On the first day of the seminar the debate club made its return. This year the main topic of the debate was to ask whether the European Union is indeed an opportunity or can have a positive effect in tackling climate change – a discussion about the looming threat of climate change and the European Union’s role in stopping it. Many representatives from the various different countries shared heartfelt speeches on its causes, how to stop it, and who is responsible, backed by well-thought out arguments, facts and statistics.
This comes right in the midst of a political wave of demonstrations against climate change that have been taking place all around Europe and the world, so this year debate topic is found to be pretty accurate and of general interest for the youth.
The speeches were given in a certain order, a candidate who believed in the EU being able to tackle climate change would present his or her thoughts aiming to convince the public, then a member of the opposition would come next, trying if possible to backfire using the previous speaker’s arguments.
Even if some of them did start with catchphrases, willing to have a great, dramatic impact on the people (e.g. reminding us all we are going to die anyway), the speakers based themselves on objective data and they chose different ways of expression, which made the debate pretty easy to follow, even if the most part of the public were not necessarily experts on the matter.
“…we have to accept that the climate change is not going to disappear and that it’s unstoppable, so money should be invested in infrastructure instead of measures to slow it down somehow. This way, the investment will help the population directly, as floods have incremented (…)” – an excerpt from one of the speeches
After all the speeches had been presented, the students were allowed to discuss and debate the topic with each other, asking questions and providing counter arguments, by approaching the speaker whose speech they would like to argue and talking with them, enriching us all with opinions, or facts that had not been covered in the debate. Although there were ten main characters of this event, everyone got to add their own part to it.
The event was generally well-received by students and teachers alike and it surely has been a topic present in conversations during our stay in St. Marienthal.
“The speeches sounded very well-prepared and professional. The speakers were really great. You could hear emotions in their voices, and it felt really genuine.” – a student from the audience
“It was… impressive. They were well thought-out, well-prepared and well-executed. The students were very verbal and expressive.” – a teacher from the audience
“I do think it is a good idea, it’s really interesting as a concept, I believe this topic is something that concerns all of us. I personally think I lacked a certain guide to base my speech upon. Whereas many of us do have a strong opinion about such a debatable topic, some do need preparation. But overall, I enjoyed being in front of the public and speak my mind, I believe climate change is a major concern and I’m glad I’ve been granted this opportunity.” – one of the speakers.
To conclude, it was a mind-opening event for most and we hope that it will return to the seminar for many more years to come, with more astonishing speeches to listen to and more interesting topics to discuss.
