Empowering Youthwork for the Green Debate at the Extremadura Schools Tournament

Debate as a Tool for Youth Empowerment

The tournament aimed to promote communication, teamwork, and critical thinking, while encouraging young people to engage deeply with real-world issues.Across multiple rounds, from preliminary debates to the grand final, students were challenged to research, collaborate, and defend arguments on both sides of important ecological and social questions.

One of the key motions in the finals asked:

“Will a four-day workweek be positive from an energy consumption perspective?”

This motion linked daily life, social policy, and sustainability, encouraging participants to consider how environmental concerns intersect with labor and economic policy.

Participation and Impact

The scale of participation underlined the growing reach of debate based youthwork:

• 44 schools and 59 teams took part,

• A total of 414 participants, including 225 students in compulsory secondary education (ESO) and 189 in Baccalaureate,

• With 254 female and 160 male participants, continuing the trend of strong female engagement in debating

This increase compared to previous editions reinforced the tournament’s role as a key educational initiative in the region, combining inclusivity with high-level intellectual engagement.

Building the Next Generation of Critical Thinkers

By placing green policies and environmental consequences at the center of debate motions, the competition ensured that young debaters not only improved their skills in argumentation, communication, and teamwork but also developed their understanding of climate-related challenges.

Through initiatives like this, the Empowering Youthwork for the Green Debate project continues to demonstrate how debate can empower young people to become active citizens and informed voices in Europe’s sustainability future.