'Forming a Sustainable Future': HSE Holds Fifth Model United Nations
In April, HSE University-St Petersburg held its fifth International Model United Nations conference. For the first time since 2019, it was held in person. More than 140 participants were in attendance, including experts, university students and schoolchildren.
The Model United Nations is a scientific conference with business-simulation elements during which participants imitate the activities of the United Nations and offer possible solutions to global problems. This year, the overall theme of the conference was sustainability management. The work was conducted in English by six committees.
The conference was opened by Manoj Sharma, Vice President of HSE University-St Petersburg. He pointed out the importance of such events for international activities and explained what HSE University-St Petersburg has done to promote the concepts of sustainable development. Then, plenary reports were presented by Vera Lapina, Analyst at the Laboratory for Reputation Management in Education, and Anatolie Cecalenco, PhD student and Consultant at 'Business Solutions and Technologies'. During their lectures, the experts highlighted the significance of the interaction between universities, expert communities and businesses to achieve the goals of sustainable development and the ESG agenda.
In the committees, the delegates could also attend expert lectures on specific agenda topics. For instance, Oleg Korneev, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, told the delegates of the economic and financial committee about modern approaches to the analysis and solution of climate-driven migration.
The direct work of the delegates in the committees started on the second day. The participants discussed the countries' positions and approaches to such issues as global cyber security, ensuring equal access to education, environmental sustainability in individual regions, and the international standardisation of medical product licensing. There were also workshops organised by the HSE University student clubs partnered with the event: 'Brain-ring' by Intelligent HSE, 'Let's Break Barriers' by the Talking Crows, and 'Global Environmental Organisations' by Green HSE.
The general assembly took place on the final day. There, the committees presented their draft resolutions. The conference finished with an award ceremony. The best delegates received prizes and certificates from the event's partners, which included Petersburg Through the Eyes of an Engineer, Gaga.ru, Theatre of Generations, Bookvoed, Planetarium 1, Quiz! Please, and the coffee shops Native and GreenBox.
Yury Kabanov
Academic Supervisor of the Bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics'
As usual, organising such a huge event wasn't easy, but we had an amazing team which united students from different programmes. We managed to create an excellent event together. I am very happy that for the first time since 2019, the Model UN was held in person at our university. We are certainly proud of our online conferences too, but the offline format allows us to communicate directly. And it is much more fun in general. Of course, in the framework of the Model UN, we covered a very important topic—sustainable development. At the moment, HSE and other universities and companies are dealing with the issues of ESG and sustainable development. We have also contributed to the development of this agenda in our country.
Milena Pugina
St Petersburg University
As someone whose interests in the sphere of political science are related to social politics, the Model UN was a wonderful opportunity to learn something new—during both the meetings of the committee and the preparations for the conference. The lively discussions did not stop at the exit from the meeting room, but continued during the coffee and lunch breaks. I think that it really helped us to consider all our different points of view and design a very elaborate resolution based on profound research. In the end, all the hard work paid off with new connections and ideas.
Agata Gashkova
Letovo School
The Model UN at HSE University was the first official model I participated in. The level of organisation was very high. From the first day, everything was very well thought out, and the atmosphere was friendly and professional. I really enjoyed working in my committee. Working together, we managed to draw up an excellent resolution which we later presented during the general assembly. I acquired new knowledge, had a good time, and gained valuable experience. Many thanks to the organisers; I would be eager to participate next year too!