Ten teams will take part in the 14th University Debate League, organised by the Social Council, between 5th and 7th April.
The judging panel will be made up of ULPGC members, journalists and people with experience in public speaking, and experts on the debate topic.
Ten teams of ULPGC students – including a guest team from the Universidad Fernando Pessoa de Canarias – will participate in the 14th edition of the ULPGC University Debate League.
The teams will face each other from 5th to 7th April to debate the question: “Should the European Union develop its own defence system?”, with one team in favour and the other against. The question chosen for this edition, the advantage of which has been outlined by various European Union members, responds to the situation created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The debate league is organised by the ULPGC Social Council in cooperation with the Vice-rectorate for Students, Alumni and Employability. The 2020 and 2021 editions were unable to take place due to the situation brought about by Covid-19. The qualifying rounds, semi-finals, and grand final will be held in the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s Economics and Business Studies Building (Tafira University Campus).
The ten teams, which have 34 minutes to debate the topical issue, are as follows: ‘Odisea’, ‘Sócrates’, ‘Damocles’, ‘Atípico’, ‘Visto para sentencia’, ‘Gaia’, ‘Liber’, ‘Aliena’, ‘Famara’ (Escuela Universitaria de Lanzarote-ULPGC), and the guest team from the Universidad Fernando Pessoa de Canarias (Santa María de Guía).
The judging panel will be made up of ULPGC professionals, journalists and people with experience in public speaking, and experts on the debate topic. The winning team of the ULPGC University Debate League will receive 1,000 euros, the runners up will receive 500 euros, and the best speaker from the league – decided by the judging panel – will receive a 150 euro prize. Moreover, the winning team will represent the ULPGC in a national competition.
The 14th University Debate League will begin on Tuesday and Wednesday (5th and 6th April) with the qualifying rounds and quarter-finals. Thursday (7th April) will see the semi-finals (17:30), during which the teams to face each other in the grand final (19:00) will be decided. The final will be broadcast live on the ULPGC’s channels and will be open to the public in the Economics, Business, and Tourism Faculty’s auditorium (Tafira Campus).
The regional minister for education and universities, Manuela Armas, and regional minister for social rights, Noemí Santana, will attend the awards ceremony at 20:30, alongside the chairman of the ULPGC Social Council, Angel Tristán, and the rector, Lluís Serra Majem.