Theme: What makes us human

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

European School of Brussels 3's Theater
Boulevard du Triomphe 135
Brussels, Bruxelles-Capitale, Région de (fr), Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (nl), 1050
Belgium

Aikaterini Lefka

Philosophy Teacher - European School of Brussels III

Being a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens, I obtained my Master’s degree and my PhD in philosophy and letters at the University of Liège. After a first post-doctoral research at the University of Luxembourg, I continue in a second research, which compares the ancient and modern theories on the «good life» for the citizens of a European democracy. In parallel, I am a member of international and interdisciplinary research groups, as well as of scientific associations, dedicated to subjects of my interests. I am a part-time lecturer at the University of Liège and a part-time teacher of philosophical and philological courses, in three languages, at the European School Brussels III. In my presentation, I propose to discuss some of the multiple aspects of the controversial philosophical question “What makes us human?”, insisting on the complexity and the uniqueness of every person, as well as on our common qualities.

Anastasia Papangelou

Environmental Engineer

I am an environmental engineer with a devotion to toilets and organic waste. Before coming to Belgium to start my PhD at KU Leuven, I worked on people’s poop in Switzerland, Egypt, Germany, and Namibia. I now study nutrient flows in Brussels and in Belgium, and assess different ways of returning the nutrients in our organic waste (and poop!) back to the soil, instead of burying them in landfills and losing them forever. I also do improvisational theatre, I write and tell stories, and I’ve co-created a children’s book on sustainability and hope, together with a bunch of colleagues from the SUSPLACE project. My biggest dream is to make the world a fairer and happier place and one day to become a clown.

Detlef Jannes

Academic researcher and entrepreneur

Performing doctoral studies at the University of Stuttgart while working as a European researcher funded by the European Commission. Dedicated on engineering of sustainable solutions for society with rising innovation developments.

Elin Herlaar Masina

Student - European School of Brussels IV

Elin Herlaar Masina is a student at the European School of Brussels IV. She considers herself to be a feminist and an ecologist. Learning about anything is a great passion of hers – ranging from art in the 18th century to the influence of breastfeeding on the development of a child. This is why she was delighted to be a part of a TEDx event.

Emanuel Fridrich

Student - European School of Brussels IV

My name is Emanuel Fridrich, I am European, a S6 student from EEB4, and I am currently struggling to write something about myself. There are just too many things that restrict me when trying to write a paragraph about myself. I am a little perfectionistic which makes me seem as an expert in building restrictions in my head that aren’t actually there. Yet, we all build these restrictions for ourselves. We feel restricted by our surroundings or our very selves, not just in some situations like in this one, but during our entire lives. Every day, we respect cultural, social and legal norms. We begin presenting ourselves by writing our name, our nationality, the things that we are passionate about. Yet, this restriction isn’t actually there. It is just a fiction that most humans tend to respect. Most animals wouldn’t just invent limitations on top of the ones that already exist - except we humans are the animals that do.

Emilie Janson

Life Coach

Emilie is very passionate about the mind and body connection and the healing power which resides in us humans. Having experienced several life challenges, she had a realisation and discovered the deeper message and meaning behind the behavioural impact of these traumatic events which happened in her life. This has propelled her to create a real, practical passion about mind and body. Emilie helps others to use their own challenges as stepping stones so that they can live a life more aligned with themselves. She shares her empowering journey from being a worrier, worrying about everything, to becoming a warrior. Emilie believes that things happen for a reason. In this talk, she explains how you can tackle worry to help you live a more fulfilling life.

Floriane Jacquin

Student - European School of Brussels III

Je m’appelle Floriane Jacquin et je suis en S6 dans la section francophone. Le thème de cette année m’a beaucoup intéressée, j’ai donc voulu l’aborder avec un phénomène de société. Je voudrais vous parler de la façon dont se forme le jugement sur les autres. Je ne vous apprends rien : les préjugés et les stéréotypes sont bien présents autour de nous et, ne le niez pas, ils sont aussi présents dans votre propre comportement - que vous le souhaitiez ou non. A l’heure actuelle, ces jugements et opinions sont très souvent influencés par les séries et les films que nous voyons. Mais quels stéréotypes ces films et séries véhiculent-ils au juste ?

Iker Lopez Sarria

Student - European School of Brussels III

Je m’appelle Iker Lopez Sarria et je suis en 6eme secondaire. D’origine basque, je vis à Bruxelles depuis petit et je parle couramment français, espagnol et anglais. Je suis une personne sociale et curieuse, qui s’interroge toujours sur le «pourquoi» des choses. La question «What makes us human ? » est intéressante car elle nous permet de revenir aux racines de l’existence de l’Homme et qu’est-ce qui nous rend spéciaux parmi les espèces.

Ioannis Theocharopoulos

Physics Teacher - European School of Brussels III

Physics Teacher currently teaching Physics, Physics Lab and STEM at the European School Brussels 3. Holds a BSc in Physics, an Executive MBA and a PhD in informatics. He has taught for 25 years in many institutions including vocational schools, University, and adult learning environments. His main interests revolve around Technology, Cybernetics and Computation.

Jorge Corral Acero

PhD student - University of Oxford

Jorge Corral Acero is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Oxford, using a combination of artificial intelligence and computational heart models to predict cardiovascular disease. He has studied at the University of Valladolid, Imperial College London, UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical School, winning several scholarships, awards and scientific challenges thanks to his work in chemical engineering, neuro-engineering and medical imaging. However, Jorge often still wonders about what to do next. ‘Welcome to the grey zone’ is the metaphor he uses to introduce the human world of doubts, the future and the fear of making decisions.

Julia Angelini

Student - European School of Brussels III

Je m’appelle Julia Angelini et j’ai 15 ans. Née à Bruxelles, de parents italo-moldaves, j’ai toujours été plongée dans des univers plutôt différents - avec leurs diversités en langues et cultures. Comme la plupart, si pas l’entièreté, de ceux provenant de milieux multiculturels, on m’a souvent demandé si je ne me sentais pas perdue. J’ai toujours trouvé cette question étrange car je ne ressentais pas le besoin de m’identifier à un seul des aspects de mon identité – comme chacun d’entre nous, j’existais entre. Le thème “What makes us human?” m’intéresse donc particulièrement, car je pense que notre souci moderne de vouloir constamment nous définir nous empêche de découvrir ce qui nous rend, à mon sens, véritablement humains: nos émotions.

Katrien Kolenberg

Astronomy & Astrophysics Professor - KU Leuven

Katrien Kolenberg's work lies in the interstices of scientific exploration and artistic expression. After obtaining her PhD in astrophysics at the KU Leuven, she did research at the University of Vienna and at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Currently she is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Antwerp and the Free University of Brussels, STE(A)M Coordinator at the KU Leuven, while making frequent excursions into art and creation. She uses astronomy as a tool for global development and art as a way to touch upon the human condition in a cosmic perspective.

Lena Slachmuijlder

Senior Vice President for Programs - Search for Common Ground

Lena Slachmuijlder is the Senior Vice President for Programs at Search for Common Ground, the world’s largest peacebuilding organization. For the last 30 years she worked for peaceful social change, including living and working in Africa for 21 years as a journalist, editor, producer, musician and cultural facilitator. Over the 18 years of her career at Search for Common Ground, she has trained hundreds of journalists, artists and peacebuilders on all continents, and has innovated creative approaches to building peace including reality TV participatory theater, mobile cinema and radio game shows. While heading Search’s program in the DR Congo, Lena pioneered work with the Congolese army and police, contributing to a reduction in crimes against civilians. While in Burundi, she produced an award-winning documentary about Burundi’s “Heroes’. Lena is a graduate of Stanford University, an alumni of the Amsterdam THNK School for Creative Leadership, and a past Fellow at Brandeis University.

Lucas Hecht

Student - European School of Brussels IV

Lucas Hecht is a student at the European School of Brussels IV. It has been a life-long for him to be a TEDx-host. Apart from that, he is interested in contrasting his own thoughts and opinions with others'.

Radomira Houskova

Physics Teacher - European School of Brussels III

Hello, my name is Radomíra Houšková. I have been a teacher of physics in the Czech language here at the European School of Brussels III for the past 3.5 years. I was invited to give a speech at this year’s event by one of my students who forms part of the organising team. As I have always enjoyed passing my experiences on to my students, I was delighted to accept the invitation. I look forward to hearing all the different approaches from my fellow speakers!

Sascha Leib

Organizer and main author of ad.hominem.info, a German-language blog on logical and rhetoric fallacies.

.

Wolfgang Lutz

Founding Director of the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital

Wolfgang Lutz is Founding Director of the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, a cooperation between IIASA (where he directs the World Population Program), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (where he is scientific director of the Vienna Institute of Demography), and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (where he is Professor of Applied Statistics). He holds a PhD in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania. He has published widely on international population trends, with a special focus on population forecasting, population-development-environment interactions and introducing education as a standard demographic dimension in addition to age and sex. He has won prestigious awards including the Wittgenstein Prize, two ERC Advanced Grants, the Mattei Dogan award of the IUSSP and the Mindel C. Sheps Award of PAA.