The Helsinki International Model United Nations VIII Annual Session, 2008 Conference, was held at Kulosaari Secondary School on May 6-7th, 2008.
The story of HELIMUN started in 2001 when a group of Kulosaari Upper Secondary School students participated in the Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN). Two of these delegates, Ms. Aino Efraimsson and Ms. Milla Paalanen, got the idea of organising a MUN-conference to the 9th grade students at Kulosaari secondary School. The first MUN-conference, MINIMUN, was held in May 2001.
During the following three years the MUN-conference, now known as KUMUN, expanded. Besides Kulosaari Secondary School students also other schools were invited to participate in the conference. In August 2004 the name of the conference was changed to Helsinki International Model United Nations (HELIMUN) to encourage also foreign schools to participate in the conference. The first conference under the new name was held in May 2005 with participants from various schools, for example International School of Helsinki, Maunula Secondary School and Riga Hanza School from Latvia among those participating.