Theme: Climate Countdown to no return

From the overview effect towards a healthy future of digitism, from playing in VR towards travelling more sustainable and taking action locally to further shape a healthy future. We hope you took the ideas of our first line-up of speakers with you and feel free to connect to them to work towards a healthy future together.

Countdown is a global initiative to raise awareness in solving global challenges. Countdown organizes an event in October where leading thinkers and doers discuss about a healthy, abundant, zero-emission future. These new examples of real progress, ideas and powerful reasons show why the period after the Corona crisis is the time to – Take Action.

This Countdown event brings together leaders from various businesses, the financial sector, government, local communities, science, art and philanthropy together. Countdown sets several projects and partnerships with the aim: to build a better future by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases by 2030 in the race for a CO2-free world – a world that is safe cleaner and fairer for everyone.

We can change climate change – #JoinTheCountdown to a safer, cleaner one and fairer future. Countdown invites cooperation from any organization, company, city, country and citizen from all over the globe. It is a movement that is accessible to everyone – and everyone has a crucial role to play.

On October 10, we made history by delivering the platform for the first TEDx Talks in Virtual Reality.

Hogeschool van Arnhem Nijmegen
Laan van scheut 10
Nijmegen, Gelderland, 6525EM
Netherlands

Anouk Brinker

Young Professional & Coordinator Education and Events

As a student at the HAN University of Applied Sciences I work at the HAN Green Office in Nijmegen. For the past 1,5 year we as a Green Office have been working on making our University a more sustainable place by developing educational programmes, supporting student projects and creating more awareness on the subject. By doing so we have now grown into one of the biggest Green Offices in the Netherlands. You may wonder, how did we become so big, so fast? One very simple answer: we created a new message for sustainability, one of hope and opportunity. A message where everyone can identify with and everyone wants to work for. We want to leave behind the conservative take on sustainability and move forward with a new progressive approach to sustainability. Let’s leave no one behind.

Chiara Moenter

Spacefluencer

Chiara Moenter is a 21-year-old student of project and change management at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, as well as a co-founder of the “SDG 18: Space for All” initiative. Her interest in space began with the Overview Effect, to bring the topic of space closer to people and create a collective sense of responsibility. She wants to strive for an interdisciplinary approach – by collectively working on space protection bringing together different skills, a change can be created. In her TedTalk, Chiara will talk about the creation of “SDG 18 – Space for All” and its goal, how strongly space and sustainability are interlinked, and how important it is for all of us to realise that we are not separated, but we are part of a bigger system!

Freek Teunen

VR-expert

Freek Teunen explores how virtual reality can be utilized to help climate change. The past 30 years we have all seen the shocking statistics about climate change and the video’s of climate disasters. A large group of people has changed their own behaviour, but not everyone. Freek thinks there is no such thing as a ‘life changing statistic’, so we should start finding other methods to urge people to become more sustainable. He suggests that virtual reality could offer life changing experiences to people that might change their behaviour and attitude positively. He shares his findings of recent studies conducted in this area and tells us how to design an effective virtual reality experience. Freek also warns what the ethical implications could be of such an application.

Igor Beuker

Speaker, Futurist, Social Entrepreneur

In the spotlight, Igor Beuker is an international marketing innovation speaker known for his radical vision of trends and technologies that impact business, the economy and society. Behind the scenes, Igor is a 5-exits serial entrepreneur and angel investor in 24 social startups, award-winning marketing strategist for brands like Amazon, L’Oréal, Nike and Unilever, and futurist for Fortune 500s, World Economic Forum and the European Union. Igor is driven to help solve the world’s greatest challenges through social innovation.

Mark van Rijmenam

Speaker on AI, Blockchain, Big Data & the Future of Work

The story of Digitalism explains the future as a struggle for data among companies and (certain) governments trying to collect as much data as possible and citizens trying to protect their data and privacy. Digitalism envisions a world where data is the most important resource in society. It thrives on capitalism and depending on the role of the government either enables mass surveillance (whether state or company surveillance) or aims to empower its citizens. Regardless of the direction, Digitalism enables a winner takes all mentality and we need to make sure we can direct it in the right way to prevent being flooded with misinformation and inequality. If we manage it will enable us to democratize the fight against climate change and make a more equal society.

Nick van Breda

Serial Social Entrepreneur

Since 2014, Nick has been coaching the young and old through entrepreneurial programs and hackathons that give people the opportunity to quickly come into contact with people who believe in the power of creation so that they no longer have to hide in videogames or boring jobs. The urge to help other people arose from a personal transition in 2012 that Nick had previously spoken about in two TEDxYouth editions. He is currently working hard on elevating the event industry with hybrid and digital events to give 3D to 7D digital experiences to reach event targets that normally would be tagged of physically. New tech such as XR is broadly incorporated in these events and spark peoples creativity.

Rene Donders

Artist, Painter & Art Teacher

René Donders, started as an Artist and Painter, and was invited to join the HAN University of applied science as an Art Teacher. During the years, he kept fighting for the importance of personal growth and the human aspect in education. In his view, schools should become a kind of home and a playground by being efficient and the best; not a Neoliberal company focusing on making profit. By maintaining this focus, he developed student challenging symposia; and through studying a master course in art education, he researched and brought to light the impact of art performance on personal development in education. In recent years, his interest in doing something against climate change and his support of the Sustainable Development Goals, teamed up in these efforts for personal development. It is from the urgent call of a countdown to no return in this Virtual TEDx event, that he will speak to you about facing discomfort and how this will free you to do the necessary.

Yuri van Geest

Systemic Transformation (alpha, gamma, beta; Third Culture embodied in practice)

In the last 25 years I have been active in the Technology (Beta) domain with 10 years active within Singularity University. In the last 8 years I moved increasingly to Organizations and Economics (Gamma) due to my bestselling book Exponential Organizations. I noticed some gaps in the reasoning within both the Technology and Economics domains. There was a lack of awareness of the increasing importance and urgency of the more human and liberal arts (Alpha) aspects in the world. Exponential technologies and organizations can only create a better world when deeply embedded in human and ecological awareness and principles. This is also my personal journey. I realized in the last 4 years I had neglected the key value and relevance of personal transformation, ethics, self awareness, art in broad terms, spirituality, nature and the value of ancient wisdom. As such and also related to emerging technologies and new organizational models.