From 5 to 9 May 2026, the Erasmus+ project DebateCiti – Debate as an Informed Citizenship Practice held its third transnational mobility in Vilnius, Lithuania, hosted by Vilniaus Senvagės Gimnazija.

The meeting brought together teachers, students and project representatives from the partner countries — Italy, Lithuania, Slovenia and Belgium — for an intensive programme focused on one of the most important skills in debate and civic education: learning how to respond critically and constructively to opposing arguments.

After the previous project meetings dedicated to online research, fact-checking and argumentation, the Lithuanian mobility moved the learning pathway forward by concentrating on refutation, rebuttal, counterargument and debate practice. The central educational theme of the meeting was “Learning to refute”: not simply contradicting another speaker, but understanding how to listen carefully, identify the structure of an opposing argument, test its reasoning and respond with clarity, evidence and intellectual fairness.

A European learning experience in Vilnius

The programme opened at Vilniaus Senvagės Gimnazija, where participants were welcomed by the host school and introduced to the aims of the meeting. The activities were designed to combine theoretical input, practical workshops, group work and moments of cultural exchange.

The training sequence followed a clear progression. Participants first worked on mapping the argument, learning how to identify the main claim, reasons, evidence and logical links within a debate case. This first step was essential: effective refutation begins with accurate understanding. Before responding to an argument, students must be able to reconstruct it fairly and precisely.

The second workshop focused on refutation, rebuttal and negation strategies. Participants explored the difference between rejecting a claim, challenging the reasoning behind it, questioning the evidence used to support it, and offering an alternative interpretation. This distinction is crucial for debate education, because it helps students move beyond superficial disagreement and develop more rigorous forms of critical response.

The third workshop introduced mapping the counterargument and the use of Points of Information. Students and teachers worked on how to anticipate objections, organise counter-lines of reasoning and intervene effectively during a debate. This activity strengthened the connection between preparation, listening and real-time interaction.

The following sessions focused on debate format, speaker roles and assessment criteria, before concluding with debating practice. Participants had the opportunity to apply the tools developed during the workshops in practical debate activities, moving from analysis to performance and from theory to collaborative learning.

Debate as a practice of informed citizenship

The Lithuanian mobility confirmed one of the core ideas of DebateCiti: debate is not only a speaking activity. It is a method for educating informed, responsible and active citizens.

In democratic societies, young people need to learn how to engage with disagreement. They must be able to distinguish between a weak argument and a strong one, between evidence and unsupported opinion, between criticism and personal attack. The work carried out in Vilnius addressed these skills directly.

Through refutation and rebuttal, students learn that disagreement can be structured, respectful and productive. A good debate does not reward the loudest voice; it rewards careful listening, clear reasoning and the ability to respond to complexity. For this reason, the Lithuanian meeting was closely connected to the wider aims of the project: strengthening media literacy, civic participation, critical thinking and democratic dialogue.

International workshops and shared educational practice

The mobility involved participants from the four project partners:

• Vilniaus Senvagės Gimnazija, Lithuania;

• Hubruzzo – Fondazione Industria Responsabile, Italy;

• Srednja šola Josipa Jurčiča Ivančna Gorica, Slovenia;

• ASO Spijker, Belgium.

The international setting gave the workshops a strong European dimension. Teachers and students worked across different educational cultures and debate experiences, sharing methods, classroom practices and perspectives. This exchange is one of the distinctive strengths of the DebateCiti project: each mobility is not only a training event, but also a space where schools learn from one another and build common tools.

The Lithuanian programme also included cultural activities in Vilnius, including a visit to the Old Town and educational visits connected to civic memory and democratic awareness. These experiences strengthened the link between debate, citizenship and European values, placing the work on argumentation and refutation within a broader reflection on history, public life and active participation.

Progress on the DebateCiti Toolkit

During the project meeting held in Vilnius, partners reviewed the current state of project implementation and discussed the development of the DebateCiti eBook Toolkit.

The Toolkit is one of the main outputs of the project. It is designed as a practical resource for teachers, students and debate clubs, with activities that can be used in classrooms and non-formal educational settings. The work carried out during the transnational meetings directly contributes to its development: the workshops provide tested formats, exercises and methodological insights that can be transformed into reusable learning materials.

In Vilnius, partners agreed to continue collaborative editing through a shared online file, in order to keep the development of the Toolkit aligned with the project timeline. This decision reinforced the practical orientation of the project: the materials are not abstract documents, but tools shaped by real training experiences with teachers and students.

Debate Clubs and local impact

The meeting also confirmed the progress of the Debate Clubs in the partner schools. All participating schools have established regular debate club activities, using materials and methods developed through the transnational training events.

This is a significant result. The project does not end with international mobilities: each meeting generates practices that return to the schools and become part of ordinary educational work. Debate clubs allow students to continue practising research, argumentation, rebuttal, teamwork and public speaking after the mobility has ended.

The Italian debate clubs are also active in local and national debate contexts, contributing to the dissemination and sustainability of the project’s methods.

Dissemination and next steps

The partners also reviewed ongoing dissemination activities. Hubruzzo reported participation in an Erasmus event in Eger, Hungary, where DebateCiti was presented through a keynote on the role of debate in developing transversal skills. The partners agreed to continue documenting dissemination activities through a shared system, collecting links, materials and evidence from events organised in each country.

The Lithuanian meeting also prepared the next stage of the project: the final Transnational Project Meeting in Abruzzo, Italy, scheduled for 14–16 October 2026. This final meeting will bring together the results of the project and will continue the work of training, exchange and dissemination with the involvement of local associated schools.

A stronger European community of practice

The Vilnius mobility strengthened DebateCiti as a European community of practice. It connected teachers, students and project teams around a shared educational purpose: using debate to help young people think more clearly, respond more responsibly and participate more actively in democratic life.

By focusing on refutation and rebuttal, the Lithuanian meeting addressed a skill that is essential far beyond debate competitions. In public life, citizens are constantly exposed to claims, narratives, opinions and persuasive messages. Learning how to examine them, question them and respond to them is a central competence for informed citizenship.

The experience in Lithuania showed that debate can become a powerful bridge between media literacy, civic education and European cooperation. It helps students not only speak better, but also listen better, think better and participate better.