Stars and STEM Stories
Students from the Dominican Republic Present GLOBE Program at Model United Nations in New York City
A high school delegation from Notre Dame School, a GLOBE school in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, won Best Position Paper and Honorable Mention at the Model UN held from 18-22 April 2007 in New York City. Their paper and presentation focused on strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to create sanctions against companies that do nothing to diminish greenhouse gases. The Model United Nations (UN) is a simulation of the United Nations General Assembly that aims to educate students about civics, globalization, multilateral diplomacy and effective communication. Secondary school and university-age participants research a country, take on roles as diplomats, investigate international issues, debate, deliberate, consult, and then develop solutions to real world problems. Model UN participants learn how the international community acts on worldwide concerns about peace and security, human rights, economic development, hunger, globalization and the environment.
During five days of intense debates with delegates from Argentina, Canada, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States and Venezuela, the students from the Dominican Republic developed their position paper based on knowledge of Earth system science that they had acquired as participants in the GLOBE Program. The students' position emphasized the importance of the GLOBE Program in helping to achieve two of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals: Environmental Sustainability and Developing a Global Partnership for Development. The Millennium Development Goals, commissioned by the UN Millennium Project, represent a global effort to address the world's main development challenges. The UN considers these goals to be attainable, if all countries work together to do their part and will achieve significant, measurable improvements in people's lives.
The students of Notre Dame School recommended the GLOBE Program as an ideal international tool for educating the current generation of young people, along with their parents, to respect the environment from knowledge gained through scientific inquiry. Because of its unique reach and collaborative approach to learning, GLOBE brings international education to life by creating a worldwide community of learners and is uniquely positioned to inspire students to investigate critical environmental issues. The students stressed the GLOBE approach of viewing Earth as a system and the critical need for realizing that actions taken in every nation influence the entire planet and are of equal importance to us all.
By presenting their position before the UN audience of energetic learners, these remarkable GLOBE students of the Dominican Republic have accomplished a great deal. They have created an awareness of the UN Millennium Goals to ensure environmental sustainability and to develop a global partnership for development, they have promoted GLOBE as a vehicle for helping to create an entire generation of students committed to understanding and protecting their environment, and they have addressed a specific environmental issue, greenhouse gases, as well.
Well done, GLOBE Students!
For Spanish information about the Model UN, see this Web site.
7 September 2007