TALLINN, ESTONIA — I had the good fortune to be able to travel to the International Debate Education Association (IDEA) general assembly and academic conference this fall. The meetings, held in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, were attended by dozens of national debate programs from around the world. The representative from the United States? The Baltimore Urban Debate League.

IDEA represents a network of ever expanding debate programs in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North and South America. The BUDL has been a voting member for the past three years and has actively participated in IDEA events for more than five.

The general assembly meeting started with elections, where yours truly was re-elected to the governing board. We then moved on to several important issues, including progress on standards that provide the groundwork for an accreditation that will allow members (including BUDL) to earn international credibility on review from expert accreditors. IDEA also launched a new website, which includes a new “debate tracker” system where debaters can see how they stack up against other debaters from around the world. Debaters will also soon be able to use the website to debate against each other over the internet (using software including Skype and AIM), bringing more debaters closer than ever before.

At the academic conference, I got the chance to share best practices with colleagues from as nearby as the middle school debate coordinators from California, and as far away as Slovenia and Hong Kong. It was energizing to see such good and familiar work happening in so many different places. There is much that we can learn from each other. I am happy that the BUDL can share and benefit from this powerful network.