Sophia Kianni is an 18-year-old climate and environmental activist. She is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals: an international nonprofit with over 4,000 members working to translate climate information into over 100 languages. She is also a part of many notable organizations and movements such as Extinction Rebellion. Kianni presented at the third session time slot on Tuesday 21st July. 

Every story has a beginning. Climate Cardinal’s story began when its founder Sophia Kianni was in Middle School and visited her parent’s country of origin, Iran. The air pollution was so severe that around 1,500 people were hospitalized because of it. Kianni realized that many people in Iran were not aware of the threat of climate change.This was because there was a lack of scientific literature in languages besides English. Inspired by this shortage, Sophia Kianni created Climate Cardinals. She knew that for communities to join environmental movements for more sustainable practices, scientific research in other languages had to be plenty.

In the words of Nelson Mandela, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”Essentially, if a person can connect to the cause, they’ll dedicate their time and energy to the cause. 

For the fight for a more environmentally friendly world, more information should be available in other languages. This is exactly what Sophia Kianni did. She created an organization called Climate Cardinals, an organization that translates climate change information. Now, Climate Cardinals has grown to have 14 Directors, 450 expert language leads and 4,500 student volunteers.

What drives Sophia Kianni is also her social values in terms of the environmental movement. She wholeheartedly believes that the Movement should be inclusive. “Anyone on the frontlines [those mostly afflicted by the environmental crisis] should also lead the movement”, says Sophia Kianni. She gives the example of Indigenous people in the U.S, who have fought for decades for better environmental laws.

Sophia Kianni also showed participants a video titled ‘Environmental Racism is the New Jim Crow Laws’. The video highlighted the suffering of African Americans due to the green crisis and how they are disadvantaged in some ways to Caucasian Americans. 

Not only does Sophia Kianni discuss her organization, languages and inclusivity in her presentation, but she also talks about age. She explains that there is no battle of “us vs adults” and that the movement requires co-operation between all ages to save planet Earth. 

She also advises for youth to do the following to advance the environmental movement:

• Pressure your school board to pass a climate change resolution
• Do you your best to support businesses that have divested away from using/supporting fossil fuels
• Support elected officials who believe in climate justice

In the Q&A, a participant asked Kianni what they should do when they repeatedly try to convince a relative that climate change exists but the relative does not believe in the threat of climate change. Kianni advised the participant to do all they could, to advance the environmental movement rather than continuing to try to convince the relative. This is because there is lots of scientific evidence to prove climate change and more action needs to be taken on combating it.

Sophia Kianni had an incredible vision, which led to the creation of Climate Cardinals. You too can make huge gains for the environmental movement by making it more inclusive and using your skills, talents, and networks, to save our planet. We would like to greatly thank Sophia Kianni for presenting at our Summit.

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By Omayma Cherkaoui

Victoria Basma is the Policy Development Officer for the WISE campaign (Women into Science and Engineering), former education consultant and teacher. She currently works with entrepreneurs to create a positive impact within education systems and pushes towards building sustainable learning ecosystems for students. 

During the second session of the Global Summit, Basma presented to a group of delegates from the MUN program as she explained her passion for creating learning ecosystems and working towards social impact. She began by mentioning current times in our world for example, the Black Lives Matter movement, and talked about how demonstrations and protests around the world have led to some major changes thus far. She believes that protesting for social justice and peace, allows everyone to become politically active and voice their opinions. However, Basma also stated that for long term, protests are an unsustainable way to create social change due to the fact that it ultimately limits the impact. This is because iit closes people’s minds to collaboration since they are only focused on very specific objectives. She talked about how coalition could benefit both diplomats and policy makers while sustaining groups who are advocating for change, because it completely removes individual groups at the core and eventually creates a web of collaboration for direct democracy. 

In the next phase of Basma’s presentation, she described what exactly a learning ecosystem is and how to create one. She started off by asking her audience the question, “What makes your school a learning ecosystem?”. A few responses described how schools build a good connection between students and teachers, how it implements diversity into an everyday setting, and how it helps create collaboration with outside organizations and programs like MUN. Basma then went on to consider that having different avenues of learning and allowing students to “co-create” leads to a healthier environment for a learning ecosystem. She stated that it is important for each member to feel as though they have a “say” in a situation and that is why open discussion is necessary in order to create a good learning ecosystem. Basma believes that collective learning along with individual learning is essential because it allows for a group to work towards a common goal and practice team building, but also helps students to individually grow and improve their skills. 

Lastly, Basma discussed with the audience who makes up learning ecosystems and what it can lead to. She listed the groups of people who exist within the learning community as students, their families, research centers, teachers, administrators, edtech entrepreneurs, and local communities. Each of these groups has some kind of impact on what kind of environment the education system is and how it will eventually affect the students. She then talked about the different factors that create a “good” learning ecosystem. She stressed the importance of student dialogues, teacher training, and diversity amongst students (ethnicity, race, economic status, etc.) and in resources. She stated that “space” for interaction and collaboration allow students to connect. However, that definition of space is changing with the Covid-19 pandemic, as students are no longer able to meet face to face in classrooms. 

Overall, Victoria Basma put together a well-organized, informative, and interesting presentation for her audience, and helped create a better understanding of what a learning ecosystem is and how it can benefit many different groups. She engaged the delegates by allowing them to speak on personal experiences and explore the importance of collaboration and team building. The students who attended her session seemed to enjoy her presentation as they actively listened and asked thoughtful questions.

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By Audrey Pinson

Mr Jordan Hattar, a former MUNer himself, started working in humanitarian crises at the age of 18 in South Sudan. He has since worked extensively on the Syrian refugee crisis from the country of Jordan and currently runs the charity he co-founded, Help4Refugees. 85 participants from 35 different countries joined Mr Jordan Hattar as he shared anecdotes about his inspirational life and some tips on achieving success.

Like all, Jordan started off with his dreams and goals. However, he could not have achieved any of them without persistence and risk taking. One example of this was his ambition to intern at the White House, when despite seven failed applications he decided to book a flight to Washington DC. It was only after booking his flight his application was accepted and he went on to intern with Michelle Obama in the hope of influencing the Obama Administration’s view on the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

A very prominent theme Jordan highlighted was the importance of mentors. His search for a mentor started in high school and he has since been led through his life by mentors which have guided him through his toughest and hardest moments and shared their experience with him along his journey. Having a ‘why’ can also act as one of the largest driving forces to achieving your dreams and goals. If you are passionate enough about something, you can navigate obstacles which stand in your way, but only with the help of mentors and motivation.

Thinking outside the box can also be pivotal to achieving dreams. A short video telling the story of Denzel Washington, an American actor, director, and producer, told us to ‘fail big’ and take chances. After Jordan finished his internship at the White House, he was offered the chance to continue working on Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative and despite even his father advising him to continue, he decided that his work on refugees would be more beneficial to the many. 

Jordan referenced the importance of ‘hearing each other’. This is particularly important in addressing the challenge of an economically driven youth who are less interested in giving back to our communities than our predecessors were. He told us that if we figure out where our passions and the needs of the world intersect, we can make a real difference in our communities.

A presentation laden with inspirational anecdotes ended with some key tips to help anyone achieve their version of success. These included following your passions, ensuring your career aligns with your ‘why’ and being able to say no. Following this, an informative question and answer session helped guide attendees on how to deal with low self-esteem and where to look to find mentors to support us on our journeys. Jordan told attendees that dealing with self-esteem is “a battle” and we should not let anything stop us from reaching our goals. This was particularly apparent as he referenced a quote that he came across which said, “we don’t choose events, events choose us”.

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By William W.

Lamya Adam, a student in year 11 at Doha College, Qatar presented to a group of over 50 students today at 15:30 UTC during the first day of the inaugural Global Summit. She addressed everyone on the topic of “the delegate will reply in note form.” Her presentation addressed a wide array of topics centered around resolution writing, presenting, and conference attending. 

Adams entered the MUN world reluctantly. However, shortly after signing up she found herself surrounded by like minded thinkers and a caring community. Once she entered there was no turning back! Adams began her session with instructions and advice for new members of the MUN community.  She reminded the session that there is “no right or wrong way to write a resolution. There are many different approaches.”

“Research is confidence,” she began. Stressing the importance of research she instructed everyone to read the research reports, skim, highlight, and delve into areas where you need more information using other sources (even recommending Wikipedia, a highlight for the students!) She walked the participants through the structure of writing a resolution: Build out, starting from the research report and explore multiple solutions and weigh the advantages and disadvantages. 

Adams believes that if you put the time and effort into research before the conference it will pay off in the long run. For difficult Points of Information (POI’s), “refer back to your research. Use facts. Research can help you ‘be a politician.’” She explained that to be a politician, “Acknowledge the question but like politicians thank for the input and divert attention. Make sure to highlight the good parts. Stand by your position and resolution!” 

When these tactics (along with sharing the floor with team members) fail for trying to answer a difficult POI, Adam’s delved into how to properly reply in note form. Her first advice: “actually reply with a note!” She warned that many who say they will answer in note form, fail to do so entirely. By answering their question by note, you may win their vote, even if they don’t 100% agree with what you say. Answer their question creatively. She said “think outside the box. MUN is supposed to be fun. Be a little dramatic, but highlight the good parts of the resolution and stress the urgency and dire matter of the resolution.” 

Adam’s then opened the floor to an activity to get the participants involved and to practice the skills she went over. Students researched the topic of sustainable energy in small island developing states to debate whether or not to build a dam to provide hydroelectric power to communities. The participants returned from research and engaged in a small impromptu debate, where the participants displayed their skills of answering POI’s and diverting when necessary. 

In a short 45 minute session Lamya Adam was able to debunk negative connotations of replying in note form. She gave an introduction to how to be properly prepared for an MUN conference and engaged her participants in an activity where students were able to display their newly learned knowledge. Her session balanced worries of many newcomers to the MUN world with helpful tips for seasoned MUN delegates to continue to grow their toolkit. 

In short, Lamya Adam demonstrated skills, shared tips, and explained what it takes to be a successful delegate and how to get there. And her story from being a reluctant delegate to giving her own presentation to inspire new MUNers shows the exact spirit of the Global Summit.

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By Hallie Williams

As the first day of the Global Summit finally arrived, many professionals from various fields of work prepared presentations to speak on their passions and educate the youth of the MUN program. Albert Olivia, the Impact Summit Director, has the responsibility of managing events and projects in more than 25 countries around the world. He also works with over 5,000 people in order to educate students about the SDGs. Olivia works through social media to connect with others and implement the SDGs on various online campaigns. He has travelled to many countries such as Qatar, Israel, and the UK for MUN conferences and has also attended more than 17 United Nations conferences both as a delegate and chair. 

Olivia started his presentation by introducing himself and showing a slide show representing multiple social projects he has worked on. It was clear from the beginning that he was very passionate about including all groups in his fight for social equality. However, he went on to say, “We are not equal. There will always be inequalities in our world as it is simply human nature.” He directed this statement into a question that he asked his audience to think about; “Instead of asking how can we stop inequality, ask how can we slow down the increasing trend of inequality”. From there, Olivia began to narrow down the topic of equal opportunity to just the aspect of wealth. While doing so, he directed the delegate’s attention to a survey of yes and no questions about traveling to different countries for MUN conferences. One of those questions was “Have you ever attended a conference in a more economically developed country?” (a MEDC) and the response was 56% of the audience said yes, while 43% said no. The next question on the survey was “Have you ever attended a conference in a less economically developed country?” (a LEDC) and this response was much different as only 23% of the delegates said yes and 77% said no. He used this data to prove his idea that equal opportunity does not currently exist because LEDCs do not have the wealth to provide the same quality facilities as the MEDCs, therefore, more people attend conferences in the countries that are more economically developed. 

Olivia stated that the way to begin change and progress in countries that are economically underdeveloped is to start analyzing the “why’s” and ask more questions. For example, he engaged his audience by asking why larger events such as football or soccer games don’t take place in less wealthy countries. When asked how this would help develop a country economically, he replied that it would create a chain reaction because people will begin to see that it is not only possible, but also makes a change by bringing attention to the country and its people. Another example Olivia used was questioning distribution of technology. He stated that many schools in LEDCs do not have access to the same technology that other countries around the world have available to them. This again, causes a large inequality in opportunity as technology is becoming a major part of the education system more and more each day. Olivia expressed to the audience his plan to create a database in Africa that connects different schools to ensure more opportunities. For example, exchange programs and studies abroad, as these things are undoubtedly more accessible to MEDCs that have technology available in their educational systems. 

In conclusion, Albert Olivia shared insightful information to help broaden the mindset of what equal opportunity looks like, and different ways to achieve it. The delegates who attended this presentation were engaged and interested in the session and seemed to enjoy the experience, which ultimately, is the main goal of the Global Summit!

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By Audrey Pinson

The Global Summit, a three day encapsulation of MUN Impact, the first of its kind, kickstarted at 13:00 UTC on July 21, 2020. The three day conference began with an Opening session, followed by 4 sessions where 20 different presenters gave workshops, and concluded with a social hour, where participants were able to socialize with new peers. 

Day 1 certainly lived up to the anticipation. From the minute the Opening session began with inspiring words from  Ms Martin, the Executive Director of MUN Impact and Mr. Will kennedy, Senior Programme Officer, UN Office for Partnerships, United Nations to the final minutes of the last session of the day, the youth of the world were connected, enlightened, engaged, and providing hope for the future of our planet. 

The Opening Plenary was complex and multifaceted, getting off to a seamless start, that provided an inclusive and exciting way to start the conference. Some of the highlights of the opening session included Will Kennedy articulating how powerful youth can be, press teams multiple and beautifully crafted videos, and Ms. Michèle Coninsx’s talk, the distinguished plenary speaker, on terrorism. During this session there was a brief Q&A with Ms. Coninsx as well as a short talk from Mr. Alejandro Borja, the CEO and Founder of YudLeads. The session came to an end with the inaugural gavel and a few announcements for the participants. 

Ahead of the conference participants chose which sessions they would like to attend, and session 1 sure made it hard to pick right from the get go which to attend. Albert Olivia presented on  Leading Towards Equality in Opportunity. Andrew Hudson presented on SDG 14: Challenges, Opportunities and UNDP Response, Maysoon Hussein workshop was on Securing Sustainability from Home, and Sebastián Pilla had a spanish session on Los ODS como eje en la gestión del Consejo Consultivo de Jóvenes de Santa Cruz – Galápagos. 

Session 2 brought equally interesting workshops from Lamya Adam, a panel of Zoey Fisher, Jaideep Singh, Farihah Ahmed, and Ivan Wei  giving the behind the scenes of the inner workings of the summit, a presentation from Sara Montes, Catalina Viteri y Daniela Calderón, as well as one from Victoria Basma. 

The day continued during session 3 where Ambassador Eric Robson talked about The SDGs Innovation Challenge, Sophia Kianni presented on Inside the Youth Climate Movement, Dr. Anthony Speca gave a workshop on Polar Aspect: Model Arctic Council and Sustainable Development, Ella Sobhani & Vivian Wu joined forces to talk about Project Aquascope- Environmental Sustainability, STEM and Youth Entrepreneurship, while Alejandro Borja, Antonella Cicconi and Camila Cabrera shared how they made MUN en Casa a reality.  

Session 4 brought Walter Simonsen presenting on How MUN Impacted My Future as a Musician and Educator, Jordan Hattar who shared his Recipe for Success, Arya Kanade who shared about Ladies First, a joint presentation from Tara Tafreshi, Hannah Sparrock, Younglin Cho on Problems & Solutions Regarding Food Waste & Food Choices, and a presentation from Javier Rincón. 

The day came to a close with a social hour with much talk of the exciting start to the conference and equal amount of high hopes for the following two days. 

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By Hallie Williams