The Experience of Organizing the First Italian Youth Debating Championship

Abstract

We present a report about the first Italian Youth Debating Championship (IYDC, Campionato Italiano Giovanile di Debate 2021) from an organizational and management perspective. We show the complexity of the event’s implementation and the importance of managing information and communication technologies. We underline that the IYDC has been recognized not only by the participants but also officially by the European Commission and the European Parliament, as a powerful method to improve participants’ soft skills and active citizenship. While the IYDC would not have been conceivable and viable before the COVID-19 pandemic, as organizers of informal education activities, we are convinced that the innovative educational model presented in this paper will continue to spread even after the pandemic ends.

Keywords

• debate methodology
• organization of educational innovation
• soft skills
• active citizenship
• education platformization