SSE Riga & LMT Debate Society
One of the oldest student organisations of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and the oldest debating society in the Baltics, currently generously supported by Latvijas Mobilais Telefons, the SSE Riga & LMT Debate Society was founded shortly after the foundation of the university in 1994. Over more than ten years of its existence, it has evolved from being an occasional get-together of students interested in current affairs to an organised society of people with a professional attitude towards debating. All members share its common vision: to be a well-established leader in the Baltic debating arena with a Europe-wide reputation for excellence.
Our activities fall into four major areas that reflect our mission.
Public Debates
- To encourage interest in global issues among members of the Society, other students of SSE Riga and the wider public.
We are pleased that the public debates we hold either on our own or in close co-operation with SSE Riga receive a great deal of attention from the students and faculty of the university, as well as many people in politics, business, the diplomatic corps, and media. The topics of these debates range from education and social policy to global peace and security. The last year’s public debate on the freedom of speech and Latvian legislation received huge media exposure and made it to the top #1 news on the Latvian informative portal www.apollo.lv .
Competitive Debate
- To create opportunities for members of the Society to compete successfully at top-level debate tournaments globally.
Members of the Society actively take part in various debate competitions across the world, including the European and the World Championships, Oxford IV and Cambridge IV, as well as other prestigious competitions. Over the last years members of the Society managed to get to the ESL final at WUDC 2007 in Vancouver, break to the main break at Oxford IV 2008, win the ESL final at Cambridge IV 2008, get to the list of top ESL speakers at EUDC 2009, and become the champions of the WODC 2009.
Debate and Communication Training
- To deliver communication training of exceptional quality to members of the Society.
Besides providing a solid basis for public and competitive debate, debate and communication training is intended as a significant contribution to the personal development of the members and the wider public. The success of our training is illustrated by the fact that two thirds of all members speaking for SSE Riga in international competitions have started debating and have mostly been trained within the Society.
The SSE Riga Intervarsity Competition
- To offer fine debating and social experience to university students through the annual SSE Riga & LMT IV.
The Society is well known for hosting the oldest and arguably the most prestigious debating competition in the Central and Eastern Europe. The tournament regularly attracts excellent debaters from the Europe and beyond and enjoys substantial media attention.