When Teenagers Take the Floor: Inside the Opening Day of MUNUCCLE 2026
Democratic Innovation
©Antoinette Reyners, G1000 & Maéva Lafleur, What about Dem
Suits, badges and a room full of future delegates: what a youth-led UN simulation approach can tell us about deliberative democracy.
Security checks, side by side with MEPs
From 7 to 9 October, MUNUCCLE 2026 brought together students from several schools across Europe. On opening day, everything started where delegates first had to go through security, in the same corridors as sitting members of parliament. Accreditation was smooth, the mood was cheerful and buzzing. Schools entered the room one after the other, in a rhythm that felt closer to a diplomatic ceremony than to a school trip.
Teachers stayed discreetly in the background. The organisers were students, who guided delegations to their seats and adjusted the room according to the countries represented. Meanwhile, the media committee (student filmmakers and photographers) was already at work, documenting every moment.
What is a MUN?
A Model United Nations is a role-play where delegates represent a country or an organisation, research its positions, and debate in committee. MUNUCCLE is organized by the European School of Brussels I (Uccle). Founded in 2018, it brings together schools from across Europe. But this year marked a shift: it was no longer just a classic MUN, but a Model Citizens' Assembly (MCA), placing citizen deliberation, sortition, and participatory democracy at the heart of the debates.
A citizens’ forum that resonates with the news
The opening ceremony set the tone: this was a citizens’ forum that resonates with current events, at a moment when young people are mobilising in the streets. The organisers invited delegates to make the most of the experience and paid tribute to the students who built the backbone of the debates. One golden rule was repeated: defend an idea with vigour, but never forget that behind it stands a classmate.
Then the lights dimmed for a video, and one line stayed in the room: “The government’s silence will not be the people’s silence.” Alexander, the President of this edition, spoke of urgency: climate thresholds being crossed, conflicts ongoing, democratic crises, and the frustration of watching one’s own future being undone.
Standing up to measure trust
This is where What about Dem came in. Jonathan Moskovic was invited to introduce the “deliberative wave”, starting from a sobering picture: only 1 European in 3 trusts their national government, and only 1 in 5 trusts political parties. Among the young, the signal is just as clear: 36% of under-25s voted in 2024.
Rather than just stating numbers, he asked the room to answer. Do you trust your government? Stand up if yes, stay seated if not. The hemicycle split almost fifty-fifty, and for a few seconds every delegate could see the question made visible.
Four steps from random draw to recommendations
To show what an alternative could look like, Jonathan walked the students through how a citizens’ assembly works:
Random selection: citizens are drawn by lot to form a representative sample of the population.
Information: participants hear from experts and witnesses.
Deliberation: they debate in small groups, with facilitation.
Recommendations: the outcome is handed to decision-makers.
He then turned to Brussels, where deliberative committees bring together 45 randomly selected citizens (including at least 12 young people aged 16 to 29) and 15 parliamentarians, who discuss as equals.
His message to delegates was twofold. Street mobilisation, for education or climate, is indispensable to move democracy forward. And information comes first: you do not need to be an expert to join public debate, but you do need to understand the basics before you speak.
“Democracy is what happens between elections”
Climate activist Adélaïde Charlier followed with a personal account of engagement, aimed at showing delegates that they already have the tools to take part. “Voting is essential, but voting only lasts a moment. Democracy is everything that happens between elections,” she told them. Her question: how can we take part in decisions without necessarily sitting in parliament? Her answer: every form of engagement counts, whether it is protesting, writing, debating or volunteering.
She also urged the room to resist stereotypes.
“We should never reduce a group to a few clichés. It would be too dangerous.” - Adélaïde Charlier
Young people are not “all violent” or “all on their phones”, she reminded them, and they are worth more than the labels attached to them.
Six forums, one common ground
After the ceremony, the work began. The debates are organised around six forums: Climate, Labour, Mental Health, Governance, Migrations, and Information. Transversal bodies support them: the Media Committee covers the debates, and a Jury evaluates resolutions and speeches.
Why it matters
In a single morning, teenagers heard about trust, sortition, deliberation and engagement, then walked into rooms where they would practise exactly those skills: listening, negotiating, and building consensus from different points of view.
For What about Dem, this goes to the heart of our mission: it is not enough to simply talk about democracy at school, we must actively experience and practise it. That is why we strongly believe in initiatives like MUNUCCLE and encourage other schools and institutions to replicate this model.
Democratic innovation starts with those who will inherit it.
