During the sports break, 11 students from Mattlidens Gymnasium travelled to Denmark to take part in the annual conference in Birkerød, BIGMUN. Model United Nations is a conference where students roleplay as countries, simulating the United Nations. Mattlidens MUN club is one of the largest clubs in Mattlidens, and both the national side and IB-line students regularly attend the meetings. The club's high point is the conferences organised either in Finland or abroad, bringing together students from different corners of the world to debate global issues. 

This year BIGMUN was the first to take place after a three years break due to Covid 19, and the atmosphere of the conference definitely reflected the excitement of being together after such a long time. During the conference, students debated issues such as denuclearization, mpox, and dismantling the commonwealth. Besides this, BIGMUN also hosted a panel session regarding the war in Ukraine, and guest speakers came to speak of the importance of international diplomacy in times like these. These speeches were eye-opening many times, with both former danish intelligence agents and professors speaking about the array of perspectives regarding the Ukraine crisis.

The BIGMUN conference highlighted many important topics, and the debates and questions brought up both in and outside the simulations were fascinating to follow. Of course, not every second in Denmark was spent on analysing global problems and international relations, but there was time for fun things such as going to museums, max burgers and going sightseeing in Copenhagen, both by boat and from land. 

It was a wonderful trip, and it would not have been possible without the support from Svenska Kulturfonden!

Saga Bergholm