Events

In the General Assembly Second Committee (GA2) they will negotiate about “Promotion of Sustainable Tourism” and “Eradicating Rural Poverty to Implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. In General Assembly Third Committee (GA3) they will talk about “Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children in Conflict” and “Preventing Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity”. And in the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) they will put their focus on “Environmental Sustainability in the Textile and Fashion Industries” and “Implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework”.

To be well prepared, Prof. Dr. Wiesner and Prof. Dr. Philip Liste jointly taught the basics of international politics, law, and conference rules in a MUN seminar. Furthermore, some students already participated in Fulda MUN 2023 as well as in EfMUN 2023 and EfMUN 2024 to gather first experiences. The coordination and organization of MUN at the faculty were done by Muriel C. Pluschke. The excursion is funded by the DAAD HAW International project at the faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences of Fulda University of Applied Sciences, “Transnational Governance and Human Rights”.

More information on NMUN New York can be found here

Source: NMUN. 2024. Welcome to NMUN!

 The students were now able to meet in person and exchange ideas and make international contacts. "The conference is a great experience. We have guests from four different countries, which simulate 19 UN states. Everyone is working intensively and learning a lot, but the atmosphere and the exchange are great, both among students and teachers," said Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner pleased.

The Fulda MUN 2023 focused on two topics that are of great importance in today's world - "Countering disinformation for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms" and "Natural Disasters in conflict regions". In the MUN simulations, students slip into the roles of various UN states, which they meticulously prepare in order to represent them credibly. This time, for example, there were Russian, Chinese and South African, but also Finnish, German and French "delegates".

After the opening ceremony with first speeches of the teachers, the delegates decided by majority vote to deal with the topic of natural disasters first. Together they worked out three resolutions on this topic, which were successfully passed despite some abstentions as well as a few dissenting votes. The second topic, disinformation, was on the agenda from Wednesday on. Here, two resolution were adopted by the delegates. "In simulating the UN General Assembly, students learn how the political interest of states finds expression in highly formalized procedures," Prof. Dr. Philip Liste drew a final conclusion.

The Fulda MUN 2023 was framed by a sightseeing tour through the city including a joint dinner, a reception at Frauenberg Monastery, where among others the Dean of the faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, Prof. Dr. Matthias Klemm, as well as Prof. Dr. Claudia Kreipl, Vice President for Research and Transfer at Fulda University of Applied Sciences, held short speeches, and a concluding dinner with a three-course menu at the Ritter Restaurant. A special highlight was the visit of the Hessische Rundfunk, which brought about a three-minute contribution in the Hessenschau. The videos can be found here  and here  as well as a Podcast here.

Following the visit at the Council of the European Union, ICEUS and MAHRS students had the pleasure of visiting the Commission’s visitor center. At the Commission, they heard presentations on various topics focusing on migration, disinformation, and EU enlargement in the time of the war against the Ukraine.

The visit and reception at the Representation of the Federal State of Hesse at the EU gave students a little taste of home in Brussels. Nick Aiossa of Transparency International shared his experiences is lobbying and advocacy with the students. Following the presentations, students were welcomed to join the Jugend Forscht reception in the evening. There they learned about biodegradable plastics, stair-climbing vacuum robots, and technology that will allow neurologists to identify the form of a tumor without having to perform an invasive surgery. Students under the age of 18 from all over Hesse were able to share their findings.

• Should EU citizens decide at the local level how many refugees they want to accept in their region and thus facilitate a Europe-wide distribution?

A Home Parliament is a private discussion group of 4 to 8 people with the slogan ‘‘Have a say in the big issues!‘‘. It is moderated by a host, who can either invite his/her friends or have him/herself assigned to an interesting discussion group. It all takes place either online via Video-HomeParliament, WebEx, Zoom etc. or in a face-to-face meeting. European HomeParliaments are an initiative of the NGO “Pulse of Europe”, an independent citizens’ initiative founded in Frankfurt am Main in 2016. “Pulse of Europe” aims at making the idea of European Citizenship visible and audible, and at strengthening the links between EU-politicians and ordinary citizens.

It seeks to generate a dialogue and better understanding of the EU among citizens. And it aims at learning from the citizens what are their reasons to feel distant to the EU. The panel is chaired by Niilo Kauppi, research director at the University of Helsinki and member of the DebatEU network. Panelists include Anna Björk from Demos, MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala, Professor Johanna Kantola from the University of Helsinki, University Researcher Niko Pyrhönen from the University of Helsinki and Professor Claudia Wiesner from Fulda Hochschule and Pi of the DebatEU network.

“For me, the EFMUN was more than just a simulation; addressing the delegates from the position of United Kingdom was nerve-racking, but in the end, it was a learning experience, one I would repeat without hesitation”, described Ferdinard Osei, who represented the United Kingdom in the General Assembly, where five resolutions emerged from a total of six working papers. Thanks to their participation in EfMUN, the students were for the first time able to apply the knowledge they had previously acquired in the virtual MUN seminar as part of the project Practising Transnational Politics in Blended Learning (PATRAPO). “At EfMUN, the students were able to dive deep into international negotiations and international law based on currently relevant topics and experience for themselves how difficult it can be to reach consensus and develop common positions as well as measures at the international level”, said Muriel C. Pluschke, who accompanied the excursion as Faculty Advisor. In the end, the Fulda delegation even received an award for the best position paper.

The project Practising Transnational Politics in Blended Learning (PATRAPO) is a model project at Fulda University of Applied Sciences, headed by Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner and Prof. Dr. Philip Liste and supported by the research assistants Muriel C. Pluschke and Clara Umstätter. It includes an innovative, international cooperation in teaching with the Autonomous University Madrid, Zagreb University, and the associated partner Mac Ewan University (Edmonton/Canada), which is funded by the DAAD and Erasmus+. The Catholic University Lviv (Ukraine) is also involved in the seminar through funding from the Hesse-Ukraine Bridge Programme of the HMWK.

🗓 Date & Time: Winter Term 03.11.2022-07.02.2023
📍 Location: Hochschule Fulda, Building 22, Room 302
💻 Online Participation: Available via maria.keller@sk.hs-fulda.de

We are delighted to invite you to our lecture series "Europe in the World", taking place this Winter Term from November 4, 2024, to February 11, 2025. The insightful lectures will feature distinguished speakers from the fields of academia, politics and NGOs, and cover a wide range of topics. We believe you’ll find the series both informative and stimulating.

The series will explore Europe’s evolving role in global affairs, focusing on key themes and new political challenges. Talks will cover topics such the United Nations, democracy, citizen perceptions, Russia´s opposition, and Europe’s responses to current conflicts, among other timely issues. The lecture series offers a unique opportunity for enlarging your knowledge, getting in touch with current academic and political debates, engaging in-depth discussion, intellectual exchange, and obtain a broader understanding of our world.

Everyone is welcome to attend single or several lectures without previous registration.

• History in Europe’s Classrooms: Should history education in Europe’s schools provide more common European content and go beyond national narratives?

• EU Membership Process: Should EU enlargement be accelerated for countries with candidate status?

The discussion

Students were divided into three groups and discussed one question each. They engaged in lively discussions and then presented their results to the other students. After that, we voted on each question and finally on the overall question. Students were very engaged in the debate and enjoyed the interactive nature of the home parliaments. It was interesting to see, how the opinions varied from being very critical to agreeing very much with the question.

We thank everybody for participating in the debate and are curious to see how these debates continue on the European level.

After her speech, some of the Ukrainian students shared their personal impressions from the war zone, which touched and affected everyone present. Afterwards, the actual conference began, during which the approximately 40 participants took on the role of delegations of a UN member state for three days. The individual delegates held speeches, looked for cooperation partners, negotiated intensively, wrote working papers together and finally voted on the results of the draft resolutions in plenary. Finally, three resolutions on "Reducing the impact on food security from the Ukraine conflict" were adopted.

On the occasion of the event, a festive reception was held at Café Flora of the Frauenberg Monastery in Fulda on July 5. The President of the University of Applied Sciences Fulda, Prof. Dr. Kharim Khakzar, welcomed the guests present, consisting of current and former MUN participants, employees of the University and of the Faculty SK. Further greetings were given by Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner and Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Reinhard, Dean of the Faculty. In addition, a greeting from Michael Brand (CDU), member of the German Bundestag, who could not be present in person, was read out.

The conference was closed after the final vote of all delegates on the Draft Resolutions on July, 06 with a speech by Prof. Dr. Chaldeans Mensah. Finally, some students were honored with awards for especially good performances such as excellent speeches or position papers. In the evening, the delegations had dinner and exchanged ideas at the Brauhaus Wiesenmühle before leaving Fulda the next day after three eventful days.

The Fulda Team: Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner, Prof. Dr. Philip Liste, Muriel Pluschke, Clara Umstätter, Maria Keller, Meike Schmidt-Gleim, Zhylien Kaja

The students were fascinated by finally experiencing the European policy-making they had learned about during the last semester(s). Thus, they asked many questions about various aspects of each institution. Apart from the official institutions, the students also got a guided city-tour and some also visited the Parlamenatrium or the House of European History in the European Quarter.

In the end, all agreed that the trip had been a huge success and everyone enjoyed the appealing and thought-provoking program of the trip. Now we are looking forward to visiting Brussels again next year and maybe some students will return for internships or might even start a career there.

• Should a representative citizens' council advise the EU institutions on fundamental decisions? (Soll ein repräsentativer Bürgerrat der EU Institutionen bei grundlegenden Entscheidungen beratend zur Seite stehen?)
• Should the European Parliament be able to introduce its own legislative proposals in addition to the EU Commission? (Soll neben der EU-Kommission auch das Europäische Parlament eigene Gesetzesvorschläge einbringen können)

The students - who got divided into three groups - had some lively discussions about the questions. Most of them agreed on questions 1 and 2 but disagreed on the third question. We are now keen to see what the overall results of the HomeParliaments will show and especially what the EU politicians will make of the results.

In Zusammenarbeit mit Hochschulen und Universitäten auf der ganzen Welt fand die Simulation dieses Jahr Online statt. Der Hauptzweck von GLOBALMEU besteht darin, einen Rahmen für die Simulation einer Tagung des Europäischen Rates zu schaffen, um den Studierenden mehr Wissen über die Europäische Union zu vermitteln und ihnen gleichzeitig die Möglichkeit zu geben, mit Studierenden aus der ganzen Welt in Kontakt zu treten.

Ich entschied mich für die Rolle als Umweltministerin und sollte die Interessen Polens vertreten. Die Nähe zu Polen machte dieses Land besonders interessant für mich und da ich mich privat sehr für Umweltschutz interessiere schien diese Rolle für mich sehr geeignet zu sein. Auch wenn meine persönliche Einstellung nicht unbedingt mit der Polens übereinstimmte, hatte ich doch ein Ziel als Delegierte vor Augen: Die Interessen meines Landes zu vertreten. Besonders die Recherche im Vorhinein war sehr ergiebig und hat mich einem europäischen Land in diesem Zuge nähergebracht.

Für mich war die Simulation ein einzigartiges Erlebnis, dass ich Komiliton:innen nur ans Herz legen kann. Die Veranstaltung war sehr professionell und gut strukturiert aufgebaut und es war eine seriöse, konstruktive Atmosphäre. Die Simulation hat mir verdeutlicht, wie schwierig es ist gemeinsam an einem Strang zu ziehen, selbst wenn das Ziel klar ist. Es gibt viele Wege, die zum Ziel führen und jedes EU-Land hat seine eigenen Bedürfnisse und Vorstellungen der Union. Mir ist klar geworden, dass es in der Europäischen Union sowohl um das große Ganze als auch um jeden einzelnen Mitgliedsstaat geht. Dennoch habe ich auch erleben dürfen, dass ein Konsens möglich ist und die EU dadurch neue Ziele in Angriff nehmen kann." 

🗓 Date & Time: Winter Term 18.11.2021-10.02.2022
📍 Location: Hochschule Fulda, Building 22, Room 302
💻 Online Participation: Available via zhylien.kaja@sk.hs-fulda.de

We are delighted to invite you to our lecture series "Europe in the World", taking place this Winter Term from November 4, 2024, to February 11, 2025. The insightful lectures will feature distinguished speakers from the fields of academia, politics and NGOs, and cover a wide range of topics. We believe you’ll find the series both informative and stimulating.

The series will explore Europe’s evolving role in global affairs, focusing on key themes and new political challenges. Talks will cover topics such the United Nations, democracy, citizen perceptions, Russia´s opposition, and Europe’s responses to current conflicts, among other timely issues. The lecture series offers a unique opportunity for enlarging your knowledge, getting in touch with current academic and political debates, engaging in-depth discussion, intellectual exchange, and obtain a broader understanding of our world.

Everyone is welcome to attend single or several lectures without previous registration.

The cadidates expressed notable differences in their positions. While the representatives of SPD, Greens, Left and Volt advocated for a fixed minimum wage and a rise to 12 € or 13 €, the representatives of the CDU and FDP argued for a regulation of wages based on collective bargaining. Migration and refugee policy were also discussed intensively. Regarding the latter, Birgit Kömpel (SPD) emphasised that she would welcome Fulda to become a safe haven, and she was going to campaign for the admission of a certain contingent of refugees. The establishment of municipalities as safe havens was also supported by Gianina Zimmermann (Greens), who at the same time called for an immigration law. Mario Klotzsche (FDP) emphasised the need for an EU-wide consensus and the strengthening of legal migration. Similarly, Dagmar Heil (VOLT) pointed out the importance of a European approach and the necessary reform of the Dublin Agreement, as well as the shortage of skilled workers and the positive effects of immigration in this respect. Nuha Sharif-Ali (Left) demanded not to wait for a European solution and make a local decision, and she claimed the need to fight the causes of migration. Michael Brand (CDU) described the difficulties of fighting these causes and advocated the establishment of protection zones under UN control in the countries of origin.

"This discussion round illustrates a core of what democracy is and should be – an open, free and fair debate," said Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner. The discussion event was part of the “Debating Democracy in Europe” series of her Jean Monnet Chair. It was also one of the first events organised by the recently established Fulda Centre of Transnational Governance directed by Prof. Wiesner and linked to the Centre for Intercultural and European Studies (CINTEUS). The aim of the Centre of Governance is to promote the exchange between academia and practice via discussion events, lectures and workshops in which international guests and practitioners are involved. In addition, students are regularly given the opportunity to participate in Model United Nations simulations.

The event can be rewatched in German

They were divided into three discussion groups of 4 to 8 students and had about 2 hours to discuss three proposals on an issue of EU politics such as: the vaccine production in the future, the question of vaccine export, and unrestricted travel within the European Union after vaccination.

The results of the discussions are uploaded to the European Home Parliament’s platform (you can find it here), where the results of all European house parliaments are collected. The results reach top EU politicians such as Ursula von der Leyen (the President of the European Commission); Othmar Karas (EVP); Manfred Weber (EVP); Pedro Marques (S&D); Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL); Gabriele Bischoff (S&D) etc., who are looking forward to exchanging ideas with citizens, students etc. These politicians have agreed to take the findings into account in their deliberations and then give feedback in webinars, video statements or in writing as Ursula von der Leyen did. You can find the video here.

Pulse of Europe will also present the results of the Europea