ICWiP Debate Summer Academy
ICWiP2013 Debate Summer Academy
SIEN Student International Exchange Network Foundation in co-operation
with the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, University of Pécs
ICWiP Debate Summer Academy
FINAL REPORT
The ICWiP Debate Summer Academy was a unique initiative both on the local and regional
levels and as a first-year debate event in the Transdanubian region. The topic of the first
Debate Summer Academy was “Culture and Diplomacy in Our Global World”. This central
theme was analysed in the form of lectures, cultural institute and embassy presentations, and a
constant flow of debates. The debate instructions were given in trainings and introduction
courses. The level of learning and debating was planned for novice, aiming to involve all
those, who wished to have a deeper insight into cultural diplomacy and British
Parliamentary Debating without deeper background knowledge or previous BDP
experience. We consider as priority of ICWiP the necessary skills development that
contributes to the development of a desired global knowledge-based society in general terms.
All those, who participated 90% of the lectures and trainings, received the summer school
certificate with 7 ECTS credits issued by the Faculty of Humanities, University of Pécs.
PROJECT PARTNERS
 “Borderless Europe” Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence University of Pécs, Hungary
 Foundation Open Society Institute
 Faculty of Humanities, University of Pécs, Hungary
 Department of Political Studies, Faculty of Humanities, UP , Hungary
 Student Council of Faculty of Humanities, UP, Hungary
 Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University Kraków, Poland
 Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia
 Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
 Faculty of Political Science and International Relations, Matej Bel University, Banska
Bystrica, Slovakia
 Odessa State Environmental University, Ukraine
 Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, Pécs, Hungary
 International Pécs Cultural Association
PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME
The invited lecturers and presenters were selected according to their research fields, with the
help of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence University of Pécs, the Faculty of Humanities
University of Pécs, our partner university, and the Jagiellonian University Kraków, Josip Juraj
Strossmayer University of Osijek:
Speakers of the summer school:
Dr. Grzegorz Pozarlik – Former deputy of the Jagiellonian University Institute of European Studies;
Dr. Zoltán Bretter, University of Pécs, Department of Political Studies;
Dr. Dávid Bőhm, Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
Dr. Helga Spanida, Faculty of Law, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia;
Katarzyna Sitko, Director of the Polish Institute Budapest;
Dmitri Tarakhovsky, Cultural Attaché of the US Embassy;
Jutta Gehrig, Director of the Goethe Institute;
ICWiP Debate Summer Academy
Claudio A. Giacomino, Ambassador of the Embassy of Argentina;
Ljiljana Pancirov, Consul of the Consulate of Croatia in Pécs;
András Farkas, Executive Director of the Youth@Cluj-Napoca 2015 programme;
Dr. Gergely Salát, Confucius Institute;
Kristóf Viola, Cultural Manager of the Collegium Hungaricum Vienna;
Dr. Borisz Végvári, Russian Centre Pécs;
Dr. Corina Andone, Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and
Rhetoric, Univeristy of Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
Joe Petersburger, NatGeo Award-winning Hungarian wildlife photographer;
Dr. Pál Hatos, Director of the Balassi Institute Hungary;
Mihály Baditz, Representative of the International Pécs.
Resumes and abstracts of the speakers can be found here: http://icwip.hu/?page_id=1158
The professional programme was divided into three parts: debate skill training, lectures,
cultural institute presentations. The very first meeting included team-building activities with
the moderation of the debate trainers. It was followed by the Debate Skills course trilogy. The
Debate Skills part introduced to the participants the debate in general, then, more specifically
the British Parliamentary Debate format, the problem identification and analysis, the
government strategy, the opposition strategy, and the structure and impact.
DEBATE TRAINING
Debate trainers were recommended by our partners and selected by SIEN Foundation and the
Jean Monnet Centre of Excellene, University of Pécs:
Dr. Maja Nenadovic lead debate trainer;
Timea Klebercz assistant debate trainer (Corvinus Univeristy);
Zsófia Murányi assistant debate trainer (Corvinus University);
Kristina Georgieva assistant debate trainer (CEU);
Alexander AJ Carver assistant debate trainer (CEU).
The trainers provided the professional help to the participants to get prepared for the closing
debate. Discussed topics were among others: exchange semester, cultural communication,
espionage, lingua franca, etc.
The Final Debate topic was:
THW send female diplomats to countries that don’t respect female rights…
The winners are Zsuzsanna Álmos, Univeristy of Pécs and Adrian Rusu from the European
Youth Capital 2015 Cluj project.
ICWiP Debate Summer Academy
LECTURES AND CULTURAL INSTITUTE PRESENTATIONS
The following topics were discussed and analyzed in details in the frame of lectures: The
EU’s post-modern Diplomacy in the Making – The Role of Cultural Diplomacy; Hungarian
Cultural Diplomacy; the Strategy Strategic Manoeuvring in Political Discourse; Public
Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy in the 21st Century; Human Rights Diplomacy.
The below listed cultural institutes and embassies held a presentation about their activities and
strategies in the world: Confucius Institute – The Soft Power Policy of China; US Embassy –
Cultural Diplomacy, Polish Institute in Budapest – Polish Institutes as One of the Pillars of
the Polish Cultural Diplomacy, Goethe Institute in Budapest – International Cultural
Institutes: Out-Dated Model or a Project for the Future, Cultural Diplomacy of the Russian
Centre, International Pécs introducing the cultural diplomacy activities of the city Pécs,
Embassy of Argentina – Cultural Diplomacy at the Foreign Service Institute of the Argentine
Republic, Croatian Consulate in Pécs – Public and Cultural Diplomacy – Codes for Opening
EU Doors?, Balassi Institute – Cultural Diplomacy Strategy, Cluj in 2015 – Cultural
Diplomacy of Cluj, Romania and the project of European Youth Capital.
VENUES
The lectures and debate skill courses were held in the Faculty of Humanities, University of
Pécs. The final debate took place in the conference hall of the Regional Library Knowledge
Centre, which is one of the newest and most visited places in Pécs. The cultural diplomacy
presentations were organized into the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter to grab the chance to
introduce this cultural pride of Hungary.
PARTICIPANTS
In 2013 49 participants arrived from 14 different countries: Ukraine, Italy, Croatia,
Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Romania, Russia,
Luxemburg, Bulgaria and the US. Most of the participants came from neighboring countries
and geographically close cities (Odessa State Environmental University, Christian Open
University of Economy and Humanitarian Sciences – Odessa, Ukraine; Josip Juraj
Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia; University of Turin, Italy; University of Pécs,
Faculty of Humanities, and Faculty of Law, Doctoral School, Hungary; University of
Wroclaw, Poland; Masaryk University of Brno, Charles University in Prague, Czech
Republic, Pan-European University “APEIRON”, Law College, Bosnia and Herzegovina;
North-Caucasus Federal University, Russia.
ICWiP Debate Summer Academy
ICWiP2013 participants came from:
CULTURAL PROGRAMME
In addition to the serious summer school elements, we designed off-programs to relax in an
inspiring and sufficiently educative way.
Tea House – The day of arrival was finished with a relaxing tea house organized in front of
the dorm, serving tea and listening to live guitar music by Balázs Lenthar local musician.
Movie Evening in the Apollo Art Cinema the popular Hungarian movie, the Kontroll by
Nimrod Antal was presented.
The Country Show was the most popular event during the entire summer school. There was
an introduction of nations – a gala of cultures. In the first part of the event,
every nationality could offer information, pictures, snacks and drinks to present their country,
then, via different performances participants presented glimpses of the cultural background,
heritage, and uniqueness.
Mecsek Night Tour: The historic downtown and the hidden parks were introduced to the
participants: the Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs, a UNESCO World Heritage site; the
Pasha Gazi Kasim’s Mosque, which is a symbol of Pécs. After the cultural tour we all
climbed up to the Mecsek by night with flashlights, meanwhile our guide was playing quiz
games with the groups.
Museum Night: Csontvary Museum and the local catacomb system were presented to the
participants.
ICWiP Debate Summer Academy
Planetarium: in the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, after the cultural institute presentations the day
was concluded with a 50-minute-long English-language presentation about the universe.
Cooking Contest: the ICWiP team guaranteed the ingredients for the groups, and the
participants had to prepare the dinner.
World Vision: the most talented participants gave a short introduction from their national
songs.
SUSTAINABILITY OF THE DEBATE SUMMER SCHOOL IN THE REGION
This region is lack of such debate initiatives and there is no exact forum yet, which could give
a sufficient platform for sophisticated clash of opinions. Budapest offers plenty of
opportunities in debate trainings and conferences, but there is still a hole in our region
concerning these debate programmes. After the success of the first DSA, we believe that the
region can be actively involved into shaping the local debate society. The increasing
interest of the local university students shows that this initiative is a ‘must to continue’! The
Pécs DSA is a unique regional initiative, which is just at the start of a greater project!
Our priority is to pay more attention to the future generation since the students’ future acts
and opinions related to national and world issues are essential and highly crucial in building a
democratic, just and peaceful society. According to our belief, the university plays an
important role to support and encourage the students to express their opinions, stand by it and
from time to time involve them in certain debate events.
Special thanks to the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, University of Pécs, because the help
they provided was essential and extremely significant during all phases of the organisation!