APPLY NOW until: https://forms.gle/ecnGeZTDgpJ26xKq5
Lead & Debate Academy (LDA) trains and empowers around 150 Arab and German young leaders from 4 countries/regions to become future political leaders – totally free due to the generous funding of Auswärtiges Amt!
We, the elda, are more than ever convinced that a peaceful future is only possible through empowerment and inclusion of pluralistically inspired young leaders and the strengthening of democratic change in societies.
The participants are young leaders or would be leaders from Lebanon, Jordan, Palestinian territories and young leaders from Germany (age: 18-29) who want to drive democratic change in Middle Eastern societies by engaging democratically. We empower, activate and connect Arab young leaders with like-minded young leaders from Germany.
The program consists of three phases, starting with 6 online masterclasses in a a digital summer school, then continuing with live trainings in Lebanon, Jordan and Germany and ending with a final networking week in Berlin and a public debate event. The participants will not only learn and enhance their communication and leadership skills but also develop their own digital video formats to further visualize their topics on social media.
Masterclasses:
Tuesday, 16. July 6 – 9 pm Kick Off & MC 1: The role of youth in peace making and democratic social change & networking
Tuesday, 23. July 6 - 9 pm MC 2: Advocacy & Policy Making in MENA
Thursday, 25. July 6 – 9 pm MC 3: Storytelling & Rhetorics: the perfect speech
Tuesday, 30. July 6 – 9 pm MC 4: Create followers: Social Media and PR
Thursday, 8. August 6 – 9 pm MC 5: How to debate: winning every argument
Tuesday, 13. August 6 – 9 pm Kick Out & MC 6: Self-Empowerment & Leadership / Female Leadership
Deadline for applications for phase 2: Tuesday, 06. August
Hand in your own video (up tp 2 min) with a speech on a topic for young adults that needs to be discussed!
Phase 2: Live Trainings
Berlin: 9. – 11.09.2024 > for German participants
Beirut: 16. – 18.09.2024* > for Lebanese participants
Amman: 19. – 21.09.2024* > for Palestinian and Jordanian participants
In Phase II, the selected participants (up to a maximum of 20) will be trained in presence, with a team in Germany and a team in Lebanon and Jordan. The aim is to train the participants to present their own topics convincingly and coherently in front of the camera and to develop their own social media formats for publication. This enables the project to have a wide media reach. Furthermore, it creates digital meeting places for joint exchange and democratic discourse. Once the videos have been published, 50% of the decision to take part in the final phase will be made by a jury based on predefined criteria (reach of the video, quality of the content, digital preparation, storytelling, promotion concept, etc.) and 50% by the likes received. In this way, we want to ensure that the content reaches the target group outside of the participants as widely as possible. The creators of the selected clips (up to 10 participants) will be invited to Phase III of the project as finalists.
Phase 3: Final Week | Berlin | 2.12.2024 - 6.12.2024
In the final seminar of Phase III, the finalists - from the MENA region and Germany - will meet in Berlin. In Berlin, they will receive targeted individual support in coaching sessions, take part in networking events with German politics, media, administration, business and non-profits, and compete in a public debate format at a festive closing event. Here, they are allowed to present a topic of their own choice that particularly addresses the issue of political participation of young people and/or offers an innovative solution. In a moderated debate, their arguments must be presented convincingly and coherently to a public audience. A jury ultimately decides on the winners.
The participants are encouraged to document and publish this phase. Professional documentation and publication will also be organized.