Hanova’s first Model United Nations (MUN) Conference - written by Mina Kang, Year 12 student. Our XHISMUN team is thrilled to officially announce the first Hanova Model United Nations (MUN) conference on February 24th. This event not only showcased our commitment to fostering global citizenship but also laid the foundation for a tradition of MUN conferences at Hanova International School.
Our organizing team, composed of dedicated Year 12 students, played a pivotal role in leading this successful event. Led by Yulia Yuan as the Secretary-General, Will Li as the Head of Programme, Mina Kang as the Head of Marketing, and Steven Jiang as the Head of Human Resources, our team worked alongside our esteemed MUN director, Ms. Sandra, to ensure the smooth execution of preparing the first conference.
During the February 24th event, participants engaged in stimulating debates within two committees: the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The UNEP committee deliberated on the pressing issue of addressing global warming and its impacts, while the UNGA committee tackled the topic of ensuring the ethical use of artificial intelligence in education.
Year 12 Ellie Bae (Delegate of United Kingdom – United Nations Environmental Programme):
“Today, I participated in the first MUN of Hanova as the delegate of United Kingdom. Although it was my first time participating in MUN, I really enjoyed the whole process, and learned a lot about global warming that I previously did not know. Overall, it was a very unique and helpful experience for me, everyone should definitely try it out!”
Year 12 Ashley Cho (Audience):
“As a person who watched the activities on Saturday, Feb 24th, the MUN held in Xi’an Hanova International School was wonderful. Every student worked hard and expressed their own opinions. They represented well about the country they took charge of. It was an activity that made me look forward to the future of Hanova students.”
Despite many students being new to the MUN experience, their enthusiasm and dedication were commendable. This conference marked a promising beginning for the Hanova International School MUN, setting a high standard for future endeavors.
We extend our gratitude to all participants including delegates and chairs, advisors, organizers and supporters who contributed to the success of our first MUN conference. Please look forward to next big MUN event at Hanova International School which will be hold on April!
Y12 and Y13 IBDP Economics class – The International Trading Game - written by Ms Sandra Gerrits, MYP & DP Humanities, Economics. On the Wednesday before Spring Break, the Year 12 and Year 13 students had a combined class for IBDP Economics. During this double lesson, students were divided into teams who represented lower income, middle income or higher income countries. Depending on the economic development of their respective countries, students had more or fewer tools and raw materials (paper) and sometimes less labour (students) to create income. Students had to create shapes with specific tools such as a compass or a ruler and the shapes had to be cut with scissors, but the only 4 scissors were owned by the 2 most developed countries. Shapes could be sold to the trader (the teacher), but only in batches and only if the shapes were of the correct dimensions. During the game, the international price for shapes could go up or down depending on the supply and demand in this international market.
Teams learned quickly to negotiate and trade resources so that by the end all teams had generated income and ended with more capital than they had started. Overall, it was a great lesson to explain concepts of development, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and GDP per capita which are important concepts within the course.
Besides the economic concepts, the students also had a lot of fun negotiating and there was some healthy competition going on.
“My MUN Experience” - written by Gabriel, Year 7 student. On Saturday, 24 February, the inaugural MUN (model united nations) event started. It ran for 8 hours, from 9am to 5pm. (with lunch)
We were split up into 2 groups, and our group debated about saving the environment. In the opening speech, the delegates shared how their countries had been affected by climate change (global warming). Then, they discussed ways to save the environment and stop global warming. Some even proposed using nuclear energy.
Me, along with Andrew and Grace volunteered to be runners (too young to actually debate with DP and upper MYP students, we’re still the babies of MYP), and it was pretty simple. The delegates are not allowed to talk directly to each other for informal communication, but they are given some sticky notes to communicate. Our jobs were to simply pass the sticky notes from the sender to the recipient.
In the end, we got a photo with the delegates and a free pack of cookies.
In conclusion, MUN was a pretty great experience, except the parts the runner’s tasks are easy. I would definitely come again as a debater.
