Theme: A Sense of Hope

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).

Epicenter Oslo
Edvard Storms Gate 2
Oslo, Oslo, 0166
Norway

Cecilie Sachs Olsen

Urban Researcher

Cecilie Sachs Olsen is a research fellow with the Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Research at Oslo Metropolitan University. Cecilie has a background as an artist, curator, theatre scholar and urban researcher. Her work revolves around developing creative methods for urban research and exploring how artistic practice can be used as a framework and re-imagining urban planning, space, as well as politics. At TEDxOsloMet 2021, she will provide insights on how marine species can be included in urban development and planning and therefore, how to take better care of the world under the surface of the ocean.

Christophe Brod

CEO & Beekeeper

Christophe Brod and his friends at Beefutures are on a mission to save the bees. Christophe comes from a beekeeper family and has witnessed the many challenges bees are faced with over the course of two decades in his home country France. Today, he is convinced that a holistic approach, combining biotechnologies & data science can help with the pollinator crisis. At TEDxOsloMet 2021 Christophe will share his inventors’ journey and walk us through the many approaches that can make a difference. Will engineered solutions to the problems we keep creating for bees be enough? What if the bees would instead teach us a lesson of wisdom and sustainability?

David Andrew Quist

Mushroom Researcher

David is a mushroom researcher and restauranteur. His current work combines both his passion for gastronomy and science; by exploring the culinary potential of fungal mycelium as an innovative new category of food - nutritious, delicious and sustainable. Should the future be fungal? At TEDxOsloMet 2021, David will take us on a journey through the amazing world of fungi and their potential as innovative, next-generation sustainable technologies. As we collectively navigate an uncertain future, learning from fungi can provide us with new mental models and metaphors on what it means to be an individual, our relationship with the natural world, and our place in it.

Gagan Chhabra

Post-Doc & Project Manager

Gagan Chhabra has very recently obtained his PhD degree from Oslo Metropolitan University and now works as a project manager for inclusion at the Atlas-Alliance. Gagan is a blind professional and has worked in disparate fields such as management consulting, academia, research, and civil society. His research activities focused on comparing disability policies and labor market experiences of youth with disabilities and has been published internationally. Over the years Gagan has held capacity-building workshops on themes such as disability rights, economic empowerment of vulnerable youths and social inclusion. At TEDxOsloMet, Gagan will share epistemic insights and experiential perspectives on the theme of Ableism.

Gunhild Vatn

Associate Professor

Gunhild Vatn is a ceramic artist and Associate Professor at the Institute of Art, Design and Drama at Oslo Metropolitan University. At TEDxOsloMet, Gunhild is speaking about her artwork with the Ocean Viking, Norway’s first oil platform, and how porcelain is a means for her to discover the underlying beauty. Gunhild’s artwork often deals with social and political issues. She works with various materials and expressions, mainly in porcelain. Her can be seen in various exhibitions in Norwegian and in international museums and galleries.

Jessica Li

CEO & Founder

Jessica Li is the co-founder and CEO of Savvie, a Norwegian tech-startup with its roots at OsloMets’ Gründergarasjen. She has degrees from the University of Michigan and the Norwegian School of Economics. In her talk at TEDxOsloMet 2021, she will challenge us to re-examine our understanding of food waste, and to rethink the way we resolve the problem by proposing a systems-oriented approach.

Johannes Daae

Associate Professor

Johannes Daae is an Associate Professor in Product Design at OsloMet and currently also serves as the Head of Development at Grønt Punkt Norge. In his talk Johannes will explain the importance of source separation of packaging and how we all can contribute to improving the recycling of plastic packaging. Johannes is a product designer by training, and he holds a PhD in Design for Sustainable Behaviour, where he has studied how we can design products and systems to make people act in more sustainable ways.

Samina Ansari

Equality Advocat

Samina Ansari, is the head of public and corporate relations at Equality Check, a Norwegian tech-company with the mission to diversify corporate governance globally. At TEDxOsloMet Samina will speak about the importance of storytelling in relation to equality and how related data shapes our perspectives in 2021. Samina is the founding director of Avyanna Diplomacy, a platform with the aim to connect social entrepreneurs from the Middle East and Central Asia to Europe for sustainable growth and stability.

Siri Østvold

Freediver

Siri Østvold is an explorer at heart, always seeking out small and big ocean adventures. She creates through exploration. She believes storytelling is a powerful tool to envision, align, educate, and create action. She is engaged in ocean conservation and ocean regeneration, and she is a Norwegian freediving champion. With the ocean as her element, Siri is quite much considered a nordic viking mermaid. At TEDxOsloMet 2021 Siri will share some of her incredible adventures with us, the emotional journey that came with it, and how this shaped her perspectives on life.

Ståle Wig

Social Anthropologist

Ståle Wig is a social anthropologist at the University of Oslo, our sister institution. Ståle has done research in Lesotho and Cuba, specializing in study of economic behavior. He has written a book about the Norwegian Prime Minister, and a second book about his time as a taxi driver in Havana will be ready for publication in 2022. At TEDxOsloMet 2021, Ståle will share some insights on the secret financial insights of beggars around the world.