In early May 2019, more than 50 students from across Germany participated in the "European Youth Debating Competition" (EYDC; www.eydc.eu) in Frankfurt / Germany, and KI Group editor David Löh was one of the jury members – see Plasteurope.com of 22.05.2019. The topic was "Rethink, Reuse, Recycle: how would you shape a sustainable future with plastics and petrochemicals?" and to win, students needed to display public-speaking skills with well-informed arguments. They were also judged on their interactions with other students during the debate.

EYDC is organised by PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org) and the European Petrochemical Association (EPCA, Brussels; www.epca.eu). The two associations aim to make science and technology more tangible, accessible and directly connected to the debaters' everyday realities.

The European finals will take place on 7 October 2019 during the 53rd EPCA annual meeting in Berlin / Germany. There are five other national competitions in Belgium (a joint “Benelux Finals”), France, Italy, Poland and the UK. The 2019 EYDC national finals started on 26 March in Tarragona / Spain, where the jury selected six winners. The competition is open to students between 16 and 19 years old.