Every year debaters and enthusiasts from far corners and dense centers of the world converge in one spot to compete, debate and celebrate their community. In the short period of time dedicated to determining champions, debaters also explore other challenges - like how to improve adjudication, how to develop debate, sharing methods to raise funds. There are also those who are use debate outside of tournaments - teachers, advocates, community workers, budding politicians; who look to improve what they do by interacting with other debaters.

Given there isn't even enough time during Worlds to fully discuss how to improve Worlds, there definitely isn't enough time to talk about how debate can improve the world we live in. Yet we should find the time, because it is important to ensure the WUDC keeps improving as a tournament and debate increases its relevance in society. This is the best time because we are all here, in one place.

A few interested people, with the cooperation of Botswana Worlds and IDEA, are organizing the Worlds Debate Forum. It will take place immediately after Botswana Worlds, from the 4th to 7th of January. It will be held at a hotel or resort close to the University of Botswana.

What we want to do

Create opportunities for people who want to do more debate and more than debate. The goal is not to run an academic conference and the emphasis is not on publications or journals. The idea is to make easy for people to share ideas, find other people who are interested in the same ideas. To dedicate time to solving problems and finding people who can help you solve problems.

The goals of this forum are

• To bring together people of different backgrounds who are relevant to each other – for example NGOs using debate to teach and teachers who have used debate in similar environments, or 3 or 4 organizations with similar goals who can then put together a joint proposal for funding
• To create opportunities for debaters to be exposed to other aspects of debate – for example how debate is being used by advocacy groups and civil society organizations, to increase the sharing of information and resources.
• To dedicate time and resources towards improving debate as a competitive activity - for adjudicators to thrash out training guides and teaching philosophies, tabbers to run simulations and extrapolations, for us to share best practices and determine common guidelines. There isn’t enough time to do this at Worlds, yet it’s obvious there needs a space for this to ensure Worlds evolves.
• To expose people doing debate work outside the WUDC community to the WUDC community – having the forum immediately after Worlds we hope will encourage debate educators, advocacy groups and potential funders to participate at least in the tail end of Worlds.