[music] [music] [applause] So, imagine you're scrolling through social media and you find the perfect picture of yourself. Perfect hair, perfect outfit, perfect makeup, and the lighting is so soft that you could be on a cover of Vogue. How would that make you feel.>> Now, you're still imagining and you find yet another version of yourself, but this time it's either you're about to sneeze or you're picking your nose in public or you're drooling in your sleep. And that's the image that the world is going to r ...

When I was an architecture student, every night at 1000 p. m. our campus generator shuts down.For 5 years, I studied and drew by candle light. I can still smell the wax dripping and feel the smoke sting my eyes as I struggle to complete my drawings in the dark. In fact, if you walk past our studio, then you might have thought that we're performing a spiritual ritual.Yeah, because the room was not lit by electricity. It was lit by candles. dozens of them.>> Those candles taught me resilience, but they also r ...

20 years ago when I graduated from university, I wanted to make an impact on the world. I wanted to make the world a better place. So I decided to focus on business. When I looked around, I saw that it was businesses that were shaping our lives, shaping our world. It was their decisions that were deciding how much natural resources we would use, what people would be paid, how products were designed, what was in our food, how people were treated across the world in their supply chains, how much pollution the ...

What if the voice that tells you you’re not good enough is not your enemy, but your protector? In this illuminating and deeply human talk, therapist and researcher Lisa Etherson invites us to reconsider one of our most misunderstood emotions: shame. Drawing from her own life-altering experience of “uncontained shame” and years of clinical work, she reveals how shame is not a personal flaw, but a protective response rooted in our need for attachment and belonging. Through the lens of her pioneering Shame Con ...

We spend a huge part of our lives at work but how often do we stop to consider the energy in the room? Phil Lewis takes us on a candid journey through the highs and lows of workplace dynamics, sharing his own story of failure as a boss and the lessons it taught him about leadership, organisational energy, and human connection. In this talk, Phil explores why so many workplaces feel like machines optimised for output rather than wellbeing and how leaders often miss the root cause of poor performance: unresol ...

We carry within us voices shaped long before we could understand them voices that tell us we are not enough, not safe, not worthy of love. In this raw and deeply reflective talk, trauma-informed therapist Sandra Stein explores how these internalized messages from childhood and culture shape our beliefs, behaviours, and sense of self. From patterns of people-pleasing and hiding, to perfectionism and self-criticism, Sandra reveals the hidden cost of living through these protective adaptations. Through stories ...

In this visually engaging and thought-provoking talk, Matas Kardokas explores the evolution of photography in the age of smartphones, social media, and digital perfection. From carefully staged Instagram aesthetics to algorithm-driven trends, he unpacks how technology has quietly reshaped not only how we take photos, but how we see ourselves. Blending cultural observation with creative insight, Matas examines how filters, editing tools, and online validation influence identity, memory, and authenticity. Wha ...

Starting with a young girl who discovered and began practicing any sport, she began with swimming, but currently, her passion is volleyball. This interest began during the pandemic when volleyball games were being held near her home, and she played for the first time. From that moment on, she was fascinated and began training, developing a desire to compete. Volleyball has become a 24/7 part of her life, which is why she aspires to goals and objectives such as earning an athletic scholarship, being consider ...

So some years ago um I found myself in a sort of accidental experiment with my children and um I discovered something that was really very obvious and yet somehow seemingly quite radical. Um what I discovered is that children really are born to learn but that we can't trust them. So at that time we were living near Barcelona which is where our three children were all born and our two eldests who were about 9 and 10 at that time were going to a very alternative primary school.And it just wasn't really feelin ...

We live in a curious time: life happens, but it must also fit into a feed. In this talk, Gabriela Prioli explores how social media no longer shapes only what we show the world, but also what we choose to live. Between filters, likes and carefully edited narratives, a quiet question emerges: are we sharing our lives, or learning to perform them? As digital platforms blur the boundaries between authenticity and visibility, the deeper challenge of our time becomes clear. The most meaningful, human and truthful ...