World Schools Debate Academy 2025

The programme is designed for secondary school students and educators and combines structured training sessions, practice debates, and a multi-day debate tournament. Participants will work with experienced international trainers and will be grouped according to their debating experience, from beginner to advanced level.

Dates:
28 June – 5 July 2025

Location:
Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

Format:
World Schools Debating (WS)

Type:
Training event / Debate academy

Level:
High School students (aged 13–18)
Educators, teachers, coaches, and youth workers

Programme overview
The academy programme includes:

• debate workshops and skill-focused training sessions,
• preparation and practice debates in small groups,
• detailed feedback from international trainers and adjudicators,
• a debate tournament held during the final days of the academy.

Participants will be divided into groups based on their debating experience, allowing both beginner and advanced debaters to work at an appropriate level.

Teachers and educators track:
In addition to the student track, WSDA 2025 will also offer a dedicated track for teachers, debate coaches, judges, youth workers, and educators interested in using debate as an active learning method.

The track will focus on:

• debate-based pedagogy and classroom methods,
• materials and exercises developed within Erasmus+ projects,
• media and data literacy in debate education,
• approaches to working with AI in education and debate training.

International participation:
WSDA 2025 is expected to welcome participants from a wide range of countries across Europe and beyond, creating an international learning environment and opportunities for peer exchange.

Registration:
Registration for WSDA 2025 is open to both individual participants and groups.
Places are limited, and early registration is recommended.
Further details about registration procedures and deadlines will be provided by the organising team.

About the organiser:
World Schools Debate Academy is organised by Za in proti – zavod za kulturo dialoga, in cooperation with international debate trainers and partner organisations.