This past weekend saw the launch of the newest Polar Aspect Model Arctic Council programme: Model Arctic Council London (MAC London) at Alleyn’s School!
It was exciting to welcome 17 pupils from 8 schools in France and the UK to the first-ever MAC London. The conference took place alongside Alleyn’s School’s first International Model United Nations conference, held in collaboration with the Institute St Dominique in Pau, France, where I’m pleased to say both the MUN and the MAC will return next year.
As a first go, MAC London was a small conference, with delegates negotiating the single issue of food security for Arctic communities. And I’m pleased to say that they managed to agree a joint declaration on this issue — congratulations!
Delegates also benefitted from an impromptu ‘debriefing session’ on negotiating technique, at a point when they found the going a bit challenging. They especially learned the value of analysing and defining a difficult problem first, before trying to negotiate a joint approach to it. This saves a lot of talking at cross-purposes, as well as the frustrations of unnecessary disagreement!
As one delegate put it: I learnt that it is important to get to the crux of your disagreements with others. Taking a step back and asking ‘why’ is one of the best ways to reach a compromise.
Many thanks to Alleyn’s School for hosting MAC London. Many thanks, too, to Polar Aspect Associate Josh Gray for bringing his considerable talents to the conference as MAC London Deputy Director. Looking forward to working with Institut St Dominique to bring the MAC to France next year!