Theme: Utopia

By definition, Utopia is ‘an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect’ (Oxford University Press, 2018). During the evening, attendees will be challenged to think if such a state of things can be reached or if, indeed, it is only an imagined place. The TEDx talks will give insights in various topics connected to Utopia in order to give knowledge and trigger the attendees’ thinking and perspectives of the world. During interactive parts, the attendees can exchange opinions, discuss various problems and try to find out whether Utopia is possible or not. The goal of the event is to make attendees think about the impact of our lifestyle on the world.

Academy for Leisure
Archimedesstraat 17
Breda, Noord-Brabant, 4816 BA
Netherlands

Anestis Amanatidis

Brand Strategist

Anestis Amanatidis is a digital strategist exploring the future role of brands in a world, in which every human is emotionally connected to a digital assistant: the platform, where brands come to life through the interface of conversation.

David Waterdrinker

Business Developer

Proving to be a true advocate of his surname, David works as a business developer for the Dutch water company Join the Pipe. His ambition is to give everyone in the world access to clean drinking water and to reduce the amounts of plastics in the ocean at the same time. During his talk he will reveal the true secrets of reaching utopia and discuss topics like personal mastery, plastic soup, and sustainable business models.

Elisah Pals

Founder Zero Waste Nederland

As a psychologist Elisah is inspired and interested in what drives people's behaviour, and, even more so, in how to influence that behaviour for the benefit of all of us. She has lived a Zero Waste lifestyle for 3,5 years now and leads the Zero Waste Nederland community with 10.000 followers. She is determined to make Zero Waste living attainable for all, and to lead is into a fully circular future

Jens Wilms

Founder of Filosofest

As the founder of TEDxTilburg & Filosofest, I have been trying to create a place where people can connect and share ideas. I believe that there is not one truth; the only thing somebody can do is sharing their perspective and be open-minded about others so that they can figure out what works for themselves.

Karimu Corbeek

Freelancer and yoga instructor

A multinational, third culture kid based in Breda. After studying imaginneering and business I decided the only way I could truly help the people I met was by sharing tools to support their wellbeing. Be it through Yoga, energetic therapy, or meditation I believe we all have to take responsibllity for our own wellbeing.

Lindsy Szilvasi

Innovation consultant

Lindsy Szilvasi started her career at Google in 2014 as Online Operations Specialist and Innovation Space Manager. Lindsy's passion is to inspire others to drive innovation and change with sustainable impact, and she continues to focus on this as an innovation consultant offering training programs in entrepreneurship and Design Thinking at the Dutch design.school STUDIO.WHY for young professionals, corporates, governmental organisations and education.

Marcel Bastiaansen

Senior lecturer and researcher in quantitative research methods

Dr. Marcel Bastiaansen has a background in Experimental Psychology and in Cognitive Neuroscience. He currently works as a senior researcher and lecturer at Breda University of Applied Sciences, where he leads Breda University’s Experience Lab. He is also a member of the Cognitive Neuropsychology Department at Tilburg University. His current work focuses on developing conceptual and methodological approaches to measuring (emotions in) leisure and tourism experiences.

Saskia Elisabeth Beer

Urban entrepreneur, strategic consultant, keynote speaker

Saskia Beer is a Dutch urban development entrepreneur and consultant. She founded Glamourmanifest, ZO!City and Transformcity. She was trained as an architect and worked for renowned Dutch and Japanese offices. In 2010 she lost her job in the crisis and decided to redefine her role by initiating local projects herself, setting up collaborations with all different stakeholders in order to transform existing urban areas. Her distinctive approach supported by a digital and physical toolkit won various international awards and her company is currently scaling internationally.