(Photo by Ton Zonneveldt)

Anne Valkering is a former debater and well known figure in the Debate circle. For Achte Minute she writes about IDEA- the International Debate Education Association. Anne is a program officer and develops projects like Debate changing Europe  does fundraising, implements and coordinates them.

What is IDEA?
The International Debate Education Association (IDEA) aims to bring debate to places where it is not practiced. IDEA develops, organises and promotes debate and debate-related activities in communities throughout the world to promote civic engagement, focused on young people between 15 and 25. IDEA was created out of the Open Society Foundation’s Network Debate Program that promoted debate in post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe. It was founded in 1999 as a non-profit international association in Amsterdam.

IDEA tries to enhance young people’s public advocacy, critical thinking and research skills by introducing them to debate. We do this through the introduction, establishment and development of independent debate programs and the development of networks of organisations promoting debate. Some of our activities include the organisation of debate training and competition events like Global and Regional Youth Forums, local training events linking debate to journalism or advocacy, supporting newly established debate organisations and providing debate-related publications and information through our website idebate.org.

What does IDEA do for university students?
IDEA offers students information about the debating world and training opportunities through our website, and possibilities to debate in events or online.

The website offers a lot of information on what is happening around the debating world. It offers news, information about previous and upcoming tournaments and a calendar in which you can find events in your region, or register your own event and manage its promotion. The website reaches millions of people each year and provides a good overview of events across the globe. It is probably the most inclusive news site on debating that exists.

The website offers lots of resources that can help you develop your debating skills. These include guides to different styles of debating, help in establishing debate clubs, online mentoring, and the Debatabase, which offers interesting debate cases on all sorts of topics with proposition and opposition arguments. Thus, you can learn from how other debaters frame a debate you are unfamiliar with, or gain more insight on a debate you have done before.

Lastly, IDEA promotes opportunities to debate in competitions and public debates. Our website is again a great tool, as it hosts video debating through our own system called vbates, while we are also testing new modes of online debating through other media channels. IDEA London hosted the European Cup for the first time last year, while IDEA Amsterdam is currently working with university debating societies in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden in a project called Debate changing Europe. The project offers debate tournaments and public debates, as well as training in lobbying in the European Union to students. There’s more to come, so check out our website or Facebook page to find out more.

What opportunities can IDEA offer students?
IDEA offers students exciting opportunities to provide training to youth all across the world in an effort to bring debating to new areas of the globe, or new social strata within established debating countries.

IDEA supports projects and organisations that aim to establish new debate programs. We constantly seek organisations and individuals that help us provide training for new debate programs. So if you are looking for ways to set up an interesting debate program anywhere in the world, we can help support you. While we are not a donor organisation, we have a lot of ready advice available and regularly seek partners for common fundraising applications. In addition, we offer you access to our network of debate organisation that can act as partners or provide you with advice on how to proceed.

IDEA has set up Debate in the Neighbourhood (DiN) programs in the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom and works with partners on DiN projects in a number of European countries. These reach out to some of the most vulnerable youth in society who live in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. We teach them debate as an essential life tool. We then bring them in contact with policy makers, police, local businesspeople and teachers through public debates at which they resolve important issues in their everyday lives. Thus, we have worked with youth and the police in Gouda and Antwerp after racial riots and police discrimination led to an unsafe situation.

For these projects and training programs like our Regional and Global Youth Forums, we seek dedicated trainers. We do not to offer high salaries, usually only compensation for your efforts. On the other hand, you will be able to positively impact the lives of youth in difficult situations. And if that is not enough to persuade you, the opportunity to travel to countries like Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Ireland or Turkey and spend three weeks with energetic, bright and interested youth from all over the world probably is!

Anne Valkering is a well known dutch Debater currently living in Amsterdam. She was Convenor of the European Universities Debating Championships 2010 in Amsterdam. Anne was extraordinary sucessful in Debating (e.g. became World Champion in 2008 in “English as a Second Language“).

Anne Valkering/ ak