About TEDx, x = independently organised event

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, TED Talks

video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. 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.)

At our TEDxYouth@EEB3 event, TED video and live speakers will combine to spark

deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides

general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours,

are self-organised. TEDxYouth events are also primarily organised by students.

About TED

TED is a non-profit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-

day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission with

multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading

thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less. Many of these talks are then made

available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall,

Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck,

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Vancouver, British Columbia.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the

Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well

as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED has

established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change

the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals

or groups in hosting local, self- organized TED-style events around the world, and the

TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to

amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Why TEDxYouth@EEB3?

The goal of the annual TEDxYouth@EEB3 event is providing a platform for the

students of EEB3, as well as exposing them to new ideas by inviting external speakers.

It is our intention to build upon the foundation received in class and stimulate critical

thinking. We hope to open discussion amongst the students about important and

interesting issues. By participating in the preparation and organization of the event,

the volunteers also have the unique opportunity to acquire skills above and beyond

their education. The free exchange of ideas and beliefs is a vital part of progress and

our mission is to foster it in the students of EEB3.

In 2017, we organized the EEB3 Conference 2017. This was a preparatory conference

where we could fine-tune our ideas and methods for the forthcoming

TEDxYouth@EEB3 event. Then, in February 2018, the first (in any European School)

officially licensed TEDx event took place, with tremendous success.

Our Theme

Our chosen theme for this year’s event is: “Is There a Limit”. This theme was selected

in June, following a vote among our team members, as it was considered very open

and relevant to our public, being mainly teenagers. Each one of our speakers was

welcome to interpret the theme through their own knowledge and experience. Some

decide to conclude by saying there are limits, while others disagree. In the end, the

aim of every speaker, is to address an issue or subject that truly inspires them and will

hopefully make our peers more open minded or even change their view. Another,

equally important aspect of the theme, is that it provokes curiosity. One instantly

wonders about it – do they face limits in their everyday life? Do they use limits in a

science class? Have they overcome any limits up to now? Each of our carefully

selected speakers decides to bring a new idea, that some might relate to or learn

something new from.

Our theme also complies with TOPOÏ’s theme, “Limits”, in hope that teachers and

students desire to follow up with an educational project, inspired by our event.

EVENT PROGRAMME

Doors open at 09:00 AM

SWITCH IT ON

Session I, start at 09:20 AM

• Geoffrey Compère

• David Maissonier

• Matthieu Bourguignon

• Bernd Langeheine

• Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha

Break 11:00 AM

FACING THE CHALLENGE

Session II, start at 11:15 AM

• Aubane Verger

• Yves Luyens

• Antonio Amendola

Lunch break 12:50 PM

THE POWER OF YOU

Session III, start at 01:50 PM

• Serge Thiry

• Adil Ais

• Riccardo Petschke

• Laura Dondi

End 03:00 PM

SWITCH IT ON – Session I

“What are the limits of the human brain, concerning dyslexia? What truly happens

when heavy stars collapse? What makes a good leader and how can you break apart

from a label? In this session, you could hear about personalized answers to all

of these questions, delving into the world of science and the way our society is set up.

You could learn about the intricacies of the human brain and the new upcoming realm

of clean energy.

FACING THE CHALLENGE – Session II

Is a zero-waste restaurant really possible? What is the breaking point of the human

body? How can you bring change in your society? In Session 2, you could hear

refreshing new perspectives, answering all of these questions -and much more! We

have a speaker who has been pushing his body to its very limits and another

who actually creates the first zero waste restaurant in Brussels. You will be captivated

by the different world weaves together by each individual speaker and will possible be

able to look at common ideas in different ways.

THE POWER OF YOU – Session III

Can shyness really be overcome? What’s it like being inside of a prison? What is the

true definition of a limit in our society? In Session 3, our speakers will answer all

of these questions, each with their own individual spin. People have wandered what it

is truly like to be in prison and we have a past convict, ready to transport us to another

grim and harsh world. You could also hear from a very personal source about shyness-

a person’s worst enemy. Limits will be explored, and our society will be brought in for

a closer look.

SPEAKERS

Geoffrey Compere

FNRS Research Associate (Tenured) at ULB, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: English

Geoffrey Compere is studying black

holes, some of the most intriguing objects

of Nature. When heavy stars finish to burn

up their fuel, they collapse and form black

very dense objects called black holes.

When black holes merge, they create

wiggles in the structure of space and time

itself, the so-called gravitational waves,

that we can now detect on Earth since 2015. He is now developing tools to describe

the properties of gravitational waves created by black holes using Einstein's theory of

gravitation. In this talk, he will address how far in space and how early in time can we

learn about our universe?

David Maissonier

Language: English

European Commission Head of Sector at Energy Directorate, Brussels, Belgium.

Fusion energy presents several limits. We are today closer to limitless clean energy:

recent experiments show nuclear fusion reactors could supply electricity to

households by 2030. To achieve Fusion on earth requires hitting the 15 million °C

milestone, which is 10 times hotter than the core of the sun - one of highest

temperature limits at our reach. In this talk, David Maissonier will explore the limits of

energy on our similarly limited planet. Indeed, when we look at the energy

production/consumption worldwide, many figures are staggering, and we really

wonder whether there is a limit to the energy we can produce. However, if we then

look at the way in which we consume, and often waste, our limited natural resources,

we wonder whether there is a limit to the stupidity of humanity!

Matthieu Bourguignon

CRCN Post-Doc. Researcher at ULB, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: English

Children with dyslexia have reading and spelling

difficulties despite normal intelligence. Given the

importance of reading in our society it is easy to forget

that dyslexic people are just as able as any other group

of people. The goal of Matthieu Bourguignon’s research

is to develop new techniques based on neuroimaging to

identify and remedy dyslexia earlier than currently

possible. This talk is very relevant to our community and

aims to prove that dyslexia should not limit an individual

in achieving something.

Bernd Langeheine

Senior Consultant at Cleary Gottlieb& Hamilton LLP, Cologne, Germany.

Language: English

Shortly after Mr Hertz first managed to use radio waves in

his experiments, he was asked about what could potentially

be doing this. His answer was: “Nothing, I guess”. Yet today,

we use it everywhere, constantly and we couldn’t live without

it. 3 years ago, 2G was introduced. Today, there is 4G. In

this talk Bernd Langeheine will talk about 5G, where it is

headed and the new limits created by it, through his

professional experience.

Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha

Keynote speaker, trainer and coach, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: English

With the world changing at a dizzying pace, we are all -young and older professionals

alike - called upon to rethink and re-adapt old beliefs and ways of functioning, and to

learn the adequate skills that will allow us to thrive in today’s inter-connected

multicultural global environment.

In this TEDx talk, Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha addresses – in simple but

inspirational terms – the importance of courageous and inclusive leadership, both in

formal and informal ways.

She will share stories and concrete tips to foster

awareness about prejudice, traditional labels and

roles, (un)conscious bias and stereotypes (*). And

will describe how all this is still limiting people’s

ability to freely chose who they are and what

contribution they wish to give to the world they live

in.

All those wishing to make a positive change in the/your world need to be (self)aware,

be able to choose freely and move away from limiting roles, labels and expectations.

Formal and informal leaders need to be able to include all genders, all cultures, all

voices and all talents, in processes that can indeed change the world. This is what

inclusive leadership is about.

(*) A stereotype is a generalised view or preconception about attributes or

characteristics, or the roles that are or ought to be possessed by, or performed by

women and men, specific groups, cultures, ages, etc. A stereotype is harmful when it

limits people’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional

careers and make free choices about their lives.

Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha has been invited to participate in a workshop with

students of our school later in the year.

Aubane Verger

Co-founder of the first zero-waste and carbon neutral restaurant in Brussels, Belgium.

Language: French

After working for some of the biggest

companies around the world as a financial

analyst and controller, she suddenly decided

she had enough of it.

Looking for more meaningfulness and

impact in her work, she decided to open a local

market, the first step to a zero-waste and

carbon neutral restaurant. Everything there is

well-thought out, to reduce the ecological

footprint of the restaurant and create a new, eco-responsible path in the business. In

this talk, she will describe the limits she faced while working on this project and more

importantly, how we, as individuals can help in creating a more sustainable world.

Aubane Verger will be present in our school later in the year for a workshop

with students.

Yves Luyens

Lifelong runner and Mathematics teacher at ISF, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: English

Sports and questions about limits are strongly entangled.

What is one’s limit in sport? How far can one go? What

makes one sure that they have reached their limit? Can

limits be reached or are they simply pushed further and

further, never to be exhausted?

These are questions and experiences Yves Luyens has

taken from his career in athletics that he now uses and

shares with his students every day. In this talk, he will

share them with you.

Antonio Amendola

Founder and President of Shoot4Change (S4C) www.shoot4change.eu International

non-profit Network of voluntary social documentary photography, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: English

Shoot4Change’s mission is to raise awareness

and bring people’s attention to current social

issues. It is an international network of volunteers

working in the defence of human rights by

reporting and telling forgotten, under-estimated or

ignored stories. These stories are worth being

told and shared to inspire others to do the same,

with the aim of igniting a positive loop that could

eventually achieve social change.

“Crowd photography” is one of the main concepts

behind S4C whether the visual collective storytelling is pursued as a true means of a

collaborative watchdog platform and by way of personal creative engagement.

As a photographer, Antonio Amendola has featured his reportages in many Italian and

international exhibitions and many Newspapers and other paper and online media

outlets. As a speaker in our event, he will talk about the limits in his work.

Serge Thiry

Fondateur de l’association Extra Muros, Belgique.

Language: French

After being freed from prison, Serge Thiry decided

to give a meaning to the life he spent behind bars.

He was inspired to create the ASBL Extra Muros,

with the aim of helping disabled young people.

Part of the project is organising special weekends

for the handicapped youth and participating to

conferences. In his talk, Serge Thiry will talk about his limits as a young boy and how

he did not hesitate to do anything – even point a gun at an innocent person and escape

5 times from prison! In fact, now that he looks back at it, he says that he was ready for

everything. Through his speech and his experience he wishes to prove how it is

possible to change the direction of our life.

Adil Ais

Student Speaker at European School of Brussels III, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: French

Adil Ais is in S7FRA and a model at FLAGMODELS. As

a person who loves questioning, learning and sharing his

ideas about our world, we could not miss having him in

our programme. His approach to our theme is very

personal. He will talk about the limits he faced when he

was younger, especially those that society imposed on

him. He wishes to emphasize on the importance of our

own choices and how we should be the ones to make

them. He hopes to encourage the younger students to make decisions freely, without

worrying about what others might think.

Riccardo Petschke

Student Speaker at European School of Brussels III, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: English

Riccardo Petschke is in his final year of secondary and the former manager of

EEB.Green. He is in S7DEA and a very active student in our community. The subject

of his talk is the value of time. He will mention the biggest time savers and wasters

and what we can do about them. He wishes to talk about the limit between wasted and

usefully spent time, hoping to inspire other students to change their habits.

Laura Dondi

Student Speaker at European School of Brussels III, Brussels, Belgium.

Language: French

Laura Dondi is a young lady, aged 16. She is in

S6FRB and comes from an Italian and Austrian

background. Being very shy herself, she

decided to participate as a student speaker to

share her thoughts with our public. She will talk

about her personal experience in overcoming

personal limits and give her own interpretation

to why girls tend to dare less than boys. She hopes to spark conversations between

her peers and pass on her message.