Where is COBIS-SJS MUN held and who is it for?

The conference is hosted in Carcavelos, in the Lisbon metropolitan area of Portugal, and is open to high-school delegates rather than university students.

What kind of procedural style should delegates expect?

Because the conference is anchored by a COBIS member school, expect a procedural culture closer to the THIMUN-influenced European style common across British international schools, with emphasis on resolution drafting and bloc work.

How large is the conference?

It is a mid-scale high-school event rather than a mass-participation university conference, which generally means more floor time per delegate and tighter committee sizes.

When in the academic year does it sit?

It falls in the early-winter window, between the autumn opening circuit and the heavy January-February stretch of the European MUN calendar.

How do delegates apply?

Registration is handled through the conference's MyMUN listing, which is the standard intake channel for European secondary-school MUNs.

Part of the COBIS-SJS Model United Nations series

COBIS-SJS Model United Nations

Name: COBIS-SJS Model United Nations
Start: 2026-12-03T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-12-05T00:00:00Z
Location: Carcavelos

Carcavelos, Portugal · high-school

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Dates: Dec 3–2026 (day: 5)
Fee: TBD
Reg deadline: TBD
Delegates: 340
Language: English
Format: In-person

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Summary

COBIS-SJS Model United Nations convenes secondary-school delegates in Carcavelos, on the Atlantic edge of metropolitan Lisbon, for a multi-day simulation hosted under the banner of the Council of British International Schools in partnership with St. Julian's School. The conference sits inside the European MUN circuit but draws on the British international-schools network, giving it a distinct blend of Iberian setting and Anglophone procedural culture. The edition is pitched at high-school delegates and is sized as a mid-scale conference rather than a sprawling university-hosted weekend, which tends to translate into tighter committee rooms, more floor time per delegate, and chairs who can actually track individual performance across sessions.

Why this edition matters in 2026

Portugal is an understudied node in the European MUN map. Most secondary-school circuits gravitate toward The Hague, Geneva, Berlin, and the London cluster, leaving Lisbon-area conferences as quieter but increasingly serious alternatives. A COBIS-affiliated event in Carcavelos signals that the British international-schools network is willing to anchor its own flagship on the Iberian peninsula rather than ferry students northward, which matters for delegates building a regionally diverse record. The early-winter slot positions this conference between the autumn opening circuit and the dense January-February stretch that dominates the European calendar. For delegates who want a substantive simulation before the new-year rush, it offers a useful checkpoint - a place to test resolutions and bloc strategy while the competitive field is still settling. The COBIS framing also shapes the room. British international schools tend to run procedures that lean closer to THIMUN-style harmonisation than to the gavel-heavy North American format, and chairs trained inside that network typically reward substantive amendments and bloc-building over theatrical points of order. Delegates who have only done one procedural style should expect to adapt.

How to prepare

Preparation should start with the committee matrix rather than the host country. Carcavelos is the venue, not the subject - the agenda items will almost certainly track current UN priorities, so delegates are better served by reading recent Security Council and General Assembly outputs than by memorising Portuguese foreign policy. That said, awareness of Portugal's posture on Lusophone Africa, ocean governance, and EU-Atlantic questions is a low-cost edge for any delegate handed a relevant portfolio. Because the conference is mid-sized and high-school-only, chairs will see every delegate speak multiple times. That changes the optimal strategy: consistency across sessions matters more than a single show-stopping speech. Prepare a clear policy spine for your country, two or three operative clauses you are willing to defend, and a realistic bloc map before arrival. Delegates travelling from outside the COBIS network should also prepare for a slightly different social geometry. Many of the schools in the room will know each other from prior COBIS events, which can compress bloc formation in the opening session. Walking in with a drafted working-paper skeleton, rather than waiting to be invited into someone else's, is the cleanest way to claim authorship early. Finally, treat the Lisbon metropolitan setting as a planning factor rather than a tourist note. Carcavelos is reachable by suburban rail from central Lisbon, and most visiting delegations base themselves accordingly; build travel time into your committee-prep schedule rather than assuming venue-adjacent accommodation.

Eligibility deep-dive

Level: high-school
Age: —
Team size: —
Country quota: Open

Schedule & deadlines

Conference
Dec 3, 2026 – Dec 5, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Where is COBIS-SJS MUN held and who is it for?
The conference is hosted in Carcavelos, in the Lisbon metropolitan area of Portugal, and is open to high-school delegates rather than university students.
What kind of procedural style should delegates expect?
Because the conference is anchored by a COBIS member school, expect a procedural culture closer to the THIMUN-influenced European style common across British international schools, with emphasis on resolution drafting and bloc work.
How large is the conference?
It is a mid-scale high-school event rather than a mass-participation university conference, which generally means more floor time per delegate and tighter committee sizes.
When in the academic year does it sit?
It falls in the early-winter window, between the autumn opening circuit and the heavy January-February stretch of the European MUN calendar.
How do delegates apply?
Registration is handled through the conference's MyMUN listing, which is the standard intake channel for European secondary-school MUNs.

Last verified May 27, 2026 · Source: mymun.com

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