Berlin has defeated Zagreb! The Council of delegates at the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) in Gaborone, Botswana, has made a decision: Berlin is going to host the Worlds 2013. The OrgComm around Patrick Ehmann (Berlin Debating Union) presented their bid successfully and got 87 vs 11 votes. Several hundred teams of two from all over the world plus judges and supporters are expected in the German capital around New Year’s Eve 2012/13 – these Worlds are going to be one of the biggest competitions in the WUDC series. On board with the Berlin based team are chief adjudicators Sharmila Parmanand (Philippines) and Doug Cochran (England). More details on Berlin Worlds 2013 are available at www.wudcberlin.com.

Another bid for hosting Worlds 2013 had been launched by a team around Petar Bezjak who had intended to take WUDC to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. In the run-up of the bid, there had been lots of rumors about and attacks on Petar showing how contentious his person and the bid were on the Balkans. Zagreb had been granted hosting the Worlds before but that was withdrawn from them a year later when the Council and the delegates had the impression that Petar and his team could not prove local support for Worlds 2005.

Since 1981, debaters from all over the world have been competing at the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) at alternating locations across the planet. It was not before 1996 that the British Parliamentary Style became the mandatory format for this annual tournament. The African continent has been host to previous Worlds and stages the Worlds now for a third time, this year from 27 December 2010 to 4 January 2011 at the University of Botswana, Gaborone. Language of debate is English and there are three categories: “Main” for native speakers, “ESL” (English as a Second Language, for those who prove great proficiency in English) and “EFL” (English as a Foreign Language, for those who studied English as a mere subject).

In 1999, the Berlin Debating Union (BDU) was founded by Jens Fischer and Kai Monheim, back then with the name “Streitzeit (Berlin Debating Union)”. Since then, the society has gained some experience in convening national and international tournaments: BDU has twice been host of the German Debating Championship (2001 and 2008), the biggest tournament on the German speaking debating circuit. In 2006, Berlin was stage of the European Universities Championships (EUDC). In addition to that, the Berlin Debating Union invented the Central and Eastern European Debating Tournament, later renamed Berlin Open and then Berlin IV, thus open to debaters from Western Europe as well as to Israel.

apf / glx