Debate // Connect // Grow
Announcement
The secretariat
The secretariat are the two individuals responsible for guiding the content of our conference. Ourr conference managers have taken a great deal of time selecting the best team for the job to ensure our reputation for quality is continued. We would like to introduce our Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-general for KULMUN2024!
Secretary-General
Ilka Mattes
Hello! My name is Ilka. I am 21 years old and studying political science and sociology with a minor in law at the University of Bonn.
I started to participate in MUN’s my first year of university and immediately found a passion for it. I have participated in many conferences since then and have been a part of the BIMUN 2020 Executive Committee and organized the 2020 BIMUN/SINUB conference. I started to chair conferences at KULMUN and it is a great honor to come back to KULMUN 2024 as the Secretary-General and work together with our amazing Deputy Secretary-General and organizing team to create a great conference for all the participants.
Outside of MUN’s, I enjoy traveling, spending time with friends and going on hikes with my dog. If I am not doing that, you can most likely find me curled up somewhere with a book. I am looking forward to meeting you all in Leuven next year.
Deputy Secretary-General
Lara Simonovski
Hi! My name is Lara. I am 23 years old, and I am originally from Slovenia, but I have lived in the Netherlands for the last 13 years. I have just completed my LLB International and European Law at the University of Groningen, where I also obtained a Bachelor in Philosophy with a specialisation in Philosophy of Political Science. This summer I will be moving to Leuven, where I will be starting the Master of European Studies: Transnational and Global Perspectives.
I was introduced to the world of MUN all the way back in 2016, when I attended MUNoM with my high school. Since then, I have participated in a number of conferences throughout Europe as a delegate, chair and an organiser. In 2021/2022, I was part of the TEIMUN Board of Directors, which organised the GrunnMUN 2022 and TEIMUN 2022 conferences. Last year I was introduced to KULMUN, where I chaired the European Parliament committee, and where I also met our lovely Secretary-General, Ilka.
When I am not MUNing, studying, or working, I love to read (mostly fantasy mixed with literary fiction), and I’ve just recently taken up guitar lessons.
The Chairs
The chairs are the individuals responsible for guiding your committee during KULMUN 2024.They will support you on your way to research the topics and will make sure that there is a sense of order or decorum during the debates. Don't hesitate to ask them any questions you have about how to MUN, especially if you are new to the process.
Chairs of 2024 to be announced! In the meantime meet our chairs of the previous edition!
Chair European Parliament
Viola Parma
Viola is a political science and psychology student from Bonn, Germany, where she is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree. Academically, she is most interested in the European Union which fits perfectly with her position this year. Hence, she cannot wait to dive even deeper into topics regarding diplomacy within the European Parliament.
She started participating in MUNs in her first year of university and has not stopped ever since, filling the position of delegate, journalist, Chair, and Editor-in-Chief. Right now, she is on the Advisory Board of the association BIMUN/SINUB e.V.
Other than having MUN-marathons all over Europe, you can find her playing the piano, cooking or reading.
She also likes to learn fun facts about animals and discover new music.
Be assured that together with her Co-Chair she will do the most to make this KULMUN 2023 an unforgettable experience for you.
Chair European Parliament
Lara Simonovski
While originally from Slovenia, Lara , the second EP chair lives in The Netherlands, where she studies International and European Law at the University of Groningen. Beside her main area of studies, she has also completed a degree in Philosophy of Political Science and is generally interested in international relations and social justice.
Her MUN journey started in 2016 when she attended a conference in Munich with her school. She found the experience incredibly enlightening – she learned a variety of skills in diplomacy and debating, and it gave her the confidence to think of herself as capable of having an active role in society. Since then, she has been a delegate, a chair and last year she was on the TEIMUN Board of Directors. She is beyond excited to continue this journey as part of the KULMUN Secretariat!
Chair European Parliament
Beatriz Santos Mayo
Beatriz is a nineteen year old Spaniard studying in Maastricht, The Netherlands. She is a second-year bachelor’s student of European Studies. Her love for the European Union and diplomacy was why she started participating in MUNs in April 2022. She has been in several conferences as a delegate and organizer; KulMUN will be her first conference as a chair. She is excited to learn about the chair position and to meet all the delegates of the European Parliament. In this particular committee, she can put into practice all the knowledge she has gained during my bachelor’s.
She is currently the Under-Secretary-General of Marketing & Communications for EuroMUN 2023. Taking part in these conferences made her develop not only her oratory but also her writing and lobbying skills.
Besides MUNs, she likes visiting art museums as well as riding her bike, as a good dutch student, and learning new languages. Her favourite international relations topic is the
European Union´s relationship with Turkey.
She expects good debates, amazing amendments, and a lot of fun.
Chair UNHCR
Ondrej Toloch
Ondrej is a Scottish law and European legal studies graduate with a demonstrated history of working in the public sector. He temporarily served on the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry before joining the Scottish Government in 2019. Ondrej is the Health Workforce Policy Lead and his team feeds into a large spectrum of issues including recruitment, equality and diversity, violence and aggression, and other aspects of workforce experience.
Ondrej loves travelling, tasting mouth-watering dishes, and cooking at home. He enjoys reading books and is also an occasional Netflix binge-watcher and a proper theatre enthusiast..
Ondrej believes that MUN is a place where like-minded people can come together, make friends, question their own beliefs, and find their voice. He certainly had a great deal of fun arguing positions, chairing and even organising his own conference. Ondrej is keen to draw on his personal experience to make sure that everybody’s participation in KULMUN 2023 is pleasant, entertaining and memorable!
Chair UNHCR
Diana Velea
Diana is a 2nd year Human Geography and Planning student at the University of Groningen. Besides her main area of study, some of her interests range from geopolitics and international relations to environmental hazards and urban development. As such, she is always up for a nice discussion about pretty much any topic – she will most likely have a (strong) opinion about it.
Originally she is from Romania, although she has relocated to the Netherlands for her studies.
If she is not focused on more serious matters, you could probably find her listening to Taylor Swift songs (Taylor’s Version, of course!), trying to breakout from escape rooms, or religiously watching tennis, Formula 1 and figure skating competitions.
MUNs have become a constant for her and she can easily admit that they continue to represent an activity that sparks both her interest and her desire to see such a dynamic environment evolve. As such, around 5 years and 20 conferences later, she cannot wait to meet more people and expand my experience.
Chair NATO
Ilka Mattes
Ilka from Cologne, Germany, is the first NATO chair. She studies political science and law at the University of Bonn and is currently doing an Erasmus in Grenoble, France.
She started participating in MUNs her first year of university and immediately found her passion for it. She has done several conferences online and in-person and was part of the executive committee of BIMUN 2020.
Apart from MUNing, she enjoys spending time with friends, going on hikes with her dog, and she likes to travel as much as possible. If she is not doing that, you can almost always find her with a book in her hands.
Chair NATO
Shari Langner
Shari is a 21-year-old university student from Germany. Currently, she is pursuing a degree in political science at the University of Münster.
Her first contact with MUNs was in high school, where she participated in the school’s MUN conference and joined the MUN club afterward. After a short break, she got back into MUNs through MUIMUN, the conference organized at her university. Since then, she has participated in MUNs both as an organizer and delegate, and is excited to have her first chairing experience at KULMUN!
Outside of MUNs and university, she greatly enjoys reading everything from biographies and politics to fantasy and sci-fi. She also really likes to learn new languages, a hobby for which MUNs can be very helpful. If possible, exploring new cities and places is also a hobby of hers.
Chair UNSC
Felix Dejaiffe
Felix Dejaiffe is a young graduate who holds an M.A in International Relations from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain) and who’s currently pursuing a second specialized M.A in European Studies at the University of Saint Louis – Brussels.
He works as a Parliamentary assistant at the Parliament of Wallonia, focusing on education, budgetary, and energy matters.
His research areas are geoeconomics, transatlantic relations, EU regulatory matters and trade policies.
He speaks French, Spanish, English, and Italian.
Chair UNSC
Raoul Cardellini
Raoul Cardellini is a half Italian and half German Law graduate who is currently pursuing their second Master's Degree, in European Legal Studies -and uses both he/him as well as they/them pronouns. They are a member of the Governing Board of KULMUN. They entered into contact with the association and the conference a few years ago, when they were an active member.
On a personal level, apart from having attended several MUNs as a Delegate, Chair, and Secretary-General of Salient and PragueMUN, they enjoy writing and reading.
They are currently based in Berlin, where they are a legal trainee.
Their field of interest when it comes to law is Air and Space Law, which will be the focus of their Master’s thesis, for which they will do research at the International Institute for Air and Space Law in Leiden in the months following the KULMUN conference.
Crisis Director
Amanda Teršar
Amanda is a 25-year-old student from Slovenia. Pursuing her Master’s degree in Peace, Security, Development and International Conflict Transformation she is mostly interested in geopolitical and security issues. She first encountered MUN in her first year of studies, when she joined the MUN Slovenia Club, which eventually became her family. She has attended
several MUN and MEU conferences in the past 6 years and started to perceive them as an important part of her life. Meeting new people, enhancing rhetoric and diplomatic skills, and having the best of fun make up for a perfect combination.
In her free time Amanda enjoys attending and organising concerts and music festivals, the more alternative and crazy the better. So if small talk gets you nowhere resort to talking about music and you’ve earned yourself a friend. She is also a devoted cat parent and an active beer
lover, and as such super excited about returning to Leuven one more time!
Chair Crisis Back
Stijn Servaes
Stijn is a recently graduated student with a Master of Business Engineering at the KULeuven and will be a part of the crisis team.
He started doing MUN at the start of his university career at KULMUN back in 2016 and has continued loving it ever since. For the past few years, he has been chairing conferences around Europe, mainly interested in crisis committees. He loves the dynamic aspect of crises; the sense of urgency it adds by changing the context of debates is something that few MUN committees can speak of.
He has a deep love of (military) history and is thus beyond excited to help craft a captivating historical crisis together with the rest of the crisis team allowing you the opportunity to change the course of history. What-if's, uncertainty and building tension are the core to the experience. He is sure you will enjoy it.
Chair Crisis Back
Johanna Fietze
Johanna is a 23-year-old political science and history student from Bonn, Germany. She discovered MUNing during her second year of university through a friend and directly joined the BIMUN/SINUB ExCom in the Participants Department. Now she is in charge of their weekly activities as Co-Head of the A-Team and a member of BIMUN/SINUBs Advisory Board. `
After participating in multiple Crisis committees as a Delegate, she is very intrigued to change her perspective as a member of the Crisis Backroom. Delegates can expect a thrilling and multidimensional Crisis.
Apart from MUNing, she is very interested in historical TV shows and movies, likes to embody her hometown spirit during carnival season, and keeps up her running pace to one day do a half marathon.
After completing her Erasmus in Bordeaux, she is back in Bonn for the final part of her studie studies focused on political theory, peace and conflict, and international politics.
Chair Crisis Front
Klavdija Košec
Klavdija Košec is 22 years old, and she comes from Slovenia. She is currently in the first year of my master’s study in Administration - Public Sector Governance in Ljubljana.
Her main interests are in international relations, constitutional law, human rights, and in researching sociological phenomena connected to politics.
She was introduced to MUN in High School and became a member of the Model United Nations Slovenia Club (MUNSC) in 2019. Since then she has been an active member and attended many online and in-person conferences as a delegate and chair. Moreover, she is currently the president of MUNSC.
In her free time, she like to read, write articles, hike, and travel. She is also very interested in the palmistry and behaviour of people in different situations. She is very excited to be part of KULMUN 2023, and he cannot wait for it to start.
Chair Crisis Front
Daryl Tiglao
Daryl who currently lives in the city of Edinburgh, where he works full time, studied law at the University of Edinburgh.
While studying, he picked up Model UN as an interest in his second year. Most of his time was spent being a delegate, taking part in conferences across the UK, and one in Ireland.
He managed to do some when he went away on the Erasmus programme, which is how he stumbled on to KULMUN by word of mouth. He had other reasons to visit Leuven at the time, but the conference was a lot of fun, so he kept coming back.
Besides Model UN, and work taking up his time, he does like to travel and find things to do once he arrives somewhere. For example, he visited a chocolate museum in Paris which gave free samples – 10/10 would eat again.
Editor-In-Chief
José Grande Santalla
José is a 23 year old student and this will be his first Secretariat experience. His first MUN was in 2019 and since that moment he knew they were something special, and so were the people in them. He is from Galicia, an astonishing region in the northwest of Spain, but he is currently living in Brussels as a trainee in the office the regional government has here. Prior to that, he got a bachelor's degree in Journalism and a master's degree in International Studies. You will easily find him watching/playing/talking about football (opa Racing), listening to music (every range, from protopunk to Argentinian cumbia), or just having a laugh and a good time. Other hobbies of his are reading, films, learning about international affairs, and discovering new places. See you in Leuven!