European Schools Debating Championships planning meeting wraps up in Zagreb

Following a member initiative established during the 2022 IDEA network gathering in Ljubljana, Slovenia, a two-day European Schools Debating Championships planning meeting took place in Zagreb this May. Representatives from 12 IDEA member organisations from Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Ukraine came together to discuss the finer points of establishing such a competition.

While the topic might seem straightforward, there is a lot to consider before organising such a tournament, let alone every year. Many discussion areas were covered, including country eligibility and sending organisation eligibility, ensuring the accessibility to participants, tournament dates relative to already existing international tournaments, the number of rounds, teams and judges, judge eligibility and judging models, accommodation requirements, equity and safeguarding standards, tournament rules, as well as establishing new and/or appropriating existing IDEA decisionmaking bodies tasked with adopting tournament rules and monitoring their implementation. 

For now, it's safe to say that IDEA members are enthusiastic about establishing a yearly European debate tournament. So, what's next? In the run-up to the yearly gathering of our member organisations (taking place in Bratislava, Slovakia this year), we are preparing a provisional tournament charter and motion for the member to consider. The materials will be circulated to IDEA member organisations before the event. In the meantime, all interested parties are invited to communicate their thoughts on the subject using this form. We look forward to your feedback and will take it into account in future discussions about the European Schools Debating Championships.