ECE Graduate Student Plays a Significant Role in Model United Nations Convention on Climate Change

ECE PhD student Babak Manouchehrinia was nominated by the Graduate Students Society as a UVic representative to attend the 2015 Model United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Negotiations (UNFCCC) in St. Gallen, Switzerland (May 15th-16th) with another UVic student, Anne-Marie Beliveau, and UVic School of Business Professor, Dr. Monika Winn.

Babak Manouchehrinia is currently pursuing his PhD degree under the supervision of Dr. Nandi in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. He and Anne-Marie, who graduated in the Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution Program at UVic were nominated by the GSS to represent UVic at the Model United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Switzerland. The trip was supported by Dr. Monika Winn who initiated the inspiration for this trip as well as the Centre for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CSSI).

The Model UNFCCC was held on May 15 - 16, 2015 at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. The city of St. Gallen was a special location for this event. St. Gallen is a one-thousand-year-old city in eastern Switzerland and is a UNSECO World Heritage Site. In a place of such history and hope, it was a very special place to host the negotiations.

The model UNFCCC brought together a group of Master-level students from leading business schools across Europe. The model UNFCCC was the culmination of a climate change policy course, which was offered at 7 universities across Europe. The goal of the model negotiations was to broaden students' understanding of climate change and climate policy.

Each of the 120 students who participated plus the two representatives from UVic were assigned a role in the model climate-change policy negotiation. The UVic representatives were assigned to the Media Team for the Model UNFCCC's website. "We were impressed by how well students were prepared for the model and how serious they played their respective roles," Babak added. "The delegates' determination toward finding a solution for climate change was admirable." "The most valuable part of the model," reported Anne-Marie, "was meeting with students from different backgrounds and discussing common challenges, information and discussion stemming from speakers."

For further information, Babak and Anne-Marie's report is available here

and is also featured by UVic School of Business here.