Who are we?
We’re a group dedicated to creating a debating culture in Denmark. Danish Debate Association started out in 2016 as the Nordic Schools Debating Championship. We brought over 200 high school students from all over the world to compete in an annual tournament, which has since become second Europe’s largest.
Danish Debate Association exists to create and facilitate a debating culture in Denmark.
We want to see students in most Danish schools and universities have access to and participate it in debate training, practice, and competition.
- 20+ volunteers
- Former National Debate Team members
- University students in Copenhagen, Oxford, London, and Cambridge
Today, many of our volunteers are former members of the Danish National Debate Team.
But what brings all of us together as a non-profit organisation is our appreciation for the value of learning to debate well—critical thinking, intellectual humility, structured thought, public speaking, effective teamwork, friendship, and more.
This is why we consider it a missed opportunity that Denmark lacks broad awareness of competitive debating. So, since 2018, we’ve been working on changing that.
Our Board
Jonas No Sjølund
Co-founder & Chair
Athanasios Christakos
Vice-Chair
Sami Petersen
Treasurer
Johan Riis Jeanniot
Head of Events
Malthe Kjærsgaard Larsen
Head of Training
Emmeli Rose Adler
Head of Social Media
Shaunak Sarker
Head of Copenhagen Debate Society Partnership
Jonas No Sjølund
Jonas is a former assistant coach of the Danish national team, where he was in charge of coaching the development team. Jonas is a renowned judge, both at the high school and university level: several international tournaments have flown him in to judge their tournaments and give feedback to debaters.
Day-to-day Jonas studies law at the University of Copenhagen.
“In Denmark, we are great at asking the students to critically assess issues, but if they don’t have an understanding of the other side of the issue, the discussion will inevitably hit a dead end. I believe that debate enables students to access the next level of critical thinking.“
Athanasios Christakos
Nas is an MSc student in CBS, studying Service Management, and a student assistant in SimCorp’s Education Services. He holds an MSc in Managing People, Knowledge and Change from Lund University, and a BSc in Economics and Management from the University of Strathclyde. He has been debating since high school, and for the past 10 years been involved with many different debating initiatives and organizations, including teaching for the ESU, helping societies in Greece and Sweden, and more.
“When we debate we simultaneouslytest the validity of our opponents’ and our own arguments. Doing that, while at the same time having fun is something that no other acitivty offers”
Sami Petersen
Sami began debating when he was selected for the Danish National Team. Since then, he has taught students from around Copenhagen and helped Denmark reach the quarter-finals of Harvard University’s annual tournament, before being awarded Best EFL Speaker at the World Championship in 2019.
Sami is now a student at the London School of Economics, studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
“By debating, you learn to see why not all arguments are equal. At the very least, you learn to hold more plausible views and articulate them well—something I’d love politicians and their voters alike to do a bit better.”
Johan Riis Jeanniot
Johan began debating with the Junior National Team in the beginning 2018, and in the summer of the same year, he joined DDA as a volunteer. Since then, he has been an active member of the events team and was co-head organizer at both DDA Novice Tournament 2018 and NSDC 2019 and main organizer at NSDC 2020.
Johan is now studying International Relations and Chinese at the London School of Economics.
“Debating is an extremely helpful tool; both for getting heard and understood, and or evaluating one’s own biases”
Malthe Kjærsgaard Larsen
Malthe has two years of experience as a debater and three as a coach. As a coach, he took the team of his former high school to different tournaments, both domestic and abroad.
Malthe studies political science at the University of Copenhagen. Before his studies, he worked in the school world, where he coordinated workshops about everything from exam techniques to the environment.
“We are very rarely 100% right – debate can help us realize why.”
Emmeli Rose Adler
Emmeli has been part of DDA since its very foundation. Emmeli is an avid judge and has judged the European University Debate Championships. Her most significant contribution to DDA is her organisational skills, which she has proven by organising several tournaments and by her commitment to establish strong social ties in the DDA community, i.e., through Christmas parties, regular social events for our beloved members, and during the pandemic; online events.
Emmeli is studying Business Administration, Market Dynamics and Cultural Analysis, and alongside her studies, she works in Saxo Banks legal department.
“I believe I have learned more about global politics and rhetoric by debating that I ever did in social science or English. In my opinion, it should be mandatory for all students to be trained in speaking the matters of their hearts constructively and fruitfully”
Shaunark Sarker
Shaun Sarker began debating in university with the Copenhagen Debating Society, since then he has been the Vice President of CDS and is one of the representatives of the society to the European Debate Championship.
Currently he is a Second-Year Bachelors Student at Copenhagen Business School
“Debating is the most mentally helpful addicting activity I’ve gotten interested in. It’s a sport that sharpens many key aspects of everyday life, personally and professionally.”