Wednesday, September 23, 2009

ARDOR launches first Romanian online debate championship

The Romanian Association of Debate Oratory and Rhetoric is proud to announce the YouSpeak Debate Championship, a three-round tournament held on the new online debating environment, YouSpeak. The tournament will be held from October to December, and will focus on three controversial issues in the Romanian society: blood donation, the voting process, and Internet safety. This project is supported by three Romanian NGOs, who all campaign in the areas of the debated topics.

The YouSpeak tournament is open for young Romanians between 15 and 25 years old, regardless of their previous debating experience. The tournament debate kit can be found on the website, which contains the debate format description, judging rules, a demo debate and argumentation theory.

YouSpeak participants will also have an opportunity to participate in the YouthSpeak Camp in December, where they will learn more about how to speak in public, how to support an idea or cause, and how to be persuasive, creative and ethical in speech delivery. The camp will be supported by ARDOR, partner NGOs' trainers, and special guests from the local area. In addition, participants are offered internships at ARDOR and other partner organizations.

YouSpeak is financed through a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

No comments: