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).

UWC Adriatic - Auditorium
Via Trieste 29
Duino-Aurisina, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 34011
Italy

Alice Florence Haywood

Anti-ableism activist

Alice Haywood is French, English and Irish and is currently in her first year at UWC Adriatic. Before embarking on this adventure Alice lived in the Netherlands and several other European counties. She has spent a large portion of her young life advocating for disability rights, making small changes in hope to have larger ripple effects. Part of this is a growing project she has named ‘The Kikker Project’ inspired by her sister, where she aims to connect siblings like her and raise awareness to ensure more understanding in the world (@thekikkerproject). This helps her combine her creative mind with a passion for social change. Other than that, Alice is a vegetarian and loves to advocate for the impact something as small as reducing meat intake can have on the climate, health and also overall animal welfare and hence has with the contribution of classmates written a vegetarian recipe book available on Kindle and online called Eat Sustainably Together.

Giulia Rocca

Sustainability Enthusiast

Giulia Rocca is a plant enthusiast eager to share her passion with a wider audience. She’s particularly fascinated with the topic of plant communication and she is eager to deepen her knowledge in the future. During her gap year she will be learning the generational knowledge of olive oil making in Sicily (Italy). In June she will be volunteering in Maharashtra (India) by installing drip irrigation, learning about organic farming techniques and water conservation along the way. She is currently graduating from UWC Adriatic, a place that has allowed her to discover the beauty of leadership, implementing giving her a sense of agency and the ability to implement structural change and agency.

Klara Meissner

Sustainability Enthusiast

Klara was born in Berlin, Germany in 2002 and is a current second-year student at UWC Adriatic. Since her younger teenage years, she participated in multiple international exchange programs, community work and political activism. In her political stances she aims to incorporate many different realities, experiences and perspectives. Also due to personal closeness to the topic she feels passionate to coin discussions on poverty, its causes and its implications, and to develop stances related to it further. Other spheres of interest of hers are visual arts and painting, as well as sustainability and climate activism.

Sonya Konovalova

Artist

Sonya Konovalova is a Russian activist, and co-founder of the art group «ChageRose». Currently, she is a freshman at United World College of the Adriatic. She was born in a Siberian city, Krasnoyarsk. There, with the help of her friends she co-founded «ChageRose» in the summer of 2020. The main forms of activism this group practices are performative art, public discussions, and social events. At the moment, the group is organizing street actions and many charity events in hopes of helping the victims of domestic violence and political prisoners. In collaboration with other artists, ChangeRose participated in exhibitions in Tumen, Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk and St.Peterburg. In recent future, Sonya will also take part in the work of anti-war media «Break The Wall».

Zoe Bliss Kothari

Creator

Inspired by personal experience, Zoe wants to do her part to dismantle incredibly harmful systems of ableism and sexism around her. Using the perspective she has gained from being a part of campus Students Of Colour meetings, trying to overcome chronic pain while writing an essay, or hearing the people she loves’ #MeToos—the sheer injustice and need-for-something-better of it all—her goal is to apply her talents and passions to bring change to how fair the world around her is. With years of experience with art, mathematics, graphic design, and linguistics, and new interests in programming, Zoe believes she can do her part to design a more equitable future.