#ClimateOfChange: Debate Contest
The Contest will be held in 13 European countries, under the EU project “End Climate Change, Start Climate of Change”
The #ClimateOfChange debate contest will be held in 13 European countries, including Cyprus, under the European project “End Climate Change, Start Climate of Change”. Headed by WeWorld and involving 16 European organizations, the project is funded by the European Commission within the framework of the DEAR (Development Education and Awareness Raising) Programme.
The local Debate Contest is being organized by the University of Nicosia Research Foundation (UNRF) and seeks to involve young people from high schools, universities, and youth centres of all types. Two debate tournaments will be conducted: one intended for young teenagers (16-19 years old), and a second tournament for young university students (19-26 years old).
The contest consists of confrontations between teams of students in structured debates, arguing and supporting with appropriate research, evidence, and documents the position for or against a certain given topic, before qualified judges.
Aims and Scope
The debates are specifically meant to:
- Inform, raise awareness among students, parents, and teachers;
- Disseminate and share knowledge concerning global issues;
- Develop cross-cutting skills (also useful when entering the professional world) and promote the active participation in public life as well as virtuous behaviours.
The contest is shaped as a debate, in which two teams confront each other by arguing and presenting appropriate research, evidence, and documents the position for or against a given topic. The methodology aims to contribute in making schools and territories protagonists of the national discussion on main issues. In this regard, it is an exercise of participation, democracy, and citizenship.
It provides added value and innovation in that it enables the development of skills and knowledge students can put to use at school and at extracurricular levels. Such a methodology fosters the acquisition of abilities to express oneself in public, to collaborate with fellow students, to compete out of interest in learning rather than winning, as well as to respect shared rules in a democratic context.
For the team composition, both curricular and extracurricular models will be taken into account, with class groups or teams made up of students from different classes.
Who can participate?
On the local level, UNRF will organize two tournaments, at no cost to the institutions:
- A tournament for teenagers (16-19 years), and
- A tournament for young university students (19-26 years).
By June 2021, the winning teams resulting from each national tournament will be defined and announced. They will enter the pan-European finals in Brussels, scheduled to take place in early November 2021.
Topics
The topics that students are invited to discuss at the conference are global issues: human rights, inclusion, participation, environmental protection, non-discrimination, migration and development, youth policies.
More specifically, the national finals of the 2020/2021 edition and the pan-European finals will have a specific focus on climate change and migration, also highlighting the interconnection to the current development model, our economic system and our own lifestyle.
Judges
The debate envisages the involvement of a wide audience: former leaders and teachers, teachers of other classes, parents, volunteers, children, and sympathizers will be involved during the various stages as judges of the debate. Each debate foresees the presence of 3 judges tasked with evaluating the discussion according to several parameters, such as: the knowledge (richness) and understanding (clarity) of the topic, the relevance of the arguments, and the variety of sources used, as well as, the ability to respond to opposing arguments, to persuade, to communicate, and to apply logical reasoning. All the participating judges will be trained, either in person or online.
Fundamental skills required to fulfill the role of a judge are the following: An open mind; Good listening and evaluation skills; To be able to offer constructive criticism; To be able to move easily to the places where the debates will be held; To be interested in current issues.
Training for Teachers and Volunteer Judges
Online training was organized by WeWorld (Autumn 2020) for selected teachers, trainers, and judges from secondary schools and universities who will participate in the project, to outline the educational methodology of the debate. Further trainings will be arranged by debate experts appointed by UNRF, both online and in attendance, to outline the educational methodology of the debate.
Information
For more information on the Debate Contest, please contact Kyriaki Kamenou at UNRF, e-mail: [email protected], Tel/Mobile nos.: 22842236/99797021
About this Project
The University of Nicosia Research Foundation (UNRF) is a partner in the European project “End Climate Change, Start Climate of Change” (#ClimateOfChange). The project relates to a Pan-European Campaign to build a better future for climate induced migrants, the human face of climate change. For this purpose, it mobilises 16 partners across 13 European countries, including NGOs, universities, and public local authorities. The project (Grant Contract CSO – LA/2019/410-153) is headed by WeWorld-GVC and funded by the European Commission under the DEAR (Development Education and Awareness Raising) Programme. It aims at developing young EU citizen awareness and critical understanding of climate change induced migration, as one of the biggest challenges of the globalized world.
