The UC3M wins the 8th edition of the Spanish University Debate League
A UC3M student was selected as the competition’s best speaker
9/29/20
The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) has won the 8th edition of the Spanish University Debate League (LEDU, in its Spanish acronym), which took place online on Sunday, September 27th. In front of a judging panel chaired by Albert Rivera, the UC3M faced the University of Zaragoza in the final and they debated the question: Are appropriate measures being taken to achieve the objectives of the 2050 climate change strategy?
In response to the circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s competition took place in a virtual environment and was streamed online. The winning team from the UC3M won €6,000, while the other finalist from the University of Zaragoza received €3,000.
A member of the UC3M team, Adrián Fernández Rivas, a 5th year student in Law and Political Science, was named as the best speaker at the LEDU (Spanish University Debate League). The other members of the UC3M team were Nazaret González Terradillos (3rd year in Law and International Studies), Miguel Matellanes Muruzabal (2nd year in Law and Political Science), and Rubén Vergara Gallego (3rd year in Political Science and Sociology).
The captain of the UC3M team, Álvaro de la Torre, said that "we are delighted with the result and incredibly grateful to the LEDU organisers for making this year’s competition possible as well as highlighting the importance of academic debate at university. It has been a great competition and we are extremely happy to have come out on top against some of other Spanish prestigious and top-performing universities. The positive result demonstrates the quality of our university’s students and, in particular, the level of preparation and performance we achieved in the academic debate.”
He also said, “Academic debate is a unique university discipline that develops the many essential skills which enable students to face their future as professionals. These skills include oratory ability, public presentation, reasoned argument, self-confidence, critical thinking, the ability to analyse and prioritise information, as well as prioritising teamwork and collaboration over competition."
The final debate was overseen by a team of judges chaired by Albert Rivera, a competition winner in 2001 with Universitat Ramón Llull, and the current chief executive at the Martinez-Echevarría & Rivera Abogados law firm. The rest of the judging panel included: Theresa Zabell, president of ECOMAR and double Olympic gold medallist; Ignacio Sevillano, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Spain, Portugal and Morocco; María García de la Fuente, president of the Association of Environmental Journalists; Javier Goyeneche, president of ECOALF; Rosa María Yagüe, communications director at Coca-Cola European Partners; Esther Gimenez-Salinas, non-executive director at Santander and former president of Universitat Ramón Llull; Daniel Romero-Abreu, president and founder of Thinking Heads; Itxaso Larrañaga, director of personnel and RSC at SEUR; Alberto González Pascual, director of Talent and Training at PRISA; José Luis Risco, HR director at EY; Natalia Moreno, director of Global Institutional Relations at Telefonica; Carmen Fernández, Brand and Communication director at EDP Spain; Ángeles Férriz, LEDU judge and a member of the Andalusian parliament; Francisco Carrillo, LEDU judge and a member of the Andalusian parliament; Augusto Cobos, LEDU judge and territorial delegate in Valladolid, at the Castile and León regional government and Sara Güemes, LEDU judge and project coordinator at SEO BirdLife and Ecoembes.
“We are proud of the effort made by every team in making this year’s event possible under the difficult circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The art of debate has shown its ability to rise above the pandemic which has meant we have been able to enjoy some excellent debates. Our university students have demonstrated high levels of participation, work, knowledge, and awareness when it comes to climate change,” said Alfonso Rodríguez de Sadia, general manager of the LEDU.
The LEDU is organized by Abdera Debate, with the support of Thinking Heads, and Smurfit Kappa as the principal sponsors along with Ecoalf, the law firm Martínez-Echevarría Abogados, Coca-Cola and SEUR. The LEDU also works in partnership with AverMedia, the Association of Environmental Journalists (APIA), Ecoembes and Fundación Ecomar. The universities participating in this competition, along with the UC3M and Zaragoza, were Cantabria, Deusto, Europea Miguel de Cervantes, Extremadura, Francisco de Vitoria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Loyola, Basque Country UPV/EHU, Pontificia Comillas, Ramón Llull, Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela and Seville.
A recording of the Spanish University Debate League final can be accessed via web
