Japan University English Model United Nations

The annual Japanese University English Model United Nations (JUEMUN) Conference was hosted by KUFS last weekend, June 25th-27th, 2021.149 student delegates from 12 universities (and coincidently 12 nationalities) took part in the event.

The Agenda theme was Appropriate and Resilient Development for Environmental Sustainability. The three meetings and committee topics focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9, 12, and 13, were as follows:

Meeting 1: Appropriate Infrastructure Innovation and Industry for Sustainable Development (SDG 9)
Committee A: Increase access and use of communication technologies for sustainable development
Committee B: Develop sustainable and resilient infrastructure
Committee C: Strengthen small scale enterprises in developing countries
Committee D: Facilitate financial support to least developed countries and small island states

Meeting 2: Responsible Consumption and Production for a Sustainable Economy (SDG 12)
Committee A: Reasonable consumption and production of clean energy
Committee B: Reduction of food waste
Committee C: Reduction of industrial waste
Committee D: Supporting economic opportunities and job creation by promoting local culture and products through sustainable tourism

Meeting 3: Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and its Impacts (SDG 13)
Committee A: Strengthening resilience to climate related natural disasters
Committee B: Integrating climate change measures into policies and planning
Committee C: Building knowledge and capacity to address climate change
Committee D: Managing climate action programmes for least developed countries and small island states

Because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic the event was held online, but due to the lifting of the state of emergency the three meetings were chaired in person on campus by students from KUFS, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, and Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama.

Professor Emeritus Craig Smith, was adamant that JUEMUN events should be student-run and student-led. As a mark of respect, JUEMUN 2021 closely followed Craig’s wishes. The Secretary Generals were Hibiki Maeda (KUFS) and Niklaus Weigelt (KUFS). Nik and Hibiki, along with Manami Miyatake and Naru Kosugi (KUFS) worked tirelessly from as far back as July 2020 to create this event.

In order to stream the meeting online students from KUFS formed a technical assistance team led by Hibiki Maeda with support from Ruka Sasaki, Saeko Ito and Kazuto Morishita. Manami Miyatake organized hotel bookings for our guests from Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama and Kobe City of Foreign Studies, as well as ordering and collecting meals during the event, and arranging that all delegates receive a special SDG badge created by a local NPO.

The ZOOM meeting opened on Friday with an opening address from the KUFS Secretary Generals followed by two guest speakers, Kaoru Nemoto - Director, United Nations Information Center - Tokyo, and Rev. Takafumi Zenryu Kawakami - Deputy Head Priest, Shunkoin Temple. The guest speakers addressed the pressing need to fully implement the UN SDGs. Delegates then actively engaged in speeches, negotiation, resolution writing and debate for the next three days, finally voting on the finished amended resolutions in the afternoon of Sunday. The meeting closed with a message from students of Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama who will host the meeting in 2022. Certificates were then distributed to all 149 delegates, prepared by Nik and Hibiki.

I would like to express special thanks to Prof. Angus McGregor who conducted the demanding JUEMUN course for KUFS as well as overseeing the technical and physical details of the event in countless meetings (online and face to face) and emails, a huge undertaking. Also special thanks to Ishihara Yumi of Soumubu who arranged for the meeting rooms and computers and did an amazing job in facilitating away the difficulties of holding such an event during a pandemic, and to Lori Zenuk-Nishide (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies), Donna Tatsuki (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies), Michael Hollenback (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies) and Tom Fast (Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama) who all greatly contributed as faculty advisors on the JUEMUN 2021 organizing committee.

Despite all the difficulties posed by hosting an event during a pandemic JUEMUN 2021 was a great success and I would like to say an extra special thank you also to the wonderful students of KUFS from the Department of British and American Studies and the Department of Global Studies who actively took part and spent so much of their valuable time contributing to its success: Ai Umeda, Miku Yokoyama, Cygee Chavez, Thanavut Prateep Na Thalang, Carlo Yamano, Mizuki Shin, Hayato Tanimura, Yamato Wakai, Ryo Perez, Ryo Nakatsuji, Ranna Suzuki, Mayu Inoue, Ken Torito, Anji Yamasaki, Taro Baker,
Thank you all!

Ian Gibson
JUEMUN KUFS organizing committee

大学生が日頃の学習の成果を披露する機会として、全国で様々なコンテストが開催されています。英米語学科・キャリア英語学科では、出場の相談やコーチングの提供など、コンテストに挑戦する外大生のみなさんを応援しています。

そこで、年間を通してどのような英語のコンテストがあるのかを一覧にしたポスターを作成しました（左）。４号館前の掲示板にも貼る予定です。

青いバナーの３つの大会は、応募の相談やコーチングなど、教員のサポートがあるコンテスト。その下の緑のバナーのコンテストは、そのほかにたくさん行われている英語のコンテストのほんの一例です。多くの大会で交通費や宿泊費が支給され、入賞者には賞金や賞品が授与されます。青いバナー以外のコンテストでも教員がサポートを提供できる場合があります。

すでに選考が行われたホノルル市長杯英語弁論大会では、英米語学科４年生の佐々木光さんが予選を勝ち抜き、全国大会に出場します！応募のために何度も原稿を練り直し、本学のスタジオでレコーディングをして予選にのぞみました。本選は延期となり、12/12に開催されます。

コンテストは、人前で発表するだけでなく、リサーチをして原稿を仕上げ練習をする準備のプロセスも素晴らしい体験となります。ぜひ、この貴重な機会に挑戦しましょう！

問い合わせ：英米語学科教員　ラムスデン多夏子（t_ramsden@kufs.ac.jp）