Save the date: The Berlin Debating Union has announced the Berlin IV 2013. The BDU will host their first tournament after the WUDC 2013 from Friday, 21st to Sunday 23rd June in Berlin. There are few details as of now: The motto will be „Alternative Freedom“. Sarah von Kaminietz, the Convenor explains: "We strongly feel that debating is one of the most rewarding pastimes we know. However – debating alone is not enough. How exactly does what we say change our lives? How do the debates we have alter our decision-making processes? We hope to explore these questions from June 21st to June ...

Human rights and peaceful conflict resolution, that´s what the Kyiv Open is all about. The OrgCom promises: „The participants will be offered exhibitions, master-classes, discussions and interactive workshops on the general subject area of the event. As usually practised during the last years, there will be invited the representatives of the UN and Human Rights NGOs to hold introductory lectures and share info-slides on the problematic area of the tournament.“ The 5th Kiyv Open take place  3rd-5th may. Judges don´t have to pay a reg fee. If you have any questions you can contact the OrgCom (KyivOpen@gmail.com) or check out the Facebook Group. Date: ...

Teresa Widlok participated for the second time in the Budapest Open and would like to see more German Teams there the next time. Read her report, that will hopefully create a desire to go there. Whoever said that sequels are always worse than the original was obviously wrong! The second edition of the BP Open, held in Budapest from 1st to 4th March 2013, was an outstandingly well organized tournament which in many ways even superseded its predecessor. You can spot a very comfortable feature about the BP Open right when you look at the timetable: the tournament starts at a Friday with only ...

Last weekend the Glasgow Ancients Final took place. A sexist incident happened where an all female team was discriminated against at the finals in which male Glasgow debaters in the audience were involved. Below, you can read the conversation and the moral outrages that evolved around this incident and were published mainly in social media channels. We, the Achte Minute, feel committed to offer you an overview of the published comments and posts from facebook, twitter and the Internet. We did not redact any of the material. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any updates, requests or further information. We will update this article ...

For those whom have an interest in experiencing Russia, we invite you to partake in a great opportunity of debating in a high level competition. This event will take place from 13th April until the 14th 2013. This fantastic “HSE Open” challenge, will be held by the Higher School of Economics in Moscow and will be chaired by the one and only: Michael Shapira, ESL World Champion 201. Not only that, contributing will be Christine Simpson (EUDC finals 2012) and Alex Rabinovich (President of the Manchester Debating Union 2011/12). Accommodation is centrally located and even better is free of charge, right ...

At the World Debate Forum in Berlin 2013, debaters from across the world talked about using debating in tournaments, trainings and youth projects. In the opening speech, Doug Cochran presented “Ten suggestions for a better Worlds”. Among these points, he suggested to abloish or reform Points of Information during BP debates. As these thoughts might interest you aswell, Achte Minute asked Doug to write down his thoughts. Doug Cohran: Two Potential Reforms to Points of Information At the World Debating Forum, there was a discussion about potential reforms to WUDC debating. I put forward a number of suggestions, including abolition of points ...

For a few years now, it has been a loved and honoured tradition of the South African Delegation to host a Yakka-Party. Until Worlds 2013, the party was organized separately from the official part of the tournament. Money was collected and the ingredients for the Yakka (lemons, wodka and sugar) were bought in a private context. For the first time in 2013, the organizers of Berlin Worlds decided to integrate the Yakka-Party into the official schedule. This led to discussions within the OrgCom prior to the event and to discussions between the participants during and afterwards it. Marcus Ewald, member ...

For a few years now, it has been a loved and honoured tradition of the South African Delegation to host a Yakka-Party. Until Worlds 2013, the party was organized separately from the official part of the tournament. Money was collected and the ingredients for the Yakka (lemons, wodka and sugar) were bought in a private context. For the first time in 2013, the organizers of Berlin Worlds decided to integrate the Yakka-Party into the official schedule. This led to discussions within the OrgCom prior to the event and to discussions between the participants during and afterwards it. Marcus Ewald, member ...

This year’s World Universities Debating Council decided for Malaysia to host the World Universities Debating Championships 2015. After Chennai in 2014, debaters will fly to Southeast Asia in order to experience world class debating. The decision of the council in which all nations are represented that attended WUDC for two consecutive was close: the second bid from Auckland, New Zealand, got 42 votes while Malaysia got 57 votes. The arguments for Malaysia were mostly that it is more accessible for most participants and the registration fee would be significantly cheaper. Teresa Widlok, representative of the German WUDC delegation, tells us that despite ...

Registration for the annual tournament Jacobs Open 2013 in Bremen in Germany is now open. The 2013 tournament is taking place from 26th of April 7 pm till the 28th of April at 3pm on the campus of Jacobs University Bremen with CAs Niels Schroeter (Berlin Debating Union), last year's EUDC ESL-final finalist, and Tomas Beerthuis, last year finalist of the Jacobs Open. By the way: the final of last year's tournament was staffed exclusively from teams from the Netherlands - so may be a good reason for German teams to apply? Registration on a first-come first-serve basis is now open, ...

Every year new generations of debaters step up to fill the shoes of past legends. The wudcwatch interviewed two young debaters who are carrying on the tradition of the worlds oldest debating society at the competition’s highest level. Alisha Ricard talked to them. [caption id="attachment_14118" align="alignleft" width="400"] Cambridge A: Rebecca Meredith and Ashish Kumar.[/caption] Achte Minute: Did you expect to be so successful? Rebecca: No. There are a lot of good teams here. But we had hoped for it. Achte Minute: There is a long tradition of debating in Great Britain. Did you feel any pressure to succeed? Ashish: Oh no...it’s my first WUDC, so ...

A tab insight: Berlin Worlds' tabmaster Jens Fischer gives some information we used to collect and tweet in the past - and usually we only had them in parts. You may find here a table that shows you the team results after the six open preliminaries. Of course: The details about the individual speaker points are still under wraps. All teams that have accumulated the same number of team points are simply listed alphabetically. And the tension remains: there are three preliminary rounds to go today - and the judges will not give feedback nor team points. The break will be announced ...

Chelesile Ndlovu, Michael Mhlanga, Thabo Arthur Dube and Tatenda Muzamindo from the Lupane State University in Zimbabwe are debating for tree years. After participation at the Zimbabwe National Debating Championships (ZNDC) last summer they applied for the scholarship program and succeeded. Martin Funck, Chief Editor of WUDCwatch, the WUDC newspaper, spoke with them: [caption id="attachment_13991" align="alignright" width="400"] Martin Funck talking to participants of the scholarship program[/caption] Achte Minute: How did it feel to be admitted? Thabo: I feel privileged. That was an inspiring moment. Hopefully this leads to the establishment of scholarship programs in years to come. Achte Minute: It’s your first time ...

Last minute, indeed “no minute” preparation and no team partner by your side – that’s what Emy Finch had to go through when she was called upon as a swing speaker. In round one of WUDC, several teams were discovered missing only when debates were scheduled to begin. So more swing teams than planned were needed instantly - and the runners' team took every WUDC volunteer they found. That's how Emy became an iron swing and had to run to debate in the first round. Emy is a debater from King’s College in London who’s volunteering in documentation at the ...

The break is now bigger than ever! 48 instead of 32 teams do break after nine preliminary rounds at this World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds). That is twelve percent of all teams breaking instead of only eight percent. “Thus, the system we have now is fairer than any of the other proposed systems for the WUDC break,” Marcus Ewald, president of the EUDC Council, is sure. “Huh?” you may go, “how, mathematically speaking, can 48 teams break to octo-finals? How do they fit into eight rooms?” Well, with the new system, the first 16 teams break save to octo-finals. ...

Thanks to Wladislaw Jachtchenko (vocals), Daniil Pakhomenko (guitar) and Willy Witthaut (video) the World Universities Debating Championship has its own official song! You can watch and listen to it here: Embrace Dissent - Official WUDC Berlin 2013 Song from WUDC Berlin 2013 on Vimeo. Embrace Dissent (Wladislaw Jachtchenko/ Daniil Pakhomenko) I understand your position You have your breaking mission Your debating behaviour is on It has been your decision To stand in competition With the best debaters of the world. You are smart, well-prepared and keen So c'mon bring debating to Berlin You're here to go for the win So here is your chance, so what you're gonna do is: Embrace Dissent Impress with your ...

[caption id="attachment_13845" align="alignleft" width="400"] First arrivals for WUDC 2013. (Foto: Manuel Adams)[/caption] "It's on" is the comment of the organisation committee on their blog. The comment refered to the arrival of the first participants of the WUDC 2013, the recipients of the WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship, who arrived during the day. On 26 Dezember there will be a workshop for the participants at the Technical Univerity of Berlin. A visit on a traditional Christmas market is planned as well. The trainers are are some of the best adjudicators of the tournament. The WUDC Berlin 2013 Scholarship is supported by the Open Society Foundations. ...

[caption id="attachment_13818" align="alignright" width="400"] A picture WUDC participants will not encounter upon their arrival in German: Currently, the weather is untypically warm (+10°C). [/caption]In Berlin, for many WUDC organizers, there won’t be an ordinary Christmas celebration this year. Instead of spending Christmas with their families, the core of the WUDC Org Com is already on place in Berlin in order to work on the last preparations. But before the first participants of the WUDC scholarship program will arrive tomorrow, the WUDC Org Com will have its own very private Christmas celebration. Rumors tell us that the celebration will take place ...

Isabelle Fischer (born Loewe) is Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) at this year’s World University Debating Championship in Berlin. She started debating in 2003, with the debating society of the University of Bonn and has been living in Berlin for five years. After her career as a debater, which led her into the final of the European Univerities Debating Championship in 2006, she started an impressive career as an adjudicator. Lately, she has worked as DCA at the European Championships in Tallin 2008 and Belgrade 2012. Philipp Stiel talked with her for the Achte Minute about the upcomig event. [caption id="attachment_13800" align="alignleft" ...

[caption id="attachment_13785" align="alignright" width="300"] Diese Woche in der ZEIT: Eine ganzseitige Anzeige der WUDC. (Foto: Henrik Mädler)[/caption] The countdown is running: There are only seven days left until the opening ceremony of the World Universities Debating Championship in Berlin begins. While more than 800 speakers, 300 judges and 200 volunteers from all parts of the world will find their way to Berlin, Achte Minute will accompany this countdown with preliminary reports around the WUDC Berlin 2013. We start with a text from Matthias Winkelmann which got published this week in a full page add in the mayor German newspaper „DIE ZEIT“. ...

For the World Universities Debating Championship in Berlin 2013 intercultural affairs plays an important role in ensuring a smooth tournament. There are lots of intercultural bricks to drop: by using inappropriate phrases, serving inadequate dishes or just simply ignoring cultural differences in the daily interaction with participants. The intercultural affairs team headed by Sarah Jaglitz and Tina Reimann works on making the stay for 400 teams from all around the globe as comfortable as possible. Tina studied intercultural communication at the University of Halle where she was a member of Klartext Debating. Today she is working in international affairs in China. ...

There is a time for everything. After more than five years working for and with Achte Minute, we, Gudrun and Tim, are going to retire by the end of the year 2012 from editorial work. Since in September 2007 in Hamburg, the first post of a digital Achte Minute went online the magazine - and a lot has changed. Many - an estimated hundred - freelancers, writers and video journalists, whistleblowers and twitterers, designers and graphic across VDCH country, young people wrote about "old warriors" as well as others have written pieces about "baby vegetables". peer-reviewed each others work and published ...

There is enough to say about SOAS IV 2012 itself. The tournament was outstandingly well organised for a British tournament. That is to say that it would still be considered very badly organised if we were to apply continental European standards. However, there was food and hostel accommodation close to the campus. With 140 teams SOAS IV is one of the largest tournaments on the Island. Because it enjoys a friendlier reputation than Oxford or Cambridge with regards to how it treats participants, about 30 ESL teams traveled to London to debate at SOAS IV. 3 of them were sent ...

We all know it out of our own tournament experience: waiting to get the desired slots, the first information about the schedule, and the innate hope that the OrgComm does not forget about all the requests you had. Whatever happened at a small tournament, will also apply to the World Debating Championships. The sub-department ‘participant affairs’ will ensure that all participants feel well informed and taken care of so that they can travel to Berlin with no worries beforehand. Christian Landrock talked to Teresa Widlok, one of the divisional heads in charge of registration issues. Teresa has been debating for the ...

Would you like to spend a few days in the warm tropics, a cool sea breeze playing in your hair, the sun high in an immaculately blue sky, as a turquoise sea crashes onto a secluded beach? So would we. Nevertheless, you may also be interested in the 2012 Centrale Paris IV taking place on December 14 and 15. It will be staged at the “picturesque campus” of the École Centrale de Paris – only half an hour by public transport from the centre of Paris. Très centrale! Language of debate is English, the format will be British Parliamentary Style (BPS). ...

Please read the German version of this piece to learn more on how to get supporters of your debating societies invited to the grand final of the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC or Worlds) in Berlin. The Berlin Debating Union was chosen to hold the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC or Worlds) in Botsuana 2011 and was confirmed again in Manila 2012. Estimated 1400 debaters from about 70 countries will fight for the title of the World Champion from 27th of December 2012 to 4th of January 2013. The World Universities Debating Championship is taking place yearly around New Year’s ...

Various and peripheral judging workshops add to the quality of debates in tournaments and at home in the debating societies. Please read the German version of this to learn about the details of this season's first VDCH judging workshop to be held in Würzburg.

This weekend a big experiment started. Seven countries, seven capitals, seven tournaments, one league: The Debating League of Europe.  With the DLE, the European debating circuit could get what the circuit has almost become already anyway: A cohesive debating scene where debaters from all over Europe regularly meet and mingle. The League provides a common framework for keeping track of results of chosen tournaments across Europe to find a winner at the end of a season. The rule is simple: The biggest tournament of the capital of a country is eligible. The DLE is open for participation for every debating society ...

Willy Witthaut on his experience at Belgrade Euros - his first major international tournament. Please read the complete article in German.

One of the nice side effects of international tournaments is certainly getting to know other cities with their distinctive peculiarities. Thus, nearly every convener of an international tournament arranges excursions to the prominent sights a city has to offer. But what if this international tournament, with more than 1400 participants, takes place in a city called Berlin, which is full of historic, social, cultural and political sights? Filip Bubenheimer, student of law, winner of the north-German debating championships (2008, 2010) and member of the Berlin Debating Union (BDU) is responsible for organizing an enjoyable time for all the participants. Christian ...