Following the success of last year’s BYTE of Innovation presentations, we are thrilled to launch this year’s edition: Making CENTS of Change: Student Impact Projects and Speeches! To encourage students to engage personally with the conference theme, we invite them to develop their own economics projects and submit them for a chance to present and discuss their work with fellow young innovators in the United Nations General Assembly Hall.

Students should create projects that use economics to accelerate positive change in their communities. The Student Impact Project should harness economics to drive meaningful change at the school, local, national, or global level. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Developing a local business model that supports underprivileged communities or small entrepreneurs.
• Producing a short film or documentary exploring the economic effects of a social or environmental issue.
• Building an app, tool, or interactive website that helps communities save, invest, or use resources more efficiently.
• Proposing policy recommendations to improve financial literacy among peers or community members.
• Using behavioral economics to design experiments or interventions that encourage healthier, greener, or fairer choices.

You have the option to work individually or in small groups. Those who develop and implement the most innovative projects will have the opportunity to present them at the United Nations General Assembly in front of more than 600 international students. The projects that are not selected to be presented at the UN will be featured on the UNIS-UN website and recognized for their impact.

We encourage participants to document their journey with photos and videos, reflect deeply on their impact, and push creative boundaries. This is your chance to use economics to spark real change and inspire others to do the same!

After Conference Registration: Advisors will receive an application form to share with students to apply for the Student Impact Project. Students will be asked to submit a 3-minute video outlining their project, explaining how they used economics in creating positive change in their communities, and describing how they would present this project at the UNGA. From these submissions, we will select the most impactful projects. These projects will be presented live by the student creators during the conference at the UN.
 

Visiting school students will have the opportunity to participate in a student debate on an economics-related motion. Two students will argue in favor of the motion, while two will argue against it. Students interested in participating must submit a three-minute video explaining their interest in debating and providing evidence supporting or opposing the motion.

After Conference Registration: Advisors will receive an application form for students to apply for the debate. The form will include information such as the debate motion, a brief description of the topic with guiding considerations, and a section for submitting the three-minute video. The four strongest candidates will be selected to debate at the United Nations General Assembly in front of more than 600 international students!

The Cultural Showcase offers a unique opportunity to promote cultural appreciation among students from around the world attending the conference. This is your chance to share a tradition, ritual, song, dance, or any aspect of your country’s heritage. 

After Conference Registration: Advisors will receive a form to indicate their school’s participation, type of performance, and any items needed.

The Working Paper is a 50-page physical memento of the conference, exploring the subtopics related to economics. Our Digital Working Paper is a site containing articles, infographics, film, poetry, photography, and other multimedia pieces related to the subtopics of the conference. We are looking forward to including articles and multimedia created by students from visiting schools in the working paper, to highlight the diverse perspectives brought to this conference.

• Articles are short (800-1000 words) research papers relating to a specific conference subtopic. Please note that these articles are solely research-based and do not involve any opinion-making or in-depth analysis; these articles aim to share research findings with conference participants to ensure that the conference is as informative as possible.
• Multimedia elements include: poems, artwork (digital or a clear image of painting/drawing/sculpture/etc), photographs, animation, short film, or any other creative media.

For this working paper, each subtopic relates to economics. This year’s subtopics and guiding questions can be found here: Subtopics and Guiding Questions.

Writing an article or creating a media piece for UNIS-UN allows you to take part in another facet of the conference, having your work published in a physical paper or online for all of the conference guests to see. It is also an opportunity to become more informed about the world around you. Additionally, students who are selected to contribute to the working paper will be assigned an editor from UNIS, presenting another occasion for students from visiting schools and UNIS to connect and interact.

Please keep in mind that not all articles or multimedia can be chosen to be published in the physical working paper. However, articles and media that are not included in the physical working paper will be published on the UNIS-UN website. 

For reference, here is a digital copy of a previous working paper: Link to 2023-24 Working Paper

After Conference Registration: Advisors will receive an application form for students to submit their articles and multimedia pieces.
 

We are excited to introduce the inaugural UNIS-UN Ambassador Program! Through this program, UNIS students will be paired with visiting schools, engaging remotely before the conference and in person during the event. Student ambassadors will serve as points of contact, welcoming delegates and helping facilitate conference activities, promoting further cross-cultural understanding and connection.

After Conference Registration: Advisors will receive more information regarding the specifics of their UNIS Ambassador connection.

Workshops hosted by UNIS student organizations allow visiting students to deepen their understanding of this year's conference topic. Each workshop will explore and discuss a different facet of economics, followed by an interactive portion. Students will participate in two workshops held at UNIS during the Welcome Day.

After Conference Registration: Advisors will receive a form with choices and descriptions of all available workshops.

No. Registration for the conference is done on a group basis. Invitations will be sent to your school or advisor, who will then coordinate the individual student attendees

The welcome day will be held at UNIS, where you can participate in the cultural showcase, student-led workshops, and a welcome reception. The two conference days will take place in the UN General Assembly Hall. To access the UN, please use the visitors' entrance at 1st Avenue and 45th Street.

Yes. You must be affiliated with one of the invited schools or reach out to our organizing committee at info@unis-un.org to request your school participation.

A form with information regarding the debates will be sent to each school after their confirmation for attending this year’s conference. Your school will have a finite number of people who can debate .  Your school advisor will create a process for which they choose the students who will participate in the debate(s).

• Home2 Suites By Hilton New York Times Square, Address: 150 W 48th Street, New York, NY, 10001
• Courtyard by Marriott, Address: 866 3rd Ave, New York, NY, 10022
• Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza, Address: One UN Plaza, New York, NY, 10017
• Hotel Park Ave, Address: 444 Park Ave S, New York, NY, 10016
• Little Charlie Hotel, Address: 837 2nd Ave, New York, NY, 10017
• EVEN Hotel New York - Midtown East, an IHG Hotel, Address: 221 East 44th Street, New York, NY, 10017
• Hyatt Grand Central New York, Address: 109 East 42nd Street, at Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY, 10017
• Untitled at 3 Freeman Alley, Address: 3 Freeman Alley, New York, NY, 10002
• Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central, Address: 231 E 43rd St, New York, NY, 10017
• Hyatt Place New York Midtown South, Address: 52 West 36th Street, New York, NY, 10018
• Hotel Stanford, Address: 43 W 32nd St, New York, NY, 10001

The conference this year is in person. No online options will be available. 

Please visit this year’s conference page for the latest updates on registration. If you do not see a link to register yet, it is not open for this year. Please stay tuned!

Schedule is currently being created! Stay tuned for more information.

Business casual attire is required. Please avoid wearing jeans, sneakers, caps, and hoodies. You will be in the presence of Ambassadors and other world leaders, so it is important to dress appropriately. For more details, please refer to our code of conduct dress code.

Airport style security, but you can keep on your shoes. Please don’t bring a large bag or backpack. No outside food or beverages will be allowed in and water bottles must be empty. You will be issued a pass to gain entry to the UN, if you loose this pass you won’t be able to participate in the conference. Please make sure to abide to the rules so that passing through security is fast and efficient.

Our speaker’s committee has been working on speaker selection for the past year, and by the time you are reading this, our speakers are more than likely already selected.

 No.  The working paper has been written prior to the conference by UNIS students. You can submit an article for consideration and there is the potential for your article to be shared on our website or during discussion groups or during the debates.

Get involved.  Find out what your local, state and federal government is doing and see what you can do to help.