The MUN Impact Zone at this year’s CHEMUN XIII was constructed around SDG 11, sustainable cities and communities, as it linked closely to the theme of our conference: Ethics and Advancement.
To represent the difficulty that arises from creating sustainable cities and communities, we designed a human-sized sustainability maze, which required delegates to make choices to find the exit, making different turns that all have different consequences.
Throughout the maze, we hung up a number of questions, all based around SDG 11, for which delegates were required to find an answer. These questions were meant to be realistic and challenging, offering a perspective into the difficult decisions that both legislators and civilians make to lead to a more sustainable future. The answers to the questions were not obvious; they had different benefits and costs, and delegates were required to evaluate their own understandings of sustainability to answer them. We asked the delegates to answer the questions on whiteboards, find the exit, and loop around to find the answer key where they could self check their answers. A number of infographics were hung up throughout the maze that provided different information about SDG 11 for delegates. These infographics included explanations of what we, everyday citizens, can do to help create a more sustainable community. Additionally, we had a “Writing Corner” within the maze, where delegates could write their own thoughts on their favorite SDG and why, as well as other writing prompts. The path with the answers led back to the entrance where we would have a short discussion with the delegates about what they learned. We were so happy to see that the delegates had learned so much different information from our maze, and were able to consider steps to take in order to live a more sustainable life.
If you are interested in seeing a short clip of the construction of the maze, check out our video below.