WSDC 2024: Global Debate Excellence in Belgrade

news

Jul 30, 2024

The World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) 2024 in Belgrade marked the second successful organization of this event by IDEA, showcasing talents from over 60 countries. This event highlighted debates mission to promote critical thinking and cultural exchange. Scotland became WSDC champions in the Open Category, Bulgaria in ESL, and Indonesia in EFL. Participants debated motions on topics like state secularism, tourism limits, and feminist narratives. Congratulations to all winners and organisation committee!

The World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) 2024 took place in Belgrade from July 16th to July 26th, gathering young debaters from around the globe for an extraordinary event. Co-organized by the International Debate Education Association (IDEA) and Open Communication, this championship marks the second time IDEA has been involved in organizing WSDC, following the successful online championship in 2022. This year, students from diverse backgrounds engaged in rigorous debates and cultural exchanges in Belgrade, showcasing high-level debates and experiencing the city's rich cultural heritage.

WSDC 2024 Belgrade was made possible through dedicated efforts of the organizing committee, led by convenors Katarina Lazić and Ana Janković. We extend our gratitude to the Chief Adjudicator team and the numerous volunteers who ensured a welcoming environment for all participants. Their hard work was instrumental in overcoming the logistical challenges of hosting over 600 participants from 68 countries marking the most countries who ever attended WSDC. All participants competed in the Open category while some countires also qualified to compete in English as a second langauge and English as a foreign langugae categories (EFL and ESL)

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s championship:

WSDC 2024 results
	Open category	ESL	EFL
	Teams
1	Scotland	Bulgaria	Indonesia
2	Bulgaria	Qatar	Lithuania
3	Qatar	Greece	Japan
	Speakers
1	Jinjou Wang - Canada	Clement Tsao - China	Alicia Chen - China
2	Alicia Chen - China	Bo Xin Zhao - China	Marin Bolanča - Croatia
3	Michelle Liu - Canada	Hitishaa Goyal - India	Vincent Ying - China

Best New Nation prize was awarded to Bosnia and Herzegovina

The WSDC 2024 exemplifies the power of debate as a tool for fostering critical thinking, cultural exchange, and global collaboration. As part of IDEA's mission to empower young people to become active citizens and informed thinkers, events like WSDC play a crucial role in promoting dialogue and understanding across borders. We celebrate the achievements of all participants and look forward to future events that continue to advance IDEA's vision of using debate as a vehicle for positive change.

Debate Motions at WSDC 2024

This House Supports strict state secularism in Western Liberal Democracies.
This House Prefers a world where Truth and Reconciliation Commissions were established to deal with the aftermath of the Yugoslav Wars rather than the ICTY.
This House Would ban sports betting.
This House Believes That New Age wellness culture has done more harm than good.
This House believes that major tourist destinations should significantly limit the number of tourists that can visit.
This House would introduce a governmental basic income for all artists, rather than offering governmental fellowships and grants to certain artists upon application.
This House supports France's exit from West Africa.
This House opposes attempts by the feminist movement to redefine traditionally feminine roles and behaviors as empowering.
This House would put an upper age limit of 60 years old for individuals running for political office.
This House regrets the narrative that money cannot buy happiness.
This House, as Serbia, would develop closer ties with China at the expense of ties with the European Union.
This House would allow violent offenders to opt into Pavlovian conditioning as a substitution for prison time.
This House regrets the glorification of champions.