UN Earth Summit Day in Manchester

Running a model 'United Nations conference' gives students an insight into democratic structures, the complexity of global issues and and how decisions are arrived at.

Year 9 at a Manchester school participated in an Earth Summit event, a joint Geography and Citizenship activity.

The Year 9 school councillors acted as the United Nations for the day and organised many of the day's activities. The young people had been comparing their 'global footprints' to those of people around the world. They decided upon 'Oil and the Energy Crisis' as the theme. The school councillors put together a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the day.

The year group of 200 was divided into 16 groups representing different countries, a multinational corporation, an environmental group and the media, as well as the UN. During the morning, the young people researched their country or special interest, particularly focusing on energy resources and policies, using briefing papers prepared by the school councillors. Each country was able to lobby the 'UN' to try and reach an acceptable agreement on the motion. In the afternoon, the Summit meeting was chaired by the 'UN' and each country was given the opportunity to present their views. The activity culminated in a vote on the motion.

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This case study is taken from: Developing the Global Dimension in the School Curriculum , DfES et al, 2005.