European Round Robin Debating Championships

In July 2019, the College of Europe in Natolin, in cooperation with the Warsaw Debate Chamber, is organizing the European Round Robin, an important debating championship for selected teams i.e. national, regional and European champions, best World Championship's speakers, winners of Oxford IV, Cambridge IV and major women’s tournaments.

The tournament is held at the Natolin campus in Warsaw on 5-7 July 2019 and it has already attracted a lot of interest and great support from European debaters, including two famous speakers who agreed to serve as Chief Adjudicators: Michael DUNN GOEKJIAN and Gigi GIL.

The 32 best European debaters will compete against each other arguing for and against some of the most important global motions. The official tournament format will be the British Parliamentary Style, the most popular style of academic competitive debates in the world, where 4 teams consisting of 2 debaters learn the motion and their position only 15 minutes before the start of the round.

Team:

Radosław CZEKAN, Convenor

Radosław is the founder of the Warsaw Debate Chamber, World Universities Debating Championships semifinalist (in EFL category) and professional debate coach working with companies, NGOs, universities, schools and adults.

Michael DUNN GOEKJIAN, Chief Adjudicator

Michael was crowned the Best Speaker in the World at The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2016, where he was also a Grand Finalist, and Best Speaker in Europe at the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2016, where he also won. He was previously the Second Best Speaker at WUDC 2015, where he also topped the team tab. In total, Michael won over 30 debating tournaments including the Yale IV, the International Mace, and the HWS Round Robin, and was also the best speaker of over 30, including the Oxford IV (twice), the HWS Round Robin (twice) and the LSE Open. He was a Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) of WUDC 2017, co-Chief Adjudicator of WUDC 2018 and will once again be a DCA of WUDC 2020, and has served on over 30 Adjudication Cores at tournaments around the world.

Gigi GIL, Chief Adjudicator

Gigi is one of the most experienced speakers and judges in Europe, who served as Chief Adjudicator at more than 35 tournaments including European Debating Championships 2018, LSE Open 2018, Oxford IV 2018 and over 10 wins or top speaker positions at tournaments like Berlin IV, Riga IV, and Paris Open. Moreover, Gigi reached 45+ speaking breaks (promotions to play-offs) including ESL final and Open Partial Double Quarterfinals at Tallinn EUDC.

Registration:

The teams will be selected and invited by Chief Adjudicators and Executive Partner. The deadline for registration is 1 April 2019. In order to apply please contact the Convenor: radoslaw [at] debatechamber.pl

Participants are provided with: accommodation, 2 lunches, 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts, coffee breaks, water, 2 integration nights and a welcome pack (paper, pens, etc.).

For the Chief Adjudicators and Independent Adjudicators the cost of transport is covered.  Scholarships and partial cost reimbursement for teams and other judges are possible and at the discretion of the CA team and Convenor.

Prize:

The initial prize for the winners is 500 EUR.

Programme:

Friday, 5 July 2019: Arrivals and opening ceremony (18:00), networking event;
Saturday, 6 July 2019: 4 preliminary rounds, socials;
Sunday, 7 July 2019: 1 preliminary round and Grand Final, departures.

Contact:

In case of any questions and partnership requests, please contact the Tournament Convenor, Radosław CZEKAN, via e-mail: radoslaw [at] debatechamber.pl