Model United Nations discusses global issues at IMPA Tech

08/10/2024

The 1st edition of the Model United Nations brought together IMPA Tech students in discussion circles on Tuesday morning (8). The activity was part of the Language Skills subject and sought to teach students how to deal with formal discussion and problem-solving situations. Divided into groups in the classrooms of Porto Maravalley, the undergraduates formed three assemblies: Pathways to free and quality education; Poor food distribution; and Creation of a general data protection law.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a list of 17 global targets stipulated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, were the guiding points of the debates. Based on historical and social research, the students were divided into country delegations and discussed international agreements, historical commitments and possible sustainable alternatives to the problems of our time. Real examples were debated, such as Brazil’s return to the hunger map in 2022 and the approval of the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) in 2018.

Student Adriana Kaminsky acted as a parliamentarian for the US delegation at the education summit. For her, the proposal was challenging, mainly because she had to put herself in the position of another country. “The hardest part was taking a stance that I don’t agree with. The main objective was to get into the character of a diplomat and, in order to do that, you have to defend things that aren’t always your ideals.”

Student Lucía Gutierrez, undersecretary of the education committee, studied the topic beforehand to understand how to organize the assembly and keep the debate formal. “I was very careful. I paid attention to what was being said and how the students behaved. The important thing was to maintain the rules of parliamentary decorum and to be respectful, without letting the parliamentarians make insinuations or direct criticisms,” she explained.

Professor Cilene Rodrigues, who was responsible for organizing the activity, stressed that an undergraduate course of an interdisciplinary nature is fundamental to forming students with humanity and empathy. “Throughout this year of work, they have developed communication skills and interacted with open topics. These activities are ways of working on our professional behavior and thinking about our basic research in order to discuss humanity’s challenges,” she said.

Adriana Kaminsky also defended the interdisciplinary training proposed by IMPA Tech. “I’m very much in favor of having a humanities and languages course within an exact sciences course because a person is never just one thing. A mathematician is not just a mathematician. We need to learn to be a good person in order to be a good professional,” he added.

On October 22, the delegations will hold new summits to discuss and negotiate agreements to resolve the issues raised, based on a summary of the topics debated at this first meeting.

Diplomatic communication practices have been worked on since the beginning of the term in the Language Skills subject. In September, the Consul General of Portugal in Rio de Janeiro, Ambassador Gabriela Soares de Albergaria, took part in a round table discussion with the students and showed how debate is used to find solutions and strengthen relations between countries.

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