INTERNATIONAL DSG INVOLVEMENTS 2011
---Summer Debate School and/or International Debate Tournament, Selce, Croatia---
Croatian debate society ( http://www.hdd.hr/index.php?_lang=en ) is proud to invite you to participate in the Summer debate school and International debate tournament that will be held in the beautiful coastal city of Selce, Croatia.
Summer debate school & tournament: 27.08. – 03.09.2011
International debate tournament only: 31.08. – 03.09.2011
Both events are open for all students aged 14 – 19 and the official language is English.
Summer debate school (SDS):
SDS 2011 consists of two tracks. First (morning) consists of workshops revolving around prepared motions for the following tournament. Second track(afternoon) consists of electives from which students will choose up to 4 elective courses covering areas such as argumentation, public presentation, note taking, critical thinking, text analysis, moot court, negotiations and such(full list will be available after registering).
Registration fee covers all accommodation costs(3 meals per day included), tournament participation fee & all materials – 280 euros
For all additional info check our invitation letter and/or visit http://www.hdd.hr/index.php?_lang=en
International debate tournament (WS)
Is a part of the SDS but will be opened for all of you that wish to participate without attending SDS. Debate format is WS, rounds are 6 (first random, 5 power paired) with two prepared motions (4 round) and two impromptu motions (2 round).
Registration fee per team (3 members + judge) – 80 euro. Due to limited accommodation that will be taken up by the SDS we will not provide accommodation but will help you in finding one. During the end of summer season, accommodation in Selce is plentiful and rather cheap so there won’t be any problems. Please contact us.
For all additional info check our invitation letter
More info: http://www.hdd.hr/index.php?_lang=en
Contact:
---IDEA Youth Forum 2011, Istanbul, Turkey---
Call for coaches, judges, speakers
Format: Karl Popper
Dates: 19th JUL - 1st AUG 2011
Fees: 700 EUR for the whole Youth Forum
Dates: 24th JUL - 1st AUG 2011 for
250 EUR for the KPDC (KP World Champ.) or IND (International New Debaters Track) only
450 EUR for MTT (Mixed Team Tournament), BPT (British Parliamentary Track), CJT (Coaches and Judges Track) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language TRack) only
More info: http://www.idebate.org/ideaforum/
Contact:
---Heart of Europe Debating Tournament, Olomouc, Czech Republic---
Call for coaches, judges, speakers
Dates: 10th-15th JUL 2011
Fees: 160 EUR (debater), 110 EUR (coach/judge), 200 EUR (observers)
Judges: n+1 (n number of teams +1 judge, i.e. two judges for one team,
three for two etc...)
More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=157313607658423
More info online (under constr.): http://www.heart-of-europe.org/web/
Contact:
---THE THIRD WORLDS SCHOOLS DEBATE ACADEMY AND TOURNAMENT SLOVENIA
Hotel Špik, Gozd Martuljek, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia---
Call for coaches, judges, speakers
Dates: 2nd – 9th July 2011
Fees: 280 EUR
More info: www.zainproti.com
Team Germany is planning to attend, more possible, but only 80 spaces
available, so act fast
Contact:
---FIAT! WSDC Debate Tournament Sinaia, Romania---
Call for judges, speakers
Coach: Timo Schwander (Univ. of Freiburg)
Dates: 29th APR - 1st MAY 2011
Fees: intl. teams free of charge, travel costs to Bucarest only
More info (venue only): http://www.casaduca.ro/sinaia
incl. Casa Duca song ;) in Romanian...
Contact:
---KOMAROVO Schools Debating Championship 2011, St. Petersburg, Russia---
Coaches: Jana Gilke (Univ. of Mannheim), Petra Allert-Löwe (Chemnitz)
Judge: David Whitehead
Dates: 20-25 APR 2011
"Expect the unexpected - DSG's trip to Russia"
Between 20th and 25th April 2011, a large delegation from DSG attended the Komarovo International Debating Forum in Russia. Several members of the delegation had intended to participate in 2010 but were hampered by the Icelandic ash cloud, so we were really keen to attend. For possibly the first time in DSG's history, we had a delegation made up of pupils from three different states: Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Berlin. Registration and the visa application process were tricky enough, but nothing could have prepared us for what Russia was actually like.
The delegations arrived in waves in St. Petersburg and were transported by car either to the centre of St. Petersburg or straight to Komarovo. I was one of those going via the city. St. Petersburg was still in winter mode and everything was pretty grim. The welcome was friendly and warm but it was clear that things were going to be very, very different. Even the trip on the metro showed this. St. Petersburg possesses the deepest metro in the world, with the escalators taking us 100 metres below ground, and the opulence of the stations was breathtaking. Then the suburban train, the elektrichka, which clunked and rattled its way out to the suburbs, as it had clearly down for a very long time. The suburbs were grim, recalling a bygone age. What had we let ourselves in for?
The accommodation in Komarovo was probably the greatest test for most of us (including for many Russians too). The building was still firmly stuck in the USSR and gave a new meaning to the word "basic". At first, things were horrific for most of us. The food was hardly haute cuisine and there seemed to be either tea or Red Bull to drink (most of us stuck to tea!). The showers didn't work properly - most of them produced scaldingly hot water which was totally unsuitable for showering. However, this all gave us an insight into how well-off we in the West are. And we adapted. The food actually got progressively better. It was definitely all freshly made and some of the pastries produced for breakfast were absolutely delicious. We began to be overjoyed at a cup of tea. I remember the thrill of finding a complete toilet roll for our bathroom. As many people said: "Anything can happen in Russia". And it did - a walk down to the Gulf of Finland showed that. If I had been sitting outside for dinner in Berlin on the Tuesday, the sea in Russia was still *frozen* when I saw it on the Friday! This was just totally amazing for all of us. And so we got through the five days, taking pleasure in the little things in life, immersing ourselves in the Russian way of life.
As to the debates, the two German teams ("Berlin" and "Chemnitz-Backnang" (which actually also contained two speakers from Vaihingen/Enz)) and Lithuania were clearly at an advantage, having several years of WSDC-style debating experience. Thus, they could trounce most of their opponents, making many of the debates extremely one-sided. Of course, the Russians were keen to learn and were tenacious opponents, but the difference in experience was clear. We also had to get away from German punctuality and organisation - once again accepting the motto "Anything can happen in Russia". It must be said that what the Russians lacked in organisation, they made up for in friendliness. Everyone was so nice and helpful to us that it helped to blot out any problems or hardships. When it came down to the knock-out rounds though, it was clear that the international teams would succeed and so it turned out. The final was Berlin vs. Lithuania, with Lithuania winning 2:1. However, congratulations to our "newcomers" on coming 2nd overall and to Liliann Fischer from Berlin on being the best speaker in the English-speaking tournament!
During and after the tournament, we had a couple of opportunities to visit St. Petersburg. What a city! The wealth of the Russian Empire could be seen everywhere - the colossal structures, the gold towers and domes, the sheer SIZE of everything. There are some moments you never forget, and seeing the Winter Palace would be one of them. Also, sitting by the mighty River Neva and watching ice floes on it - quite something. The vast contrast between those with money and those without. The relics of the "old" Russia were everywhere, but tempered with a 21st Century edge. It gave us all a taste of a country which was so powerful and also closed to us for so long. Truly another world.
So what did we learn? Well, we discovered a world ostensibly the same as ours but actually very different. We learned how to make do without many of the comforts we take for granted. We discovered how patience can be a wonderful thing! During the tournament, some of us felt simply that we wanted to go home. But then things got better, we assimilated, we discovered that we COULD cope, that things were actually fine. And a smile and maybe a little gift could go a long way (a bunch of Backnang pins left over from EurOpen 2010 helped to smooth our passage considerably!).
Would we go again? I think it is actually quite likely. The teams harmonised well during the tournament. Yes, there were differences between the "old" and "new" German debaters, but we all got on very well and, now we know what to expect, we could easily go again and *really* enjoy ourselves! Our thanks go out to Sergei Naumoff and his team for organising the tournament. Nothing was too much trouble and I think all of us thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
---Bratislava Schools Debating Championship, Bratislava, Slovakia---
Coaches: Annika Dukek (Univ. of Konstanz), Christian Steck
(Max-Born-Gymnasium graduate 2010)
Dates: 7th-11th APR 2011
Fees: 100 EUR
Team selection completed
---Middle School tournament in Sredisce ob Dravi, Slovenia---
Coach: David Howard (Schubart-Gymnasium, Ulm)
Dates: 18th/19th March 2011
Fees: 40 EUR (homestay), 100 EUR (hotel accommodation)
Team selection completed
---EurAsian Debating Tournament 2011, Istanbul, Turkey---
Coaches: Christopher Sloan (Parler-Gymnasium, Schwäbisch Gmünd)
Judge: Christian Steck
Dates: 27th-31st JAN 2011
Fees: 90 EUR
Team selection completed
Ljutomer, Slovenia 2010
supported by EACEA, Europe for Citizens' programme,
Title: "Think - Meet - Debate - Include - Europe"
3rd - 8th November 2010
Short description of the project:
The project aims to connect organizations that share the belief in the importance of critical dialogue and recognize teaching debate skills as a powerful tool of informal learning on a wider European scale. The project applicants believe that European topics are not integrated in the school curricula in the way that they would appeal to the young individuals on the level of their personal interest and are therefore determined to integrate these topics into forms of informal learning. The event therefore targets high school students and their trainers. The proposed project consists of intensive cooperation in the process of event preparations and culminates in four days intensive exchange of opinions connected to themes important for development of students into inclusive, informed, and critical young Europeans. While the event contains elements of competitiveness, the process behind it promotes learning of different skills connected to critical advocacy. The students will prepare pros and cons to the topics in advance (prepared rounds) and for the thematic field in general (impromptu rounds - one hour preparations). They will have the opportunity to exchange opinions through the web page of the applicant organization, which will be upgraded to accommodate the needs of creating a trans-European network of young individuals and trainers. The event itself will consist of two elements: debating about a series of six topics connected to the idea of Europe and its current affairs and of social activities which will contribute to understanding of the different cultures in Europe.
While the event is primarily targeted to equip students with tools of critical advocacy (strengthening their argumentation skills, the ability to critically evaluate all sides of a given problem, strengthening their public speaking skills) and strengthening the knowledge of processes of EU integration it will also facilitate the need of trainers to expand their knowledge and share their experience in methodological aspect of debate.
The themes will highlight the challenges with which the EU is faced today. The wider thematic field will cover the challenges high lightened in the Year for combating poverty and social exclusion, challenges of immigration and wider topics covering the principles of European values and identity.
The main events which will happen within the project are:
- round table discussion with experts in multimedia center Kibla in Maribor;
- open forum discussion at one of the high schools in Maribor;
- debate tournament in Ljutomer,
- 3 workshops - exchange of best practice;
- multicultural night;
- study visits to different institutions.
Leading applicant:
ZIP, Za in proti, zavod za kulturo dialoga/Pro et contra, institute for culture of dialogue, Slovenia, www.zainproti.com
Partners:
HDD, Hrvatsko debatno društvo, Croatia, www.hdd.hr
ADK, Asociace debatnich klubu, o.s., Czech Republik
EDS, Estonian Debating Society, Estonia, www.debate.ee
DSG, Debating Society Germany, Germany
ARGO, Associatia Romana pentru Gandire si Oratorie, Romania,
SDA, Slovak Debate Association, Slovakia,
Slovenia project in Ljutomer
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/citizenship/