Scientific Researcher
Beau works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Sociology Department of the University of Groningen. Beau was born in Breda and is a proud Brabander. But being passionate about contributing to a better world, she moved all the way to Groningen to develop her academic career researching bullying. During her research Beau noticed that there often is a lot of discussion on whether certain people are actually bullied or not. She found that many students who felt bullied were not seen as victims of bullying by their classmates and teachers. In other words: perceptions on bullying differ a lot. Beau argues we should focus more on the perceived than on the actual bullying.
Stand-up comedian, author
Dominic has been a stand-up comedian for thirty years. Author of five novels and one non-fiction book, he has written four series for BBC radio, made many TV appearances and has written for most national newspapers. He is married to Nikki. They have four sons and a dog. They live in London, in a house which is rarely tidy.
Psychologist, author and speaker on the topics of grief and resilience
Ellen teaches at University College Tilburg where her courses revolve around the topics of psychology and entrepreneurship. She is an author and speaker on the topics of grief and resilience.
Ellen wrote a book (Doorleefboek) , specially for children in grieve.
Theatre director
Hanna is the director of her own theatre company working with the Stormkamer methodology and she is mostly interested in abolishing the distance between performer and public. She sees the public as an artist and the performer as a spectator. For her, a theatre is a public place, like a square in the middle of a city, where imagination and reality meet. She has presented her work all over the Netherlands, and now she is based in our city, Breda.
Designer/ Artist
After graduating from high school, Maarten began studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 1996. Maarten is considered to be one of the most influential Dutch designers of the beginning of the 21st century. He is often described as an “author designer,” of which his works lie on the boundaries between art and design. His work is known as rebellious, playful, intellectual, theatrical and artistic. He has gained an autonomous position in the design field, and his work varies from conceptual designs, limited editions, production design, installations, public space, architecture, interior design, theater design, to performances.
Research interviewer
Marjan is scientific researcher in the field of the quality of healthcare. She loves to interview patients, because she is a born listener. She lives with her two fabulous kids in the city of Nijmegen.
Mindful _ Rowan & Tommy
Dancers
Two young boys, Rowan (15) and Tommy (16) met at the dance academy in Tilburg 3 years ago and ever since have been dancing together. The perfect duo of young dancers expresses their talent together in shows and participates in freestyle competitions. They are proud winners of the national final Kunstbende and the Golden Thermometer at the 39-degree festival.
Robin van Otterdijk
User Experience Designer
Robin is a User Experience Designer from Eindhoven. He is always looking around for new solutions for existing problems and problems that he didn’t even know existed. Seeing creativity around him is a big inspiration for him, to help him find solutions in his work for customers and personal projects.
He is intrigued by simple solutions to complicated problems/situations.
His talk is based on how he dealt with his grandfather getting Alzheimer’s disease and how technology helped connecting with him again.
Robin likes to show that technology in care doesn’t have to be cold and distant, but can help creating connections.
Pianist, composer
TELDERMAN is a pianist and composer born in Utrecht. He is able to blend together influences from jazz, classical, and pop in a completely original way, thus creating a unique personal style. This can be heard clearly on his highly acclaimed debut album Contours (2015). Pianist Telderman is particularly well known for his beautiful melody lines and the emotional depth of his music. In the words of North Sea Jazz festival "his playing is warm, lyrical, and technically sublime". Inspired by people, nature, the piano, rhythm and sound, he has been taking on musical adventures throughout his career. In 2016 he was chosen as the most promising artist by the jazz bookers of the Netherlands.
Judoka
Roy reached the quarterfinals of the past Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and he is preparing for his next participation in Tokyo 2020. Roy Meyer was born and raised in Breda. Like many other guys he was actually interested in playing football, but afterwards, he found out that judo was closer to his personality and expectations. He didn't have an easy journey to become the great athlete that he is now. He went through very rough times in his youth, a few encounters with the justice system and finally he found a path of self-discovery studying psychology and religion.
Writer, speaker, trainer
Vera is an innovative thinker, writer, trainer and inspirational speaker. Vera has a background in psychotherapy integration.
Since Vera was very young she developed a great love and fascination for people, especially emotions, and she was intrigued by the questions “why do people do what they do and say what they say, while that doesn't match with how they feel?”
Vera is founder of the Emotion Expertise Centre. She currently guides people to their natural state of being by poking what is not consistent with that. She believes “that our uniqueness lies in what we experience as ordinary and effortless”.
Corporate anthropologist, culture consultant and keynote speaker
Walter Faaij (1984) is corporate anthropologist and an expert on corporate culture and sustainability and founder of Green Culture Lab. He spent three months on Greenland doing research on the social impact of climate change. Walter returned home to the Netherlands enchanted by the beauty of the arctic and in shock by what’s happening in the world.