FGZ students dazzle at the IsarMUN

For the six FGZ students Julia Cope (G5g), Gian Gysler (G5h), Serafin Kleeman (G5h), Pierre Mathier (G6g), Jan-Vincent Makowski (G6g) and Alessandro Varacalli (G5h), the second advent weekend was associated with very different experiences, due to their participation in the IsarMUN conference at Munich’s Technical University. At the architecturally impressive Garching campus just outside Munich, the IsarMUN hosted around 140 students, from European universities including the Sorbonne, Freiburg and Göttingen Universities, and the Foundation of German Economy, alongside the FGZ delegation and a further high school delegation from the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
For the six students, the long weekend was the culmination of careful research and preparation: in the weeks preceding the conference they immersed themselves in such complex topics as the global food and energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change and its displacement of populations, strategies to prevent the proliferation of sponsored terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and NATO expansion into the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. The all-important Rules of Procedure also needed to be refreshed and practiced in the weeks before the conference; here, the MUN club arrived at the unusual solution of a four week ‘topic block’ aimed at preventing the territorial spread of the Galactic Empire in the Star Wars series, staged in its Monday meetings at the FGZ.
Armed with their devices, research, and a stormtrooper-proof command of MUN protocol, the delegates presented their countries’ agendas confidently in opening statements, and then worked hard to find compromises with the other delegates. Their efforts and expertise were noticed: within a short time comments were circulating in all the committees that “the Swiss students are all very well prepared”. The committee chairs noticed as well: Julia Cope in the Human Rights Council was awarded Best Delegate for her performance as delegate for Ecuador, Serafin Kleeman and Pierre Mathier both won Outstanding Delegate awards for representing Venezuela and Spain in the Disarmament and International Security Commission and NATO respectively, and Jan Makowski received an Honourable Mention for representing France in the Disarmament and International Security Commission. Remarkable achievements given that they were the youngest participants in the conference, and competing against university students.
There was some down time of course: on their free evening, the students explored the Christmas markets at the Residenz and in the city centre, and made some headway with their Christmas shopping. Saturday night was ‘Bavarian Night’: the participants were divided into three groups and sent to three of Munich’s most traditional restaurants to enjoy some Bavarian cuisine. The shared long weekend of discussion, writing and socialising resulted in new contacts and friendships across various ages and nationalities. Servus, Munich, we’ll definitely be back!