Attending the model European Union in Christchurch was very exciting and provided us with great experience and insight in how the European Union functions and how different parties' perspectives can often conflict and cause strong debate. After being placed in a party, we were placed into a ‘committee group’ which was assigned an issue to debate and come up with a resolution that all parties agree with. We discussed topics including human rights, women's rights, civil liberties, environment and social justice. Over the two days we engaged in talks within our committee groups and slowly worked our way up to the big plenary discussion at the end of the two days. 

Attending the EU taught us a variety of skills such as debating, public speaking, critical thinking and the most important, how to agree to disagree! I’d highly recommend anyone who has an interest in politics to attend one of these events as it is incredibly beneficial and gives you hands-on experience. 

Emily Attfield