The North Devon Model United Nations (MUN)conference...

"The whole process was an unqualified success; I have been to a whole heap of relative disasters in my career and this was up there with the very best educational experiences I have been part of."
Teacher, Pilton school

Students representing some of the world's nations in the debating chamber in the Civic Centre in Barnstaple

Students from three schools in North Devon - Braunton, Pilton and West Buckland. took part in a highly successful one day Model United Nations (MUN) conference at the Civic Centre in Barnstaple.

Debating climate change, students presented well thought through and complex arguments on behalf of countries such as the UK, France, Austria, America, India, Bangladesh, Kenya and China.

The MUN was the final stage of the three year Global News project and the event was organised by Education Support Worker Gill Westcott and Global News coordinator Andrew Bell.

The plenary sessions were chaired by Braunton School’s head teacher, while smaller committee group meetings were chaired by teachers from all three schools.

Small committee groups made up of delegates from a variety of nations meet to try and thrash out an agreement on what actions to take on climate change.

While some students represented country delegates, other students took on the roles of scientists, environmentalists and the business community. A member of North Devon District Council's planning staff represented the views of the business community; a scientist from the Met Office worked with students representing scientists, giving a thought provoking presentation on the potential impacts of climate change; a journalist worked with students who took on the role of journalists for the day; and the environmentally outspoken White Rabbit Theatre company led a workshop with students who were representing environmentalists.

White Rabbit Theatre group act out a lively discussion between a Greenpeace activist and a director of a well known American oil company!

The whole process was overseen and aided by volunteers from the United Nations Association who helped delegates draw up amendments to various resolutions. Indeed, the role of General Secretary to the UN was taken by Susan Mathew, who worked for the UN for 24 years.

Although lunch was a time to enjoy some excellent food provided by North Devon District Council, there was no let up to the proceedings! This was the time for all participants to stay in their roles and lobby hard!

John Wilsher, chairman of North Devon District Council, who opened the conference, said: “At all times the pupils stayed in role and maintained their arguments. It says a lot for the future when we’ve got such good quality pupils coming through… They’re very aware of the environment we live in.”

The final plenary session was the time for some hard bargaining as nations attempted to reach a resolution they could all sign up to.

Delegates vote on amendments to the proposed resolutions and through consensus and compromise attempt to arrive at a resolution that everyone can agree with.

Gill Westcott said: “I am amazed and impressed with the way the students engaged with the whole project, and made the event so successful. I felt that the outcome was, in terms of the brief, incredibly successful, in that diplomacy was exercised and an agreement was reached.”

Click here to read the draft resolutions proposed before the conference. Click here to read the final resolution agreed by all countries at the end of the final plenary session.

Gill added: “I think the delegations did excellently to deal with as much information as they did, to take part with so much perceptiveness and intelligence. Time and again I heard students using the exact arguments and statements that are heard from politicians in these negotiations, but much more clearly and succinctly!”

Indeed, when challenged to admit responsibility for creating more CO2 emissions than any other nation in the world, one American delegate said: “It’s the price we have to pay for controlling the world’s economy.”

Dave Butt, Deputy Leader of North Devon District Council and Assistant Head of Braunton School brought pupils from his year nine geography class to the conference. He said: “I thought it was a wonderful day...the level of understanding and knowledge, and the way the pupils presented their arguments was superb. It really was worthwhile – we achieved what we set out to achieve.”

Student's reflections on the MUN
Students were extremely positive about the North Devon MUN. Click here for a full analysis of the evaluation forms completed by pupils. Briefly, some of the comments on what the students had learnt from the day included:

“There can always be an agreement”.
“ It is very hard to come up with a resolution everyone agrees with”.
“ The UN is a very difficult process”.
“ The USA is disagreeable”.
“ I learnt that journalists write in as short sentences as possible”.
“ The UN is a slow process”.
“ Not everyone agrees in the UN; the USA make 25% of [carbon] emissions”.
“ More on what global warming can do and how to stop it”.
“ What effect climate change has on Less Economically Developed Countries”.
“ What effects that not only climate change has, but countries too”.
“ I learnt so much about the way government works and also about the facts of climate change”.
“ How to be in a conference situation; conflict resolution; [that its] much more complicated”.

Background to the North Devon MUN
The following documents and links provide details on the MUN process and the preparation that teachers and students went through before the conference itself. Thorough research and preparation are key to the success of an MUN.

Briefing papers for teachers

Click on the PDF or Word logos to download the files.

Briefing paper on the North Devon MUN. An outline of the MUN process; how to prepare and research and a detailed timetable of the conference day. Includes details of how MUN helps meet the requirements of the citizenship curriculum.

The briefing paper is based on How to Run a Model United Nations Event for Key Stages 3 and 4, a useful guideline document produced by the United Nations Association. Click here to download this document (note, this is a large file)

Climate agreements. A briefing to help set the MUN conference in context. One sheet summary of two important climate change agreements: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol.

Member country questions. A list of questions to help students find out the relevant information about the countries they are representing.

Template for position paper. A template for country delegates which will help guide their research; the position paper is the basis for the speech that one of the country delegates will give to at the MUN conference.

Completed position papers
The following position papers are examples of those submitted for the MUN conference
Bangladesh
Kenya
USA

Draft resolutions. Three draft resolutions for students to consider plus notes to support the development of a resolution to present to the MUN conference.

See the student zone MUN section for links to help students understand the MUN process and research the topic of climate change and information about their country.

 

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