Win a scholarship/stipend by participating in the Global Debate & Public Policy Challenge!‏

Win a scholarship and trip to Budapest!

We want to let you know that you can still participate in the Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge, win a free trip to Budapest and one of several scholarship and stipend awards available. We hope you’ll accept the Challenge! What is the GDPPC? The Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge is a new annual competition designed to engage undergraduates in on-going public debate and reflection on issues affecting the global community. This year’s theme explores the relationship between security and human rights. The Challenge offers undergraduates across disciplines and continents an opportunity to explore issues of global importance from different points of view. We hope to attract as wide a range of students into this competition as possible and you still have a very good chance to win. If you are an undergraduate student of any age, you are eligible for this Challenge! What Do I Need To Do To Enter The Challenge and Become Eligible to Win? Register for the competition. Then, prepare and submit your policy brief by 16 April. That’s it! What is the New Way to Participate and What Can You Win? Wehave established a new category of entry for students like you who would like to participate in this third and final round but haven’t been involved yet. If you participate in this new category by submitting a policy brief, you will become eligible to win a trip to Budapest, Hungary for the Global Debate and Public Policy Forum at Central European University in June 2012. Up to 50 finalists will be selected to go to Budapest with the cost of travel and accommodation paid by IDEA. Finalists will attend workshops to hone their public-speaking and advocacy skills as well as compete to determine up to top 10 finalists from both entry groups to compete for the scholarship / stipend prizes by presenting their policy briefs to the audience gathered at the Global Debate & Public Policy Forum. The top winners will be awarded the scholarship / stipend prizes. How Much Are the Scholarships & Stipends and What Can They Be Used For? We have established additional scholarship and stipend opportunities for students who still wish to participate but haven’t entered the previous rounds. From the participants who are chosen to participate at the Forum in Budapest, there will be up to three final winners in this category. Each winner will receive either a scholarship payable to a Graduate School of the winner’s choice for study in a field related to Public Policy or a grant payable to a non-profit institution of the winner’s choice for an internship or placement in a field related to Public Policy. The winners get to choose the option they prefer. The scholarship levels for new participants are (in US Dollars): First place: $2500, Second Place: $1500, Third place: $1000. Please see the Prizes page for more information. The rules of the competition are available here. Where and When Will the Forum Take Place? The inaugural Forum will take place at the School of Public Policy and International Affairs at Central European University and is a great opportunity to interact with your peers from around the world as well as gain valuable public policy and advocacy experience. The event brings together academics and policy experts on this year´s theme: ‘Securing Liberty: Balancing Security and Freedom’. It’s also a real world opportunity to contribute to the debate about important issues of our time and gain valuable feedback from those who work in this field! You can read more about the event details here. How Do I Write My Policy Brief?Your task is to write a policy brief of 1250-1500 words which is designed to bring ideas and contribute to the global debate and public policy Forum “Security, Terrorism and Human Rights: Towards a Global Picture” which will take place 15-16 June in Budapest, Hungary. A summary of the task is available on the Challenge website here: Overview of Policy Brief. Please also refer to these three documents (with links) to help you through the process: 1.      Guidelines for Writing Your Policy Brief. All of the details of the task are outlined in the guidelines. Please ready this thoroughly. 2.      Writing for Specific Target Audiences – An Introduction to Policy Advocacy. This is a resource guide to support the production of your policy brief and get you thinking about advocacy. We recommend you read it before beginning to prepare your brief. 3.      Worksheet for Planning your Policy Brief. This document is a space to organise your thinking and prepare an outline before writing. Before you prepare your policy brief, it may be helpful for you to refer to the previous tasks of the Challenge including the Policy Position Paper and the Alternate Position Paper.Listed here are links to background reading materials on the topic of Securing Liberty. Each registered participant will receive by 18 April 2012 information describing the next rounds of selection to take place at the pre-Forum and Forum in Budapest in June 2012. This information will also be posted by the same date on the Challenge website. When Is The Submission Deadline? Your policy brief must be submitted by 23:59 on 16 April 2012. Finalists will be announced on 4 May. Who Do I Contact For More Information? If you don’t find your answer on the Challenge website, please send an e-mail to Catherine Janson: cjanson@idebate.be. Don’t forget to also follow our Facebook, Twitter and discussion boards for updates and frequently asked questions about this task. We look forward to your participation! Good Luck!

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IDEA seeks Russian Debatabase Writers

Debatabase, IDEA's database of hundreds of debate topics, will soon be available in Russian!

The Debatabase in the Russian language is going to be a high-quality topic research resource, highlighting the major pros and cons of many Russian and CIS issues. This resource will help Russian-speaking users find arguments for and against hundreds of debating topics, written by expert debaters, judges and coaches from Russia and nations where Russian is a second language.

IDEA is looking for people (coaches, debaters and students with experience and interest in specific issues) to put together written debates in Russian (5-6 arguments on both sides) on topics that are often debated in countries of the former USSR. This is an ongoing project, so we are looking for people who can start right away in March 2012. If you are a prospective author or contributor - what are you waiting for?! Please go to http://vk.com/topic-50287_26111492!

IDEA seeks communication officer.

IDEA SEEKS COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

IDEA is seeking a Communications Officer to foster a smooth information flow between management/staff throughout our international network in order to produce communications for an external audience across a variety of platforms.  Reporting to the Executive Director, the Communications Officer helps to ensure the highest standards in the delivery of IDEA’s communications tools, by providing strong drafting and editing skills, strong analysis and effective communication skills.

Areas of responsibility: In consultation with the Executive Director and the Board of Directors of IDEA Central Foundation:

1.                   Content development: draft and/or edit press releases, talking points, fact sheets, policy position statements, the fortnightly IDEA email newsletter, bi-annual iDebate magazine, video messages, and other materials;

2.                   Website coordination: draft, edit and/or assist in the regular updating of the IDEA website content in coordination with the website manager;

3.                   Pro-actively provide strategic information to various external audiences about IDEA’s programs, projects,  achievements and initiatives to create awareness, increase impact and enhance support for our objectives;

4.                   Provide strategic direction recommendations to management to ensure consistent messaging in alignment with the organization’s vision and strategies;

5.                   Organize routine and ad hoc internal and external events and meetings in order to ensure consistent messaging in line with our communications strategy;

6.                   Continuously assess, recommend and implement innovative communication tools and methods to accomplish internal and external communication objectives and work with the social media and communications team to coordinate the implementation of our communications strategy;

7.                   Schedule management: maintain a schedule for the submission and launch of press releases, reports, and publications and coordinate with the rest of the organization to ensure timely development and continuous delivery;

8.                   Information management: Ensure dissemination and archiving of communications materials, maintain up-to-date contact lists, maintain and develop IDEA social media presence, respond to requests for information, etc.;

9.                   Needs assessment and outreach: monitor and provide accurate assessment of developments in the debate community and of advocacy opportunities, maintain strong relations with management/staff and external contacts (journalists, researchers and governmental and inter-governmental representatives, etc), and advise management/staff on communications actions; 

10.               Establish and monitor individual work plan, and undertake necessary administrative tasks for own work;

11.               Ensure all materials intended for external audiences meet the IDEA style and branding guidelines; and

12.               Other tasks as requested.

Required experience and skills:

·                     University degree in communications, public relations, or a related field;

·                     At least two years experience working in a communications environment;

·                     Strong native-level English language writing, editing and speaking skills required; other languages desirable, particularly Russian;

·                     Proven experience drafting and editing communications materials for a variety of audiences;

·                     Demonstrated knowledge of relevant issues;

·                     Proven ability to cultivate contacts and develop networks;

·                     Social media and multi-media knowledge;

·                     Attentive to deadlines, flexible and able to deal with high workload;

·                     Strong team player; proven ability to work in a diverse team; able to work independently;

·                     Experience in debate as participant, coach or otherwise is a plus; and

·                     Willingness to travel for work, either alone or with colleagues.

Remuneration: Based in one of the IDEA offices in New York, London or Brussels, the remuneration level for this full time position shall be between $50,000 and $60,000 plus benefits, depending on the candidate's experience and the market selected.  The successful applicant will already have the right to work in one of the above offices.

Expected start date: The successful applicant is expected to start as soon as possible.

How to apply: Qualified candidates should send the following application materials; persons submitting incomplete application packages will not be considered for the position:

1.                   Maximum 500 word letter of interest

2.                   Detailed CV in English;

3.                   Contact details for two present or former employers (from immediate supervisor) and one other relevant referee; and

4.                   An unedited English-language writing sample by the applicant (preferably in a public policy or debate-related area).

Submit to:  Bradley Gallop - IDEA General Counsel

bgallop@idebate.be

Fax: +32 2 535 7275

Application deadline: 23:00 on 27 March 2012.  Applications received after this date will not be considered. Short-listed applicants will be notified within ten days of the deadline; applicants who are not shortlisted will not be contacted.

IDEA is an equal opportunity employer.

#WUDC on the internet

IDEA have prepared an infographic with statistics from the Twitter and live streaming activity surrounding worlds in Manila last December/January.

How many people watched the debates? How many people were talking about Worlds every day? The graphic shows who the top tweeters (is that the word) were and how activity peaked in the run up to the final.  It also shows how many people were watching the live debates on line and where they were from.

Call for Trainers : 1st IDEA Asia Youth Forum : 11th to 27th May 2012 : Thailand‏

Greetings everyone,

I'm sharing this message on behalf of IDEA (International Debate Education
Association).

IDEA is proud to announce the first ever Asia Youth Forum. Modeled after
the IDEA Youth Forum (now in its 18th year) the Asia Youth Forum aims to
bring together the most enthusiastic students and teachers, to learn debate
skills and content around a specific theme. We are looking to build a team
of regional trainers for this event, and if you are interested, please
apply! The format used will be Karl Popper but capable trainers from other
formats are encouraged to apply.

The details of the forum

- Theme : Crossing Borders : Migration in Asia
- Dates : 11th to 27th of May 2012
- Location : Bangkok, Thailand
- Trainer Application Deadline : 21st February 2012
- Target audience : High school students from all over Asia
- Trainer application process, criteria, expectations and benefits are
detailed in the Call for Trainers and Application form (attached with this
email and available on http://www.idebate.org/asiayouthforum)

We realize that the dates do clash with the UADC tournament. Unfortunately
these dates were the most optimum for the high school debaters and
educators that form the core of the Asia Youth Forum. We realize that some
people who may be interested in training at the Youth Forum may wish to
also attend the UADC and for this reason we are doing our best to
accommodate those schedules by making necessary allowances. If you need to
leave earlier to attend the UADC, indicate so on the Trainer Application
form.

For questions or comments, email cnasuwan@idebate.org or loganimal@gmail.com.
More details are also available on our website at
http://www.idebate.org/asiayouthforum

The registration process for teams will open soon and you'll be getting
another message when that happens =]

Cheers
Logan
Curriculum Director
IDEA Asia Youth Forum

$20 Million in OSF grants for Debate

Too often, even in the world’s more open societies, when conflicts arise, quarreling and name-calling displace vibrant, critical debate. The recent fight in the United States over the raising of the debt ceiling is an obvious case in point. Though Congress and the president did eventually reach an uneasy, eleventh-hour compromise, for weeks elected officials and political pundits drowned out what should have been a spirited but reasonable exchange of ideas on how to best address an issue of pressing public concern.

Public posturing to manipulate public opinion in advance of next year’s elections made it difficult, if not impossible, for citizens of any age to gather the unbiased information they needed to come to an evidence-based conclusion on what policy to support. For young voters, who turned out in record numbers for the 2008 elections, the lack of debate on critical issues in an increasingly partisan sphere must make for a particularly dispiriting public spectacle.

The failure of U.S. policy makers to engage in open-minded debate on issues like debt relief, climate change, terrorism, drug policy reform, and migration affects us all. Global issues require global debates.

Since societies function best when policy issues are examined from a range of different perspectives, the Open Society Youth Initiative is launching a new $20-million Global Debates Fund to strengthen debate programs at colleges and universities around the world. Our goal is to help engage students in the policy issues that will have a lasting impact on their future.

There is no better place for young people to learn to engage in these global debates than in college and university classrooms. Institutions of higher learning should provide students with the technical or vocational skills necessary for the marketplace, but they must also cultivate a student’s recognition of thoughtful civic engagement and encourage them to consider global issues from a perspective other than their own. And it should not just be at the world’s most elite universities where students are offered the opportunity to engage in civic and civil debate. A commitment to promoting public discourse should be woven through the fabric of all educational institutions to help ensure that young people the world over have the ability to use the force of argument and not just the argument of force to express themselves.

The new fund will provide up to three years of support to colleges, universities, and other educational institutions to promote and integrate debate across disciplines. Grants are available for institutions that have either very small debate programs or none at all. Grants are also availablefor institutions seeking to promote public debates within the broader communities that they serve.

I encourage you to learn more, spread the word, and apply.

http://blog.soros.org/2011/09/debate-matters/

Noel Selegzi

Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge

The Open Societies Foundations, IDEA, European Council on Foreign Relations and the Central European University brings you the Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge! It's a debate tournament, with a public policy focus. Up for grabs (other than the educational benefits of participating, fun, networking etc) are 50 paid for invites to attend the Global Debate and Public Policy Forum (at CEU, Budapest)  and five US$10,000 scholarships for graduate school (also convertible into public policy grants for a year of field work) in the field of public policy - (details available here http://www.gdppc.org/rules-and-tcs/)

"The Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge offers undergraduates across disciplines and continents an opportunity to explore issues of global importance from different points of view."

The topic for the 2011-2012 Challenge is: “Securing Liberty:  Balancing Security and Freedom”.

What you have to do (http://www.gdppc.org/overview-of-tasks/)

"This year’s Challenge consists of four tasks, each drawing participants closer and closer to developing fully fledged public policy briefs, with the final task giving an opportunity to enhance public policy advocacy skills.  The details of second task will be made available as results of the first task are announced.  The first task is already available on the Challenge website.

Any undergraduate student from any discipline from any part of the globe is able to take part (register here) and submit a paper for the first task.  From the submissions on the first round up to 200 participants will be selected to proceed to the second round and from those up to 100 participants will be invited to proceed to the third round.  From the participants in the third, penultimate round, up to 50 finalists will win trips to the Global Debate and Public Policy Forum to be held at the Central European University, in Budapest, where the final round of the Challenge will take place.

Each task will be explained in detail with clear criteria for completion.  Those for whom English is not their mother tongue should not be discouraged from participating, as submitted papers will be judged on the participant’s ability to develop evidenced to support his or her arguments."

Challenge Tasks	Announcement Date	Submission Date	Max Number of Participants
Task 1Policy position paper	09/05/11	11/18/11
Task 2 Alternate Position paper (advocating for an alternative option)	12/16/11	02/10/12	200
Task 3 Policy Brief targeting a global policy audience	03/02/12	04/16/12	100
Task 4 Global Debate and Public Policy Forum	05/04/12	Event at CEU, Budapest, June 2012	50 with 5 winners selected

Visit http://www.gdppc.org/ for more information or to register now!

IDEA Youth Forum 2011

The IDEA Youth Forum 2011 is getting underway in Istanbul with teams arriving from as far afield as Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Sierra Leone and Chile.  This year’s topic is international migration, and you can follow the progress of the teams through the tournament here….

http://www.idebate.org/ideaforum/

For the next two weeks more than 250 high school students from 40 countries will be competing, learning, improving their debate skills -  and getting up to all sorts of other things that we’ll be keeping you updated on.

Each IDEA Youth Forum begins with a world competition – the IDEA Karl Popper Debate Championship. After the championship the Youth Forum continues with smaller training sessions where students debate in international teams. To suit students with different needs we offer various options –  including tracks for beginners, for high school students and for those making the transition to university debating. We also use this time to train coaches and teachers, and offer a special track for those learning English.

Open Society debate program in New Orleans

The International Debate Education Association in association with the Open Society Foundations is looking for university debaters from around the world to take part in a debate program in New Orleans in early August. The project will be divided into two parts and entrants are welcome to apply for either the first or for both. All transport costs will be paid by IDEA and accommodation will be provided by Loyola University.

The first part, the Open Society Debates, runs from the third to the seventh of August. We are calling on college debaters world wide to audition to be in the pilot of a show about debate. Six speakers from different universities and countries will be randomly placed into two teams, and a video crew will document drama and tension as debaters from around the globe learn to work together to construct their arguments for a public final debate. We are hoping that the videos will be broadcasted around the world starting in the fall

The second stage, starting on the eighth of August, is a debate camp for local high school students who will be investigating the balance between liberty and security. Participants who choose to stay on for this part will receive a per diem allowance and, once again, all accommodation, meals and transport will be provided. The debate camp will run until the nineteenth of August.

The application deadline for both programs is July 12th, and the application can be found at: http://www.idebate.org/open-society-debates/

All debaters have to do is fill out some basic information about themselves, submit a short clip of themselves debating, and submit a statement explaining their interest, not to exceed 200 words.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks,
Cara Eckholm

Princeton Debate Panel 2014
Open Society Foundations, Consultant

Reminder: IDEA debate census 2011

Just a reminder that IDEA are attempting to do a world wide census of University debating. The sort of information being gathered includes what universities debate, how to contact them, what language they use etc.


The purpose is to gather and then share as much information as possible about debating around the world. This could be useful for organising tournaments, attracting sponsors etc.

If you want to include your university on the list visit http://www.idebate.org/debate-census/

IDEA Debate Census 2011

IDEA are attempting to do a world wide census of University debating.   The sort of information being gathered includes what universities debate, how to contact them, what language they use etc. 

The purpose is to gather and then share as much information as possible about debating around the world. This could be useful for organising tournaments, attracting sponsors etc. 

If you want to include your university on the list visit http://www.idebate.org/debate-census/