Earlier this summer, three MacEwan students travelled to Fulda, Germany, with Dr. Chaldeans Mensah to lead students from Ukraine, Croatia, Spain and Germany in a Model UN simulation focused on the situation in Ukraine.

Students Kaia Goodhope (Bachelor of Arts), Josef Scaber (Bachelor of Commerce) and Sarah Jackson (Bachelor of Communication Studies), all former MacEwan Model United Nations Club executive members, guided a simulation that focused on nuclear safety, food security and energy security in the context of the war in Ukraine. 

“Our role was to allow the delegates a forum to express their member states’ views in a way that aligns with the topics and is done productively,” says Goodhope. 

A difficult task given the sensitivity of the topic and the fact that several participants were directly affected. 

“Kaia, Josef and Sarah were lauded by Fulda University of Applied Sciences faculty and their peers for their leadership during the simulation,” says Dr. Chaldeans Mensah, associate professor of political science, who joined the students on the trip and offered a workshop on human rights. “It was a challenging simulation and, after three days of intense negotiations, students managed to produce substantive resolutions.” 

Goodhope credits the experiences she, Scaber and Jackson have had during their combined 11 years as members and executive members of the club for their success. 

MacEwan’s Model United Nations Club is a highly decorated group, having brought home awards from international simulations for decades. 

The group has been partnering on the Canada Ukraine Model UN project for several years in cooperation with MacEwan’s Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre, National University Kyiv Mohyla Academy and Ukrainian Catholic University. The groups are scheduled to travel to Kobe, Japan, in November 2022 to participate in a National Model UN simulation.