Article by UNA Coventry volunteer Danila Mikheev, student of BSc Management at the University of Warwick.

Model United Nations is a simulation of the United Nations conferences where high-school and university students are the main participants both as delegates and as chairs. Model UNs happen all over the world and are becoming increasingly popular because they help to develop critical thinking, diplomacy and negotiation skills.

My name is Danila Mikheev and I am from Spain (Alicante province), currently I study Bachelor of Science in Management at the University of Warwick and the Warwick Business school. I believe any issue can be solved with effective communication, which is why I’ve dedicated much of my time outside of class to Model UNs, public speaking and debating. I developed a passion for learning how to communicate effectively even under pressure. I have attended two Model UNs as a delegate and one Model UN as a chair and became the only recipient of a Model UN Honourable Mention in my college’s history.

My first experience was as a delegate in April of 2023, I decided to go to Barcelona (500km from my school) with my teachers just two weeks before my first IGCSE exam. It was the S’MUN 2030 at the St. Peter’s School Barcelona sponsored by Singularity Foundation and MUN Aulas. At that moment, I didn’t know what to expect, but ever since I fell in love with Model United Nations. My supervisor for that conference was my school’s English teacher, he really believed in me so he decided to throw me in at the deep end. I was supposed to participate in an advanced committee (Security Council) representing the Russian Federation. As we took the train I asked many questions, I didn’t have an idea about what Model UN was. The agenda was set to the topic of  “The use of War Technology in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Operations”. Unexpectedly, the first day was very enjoyable and exciting for me as I familiarised myself quite quickly with the parliamentary language and the procedures. After three days of conferences I managed to receive an honorary mention

My second Model UN was also as a delegate in December 2024, more than one year after my first experience. It was in Brains School Madrid, I was representing the United States in the Economic & Social committee and the agenda was set to the topic of “discussing the decreasing influence of the US dollar in global trade” and “Youth empowerment and labour”. I managed to form an alliance with delegates of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, Mexico and Argentina through compromise, similarly to real-world multilateralism. We drafted our own resolution based on allowing fluid trade by multiple currencies and proclaiming that countries like Ecuador will continue using US dollar and will not be negatively affected by the change which confronted the resolution drafted by India, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The third experience was as a chair in the KCMurcia first ever internal MUN in February 2025. I was Charing the security council and the agenda was set to the topic of “Use of Artificial Intelligence in armed conflicts”. I spent hours planning the procedures trying to make it an engaging and useful experience for the delegates. The conflict in Gaza and the case of Edward Snowden were brought up in passionate debates. Me and my co-chair ended up awarding an honorary mention to the delegate of Spain and the best delegate award to the delegate of Switzerland.

Now I moved to the UK and I am an active member of the MUN Society at University of Warwick participating in training and social activities every week. I am planning to participate in the LIMUN in 2026 as a delegate and I am hoping there will be many more to come. Overall I believe Model UN is not as scary as it might seem and it is an activity that people generally pick up quickly. From my personal experience, I can say participating in Model United Nations helped me to become more confident and improved my knowledge in geopolitics. What began as a spontaneous decision to join a conference in Barcelona soon inspired me to stay actively involved in international dialogue.