Role play “Model EU”

Role play “Model EU” took place on June the 18^th on the camp side “Raduga”. The event was held within the EU Center in the Barents Region of Russia project, financially supported by Erasmus+ Program of the EU.

20 students, PetrSU International Office staff members and international students from Finland and Brazil took part in the role play. PetrSU students were from different faculties and institutes, such as the Institute of History, Social and Political Sciences, Institute of Foreign Languages, Institute of Forestry, Engineering and Construction Sciences, the Faculty of Mining and Geology and the Faculty of Law. Anastasiia Kuznetsova, director of the EU Information Center, moderated the event.

Topic of the role play was EU sanctions against Russia and decision making process on extension of these sanctions for 6 months. Each participant had a role – he/she could be an European Comission member, an EU Council Member or an observer. Among observers there were journalists, Russian minister of Foreign Affairs, Governor of the Italian region of Liguria and a Slovak citizen, head of the Slovak patriotic organization “Charter 2015”. Students had personal cards with the information on their character and his/her position on the extension of sanctions, as well as tasks the participants had to accomplish during the play. They had an opportunity to extend or gradually lift the sanctions, using arguments and choosing the right strategy. However, neither the EC nor the EU Council could make a final decision and both parties had an equal amount of supporters.

The key feature of the event was to enable students from different faculties to get involved and actively participate in the role play, even if their educational programs do not involve any EU or political studies. EU Center in the Barents region of Russia thinks that raising awareness and fostering interest among students from technical and humanities departments is very important. Students’ reviews showed that despite its game format, the event allowed them to acquire knowledge about EU institutions, policies and opinions of different countries on EU-Russia relations. It was interesting for them to get into their character and develop their speaking and strategic abilities.