinstitute.org/g20infographic) outlining why it is important to the aims of the wider G20 discussions.
Discuss why the issue is important to you and other young people in your local community.
Consider possible solutions to these issues, e.g.How can a school leadership group draw on the activities of the Y20 to address the issues that might be relevant to your school?
Develop a factsheet or infographic about the issues.
Activity 9 / The role of social media
Investigate the way the Y20 (www.y20australia.com) has used social media tools to communicate to its constituents, i.e. young people around the world.
Access one of the social media platforms used by Y20 and discuss:
· How effective has the 2014 Y20 been in gathering the views of young people and communicating to them about the key themes?
· Are the views of young people accurately represented?
· What are the different perspectives on the key themes presented?
Activity 10 / Outcomes of the Y20
Investigate the outcomes of the Y20 summit (www.y20australia.com) by examining the:
· communique to be presented to the G20 leaders, which outlines the common ideas that were agreed on by the delegates at the summit
· ‘Policy Ask’ pertaining to youth unemployment solutions will provide a focus for further action following the Y20.
Develop a summary of the Y20 summit outcomes in plain English. Present your summary to a wider group (e.g. class, student leadership group) in an appropriate format (e.g. through an article, factsheet, infographic, blog or social media).
Develop a plan of action, including advocating to leaders in your community to help with these 2014 Y20 summit outcomes, e.g. political representatives, business leaders, community groups.
Years 11–12 Introducing G20
Teaching and learning activities / Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
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Appendix 1: About the G20

G20 facts

The Group of Twenty (G20) is the forum for its members’ international economic cooperation and decision making. G20 leaders meet annually to discuss ways to strengthen the global economy, reform international financial institutions, improve financial regulation, and consider the key economic reforms that are needed in each of the member countries. Underpinning these meetings is a year-long program of meetings among senior officials and of working groups coordinating policy on specific issues.
The G20 started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. In 2008, the first G20 Leaders Summit was held, and the group played a key role in responding to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). A Leaders Summit is now held annually. / The G20 tries to support global economic growth, with a strong emphasis on promoting job creation and open trade. Each G20 president invites a number of guest countries each year.
The G20 works closely with international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO). These and a number of other organisations are invited to attend key G20 meetings.

The economic growth challenge

The G20 summit focuses on the following challenge.

Strengthening growth and creating jobs is our top priority and we are fully committed to taking decisive actions to return to a job-rich, strong, sustainable and balanced growth path … We will identify the remaining key obstacles to be addressed and reforms needed to achieve stronger, more sustainable and balanced growth in our economies.
St Petersburg G20 Leaders Declaration
Years 11–12 Introducing G20
Teaching and learning activities / Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
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