Largest delegation ever enjoyed their trip to ScotMUN X

This year the amazing number of 22 delegates found their way to Edinburgh to attend ScotMUN X. Since Scotland’s premier MUN conference is famous for their high-quality debates as well as for their socials, it is a tradition for MUN Mannheim to attend this incredible event every year anew. This year attendance was remarkable and we sent our largest MUN Mannheim delegation ever!

Thirteen delegates decided to take a flight one day prior to the beginning of the conference to do some sightseeing. After arriving at the hostel, on early Thursday evening, the hungry delegates went for dinner in typical Scottish Pubs and enjoyed delicious fish and chips, burgers and some adventurous delegates even decided to order the traditional Scottish dish haggis. After that we still had plenty of time to get a first impression of Edinburgh’s nightlife.

On Friday morning, some delegates attended a guided working tour and thereby learned a lot about this gorgeous city steeped in history. Others used the free time to explore the medieval alleys of the beautiful city by their own.

After the arrival of the other eleven delegates on early Friday afternoon, our delegation was complete and ready for the opening ceremony taking place in the majestic Balmoral hotel. After an entertaining and engaging speech about globalization by the right honourable Sir George Reid, a politician of the Scottish National Party, the delegation went back to the hostel to dress up for the Friday night event.

The black-tie event on Friday night has always been one of  ScotMUNs highlights. The delegates dined with the delegates and chairs of their committee in one of the UK’s most famous hotels, the noble Balmoral Hotel. This not only provided the opportunity to get to know each other, but also to discuss positons and strategies for the upcoming sessions. However, the highlight of the night was the traditional Scottish ceilidh – fun and casual dancing in a quintessentially Scottish environment.

On Saturday morning the highly motivated delegates started their work in the committees. There was a wide range of committees including the UNSC in WorldMUN-style as double delegation committee as well as some less usual committees like a simulation of the International Court of Justice. Delegates of MUN Mannheim successfully represented our society in almost every committee. Typical for ScotMUN, the committees were small and therefore provided the opportunity for the delegates to actively participate at high quality debates about interesting topics.

After an inspiring day of debating, the delegates met their committee members at the subterranean club “The Caves”, a beautiful and historic venue, for partying and having fun together – another important part of great MUN conferences.

The last day of the conference was the decisive one. Draft resolutions were discussed and in the end the tension was rising: Will the delegates pass a resolution? Most of the committees did great work and therefore passed high quality resolutions. After the closing ceremony and some farewell drinks, the delegates had the whole evening to go out for drinks and clubbing or to attend a scary ghost tour through Edinburgh’s historic venues.  Unfortunately, the next day we had to say goodbye to Scotland’s magnificent capital.

Once again, this conference was an extraordinary experience and we all had lots of fun. ScotMUN fully deserves its reputation. This event should, undoubtedly, be repeated in 2018.