MINIONU: challenges and solutions in the event virtualization process in 2020 and 2021

Abstract

MINIONU (United Nations Intercollegiate Simulation Model) is an academic extension project hosted by the International Relations Department of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC Minas). In 2021, the project celebrates its 22nd edition, and counts on the collaboration of students from the International Relations, Social Communication, Psychology and Social Service courses from PUC Minas in the preparation and structuring, for later, high school students from all over Brazil attend the simulations. In 2020, high school students simulated 14 committees, which involved international organizations and themes from different arenas. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to describe the MINIONU as an extension project, as well as the way in which it is organized and carried out. Above all, it seeks to explain how the MINIONU team, during the COVID-19 pandemic, reinvented itself for virtual editions, in order to preserve the social and academic contribution of the Project in the virtual environment.