High school students simulate UN committee meetings in the classroom

Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (FGV EBAPE) and the SEB education group, represented by Carolina Patrício School, recently held an event to discuss the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals and possible solutions to issues such as poverty and inequality.

The event brought together 250 high school students from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo at Carolina Patrício School’s Barra da Tijuca site to simulate a series of United Nation committee meetings.

The event was attended by the coordinator of FGV EBAPE’s undergraduate business program, Professor Bernardo Fajardo, the principal of Carolina Patrício School, Hélia Sanches, other representatives of the school, and FGV EBAPE undergraduate business students.

Professor Fabrício Stocker of FGV EBAPE gave a talk to the students about key points for sustainable development, the 2030 agenda and the role of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as sharing a more realistic view of the socioeconomic problems faced by various countries around the world.

After this talk, the students formed delegations of up to 20 members. Each committee was responsible for representing several countries around the world and bringing to the table some of the main problems highlighted by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as seeking viable solutions to these issues.

According to Hélia Sanches, this initiative helps students to be protagonists in their own lives, become aware of the problems that plague society and their importance as agents of transformation, engage new generations and create ways to lead the world, guided by a culture of peace.

According to Professor Fabrício Stocker, it is important for young people to understand their own role in the community in which they live and, when choosing the profession they want to follow in the future, to not only look at the one that will pay the best, but to think about the opportunity that will be most aligned with their purpose in life and that could have an impact on more lives, society in general and/or the environment. “That’s what we’ve been trying to do, to work a little more with young people to raise awareness, especially about sustainability,” he says.

Sanches believes that this partnership with FGV EBAPE and initiatives of this kind, bringing academia closer to schools, will reduce a possible gap as young people transition from high school to university, by sharing new perspectives and practices with students, helping them understand the reality of university life and creating expectations and greater engagement.

She points out that the SEB education group is already studying the possibility of new projects in partnership with FGV EBAPE aimed at replicating this initiative at other high schools in Rio de Janeiro.