Theme: Once Upon Tomorrrow

As we look towards the future, let us remind ourselves that every great story begins with a spark of imagination. "Once Upon Tomorrow" invites us to explore the next chapter of human experience, inspired by the dreams and innovations of the past.
Building on these foundations, we progress, driven by creativity, compassion, and growth, prepared to create the world we envision.
At TEDxPatras 2025, innovative dreamers, inventors, and visionary thinkers from around the world will unite to share insights, illuminating new pathways for creating a brighter future.
By sharing their ideas and experiences, we will uncover the power of human ingenuity to shape a future filled with positive change, as today’s visions become the realities of tomorrow.
“Once Upon Tomorrow” marks a celebration for TEDxPatras as it reaches the significant milestone of its 10th anniversary!
Over the course of the past decade, TEDxPatras has been a vibrant platform for sharing ideas and fostering collaboration, both within the community of Patras and Western Greece as well as across Greece, Europe, and the world. TEDxPatras has sparked countless conversations, connecting local passion with global impact as part of the TED community.
Join us at TEDxPatras 2025 to celebrate this journey and step boldly into "Once Upon Tomorrow" where the stories of the future are waiting to be written.
Come join us!

Conference Center
University of Patras
University of Patras
Patras, Achaïa, 26504
Greece

Alex Panayotou

Endurance Mindset Expert, Leadership Development Speaker and Consultant

Alex Panayotou is an Endurance Mindset Expert, Leadership Development Speaker and Consultant who helps leaders and teams thrive under pressure. With a background in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy, and over 15 years of working with top global companies like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Uber, Alex blends high-performance strategies with real-world leadership development. As an extreme solo endurance runner, she has completed 13 ultra-distance challenges, including a 400km non-stop solo run, even outrunning a horse in a 123-kilometer race. As it turned out, her extreme endurance in racing was more than just an athletic edge. It was the weapon that gave her the strength to face a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in 2017, eventually emerging victorious in what was, admittedly, one of the most difficult battles she had ever fought.

Anezina Solomonidou

Dr. Anezina Solomonidou is a planetary scientist specializing in planetary geology and investigating the potentially habitable worlds of our solar system. She is the Scientific Officer of the Greek Space Agency for Space Sciences and Exploration. She obtained her doctoral title in astronomy and astrophysics from the Paris Observatory in France. She has worked for many years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Caltech in Los Angeles, California, on the Cassini-Huygens and the Europa Clipper missions, as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) in Madrid for the preparation of ESA’s new space mission, JUICE. She has authored a plethora of articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and chapters in books. Dr. Solomonidou has proposed a series of planetary experiments and has contributed to the design of future missions. She is the President of the Division for Planetary Sciences (PS) for the European Geosciences Union (EGU) and serves as a review panelist for international boards and NASA panels, where she evaluates scientific proposals for planetary research.

BelCantes Choir

The BelCantes Choir was founded in September 2016 and has since earned notable recognition in Greece and abroad. It participated in the Interkultur International Choral Competition twice, receiving gold and silver medals in 2017 and 2019. The choir has performed in the 9th Nafpaktos International Choir Festival and Competition “Mikis Theodorakis,” the ARTIVA Choral Festival in Nafplio, and other events. In May 2021, the Choir competed online in the World Peace Choral Festival alongside 251 choirs from 32 nations, winning first place in its category and qualifying for the Grand Prix. In September of the same year, it performed in an unforgettable concert at the Kallimarmaro commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution. This was followed by two silver medals at the 26th International Choral Competition of Preveza (2022), while in 2023 it won a Special Award for the presentation of a musical, a silver medal, and a cash prize at the 12th World Choir Festival on Musical and Competition of the Cultural & Spiritual Association “KORAIS” in Thessaloniki. In December 2023, it staged Haris Pegiazis’ musical “Christmas of a Stingy Man” at the University of Patras Conference Centre. In April 2024, it performed successfully at the 18th Choir Festival at the Athens Concert Hall. In November, the choir participated in the 10th ARTIVA Choral Festival in Nafplio, where it won a gold medal in the Similar Voices category and a silver medal in the Chamber Choirs category. The BelCantes Choir is directed by Elena Droukopoulou, and Konstantina Androutsopoulou accompanies the choir on the piano.

Haris Tsalpara

Haris got involved with music at the age of four. During all her school years, she was constantly attending and studying music theory, harmony, classical piano performance, and many more. In 2004, she got into the University of Athens, Department of Music Studies. In the same year, she attended the annual Nordoff–Robbins Music Therapy Seminar. After completing the seminar, she volunteered for a year with a music therapy group at the Patriotic Institute for Social Welfare and Awareness. She earned a degree in Harmony in 2008 and a bachelor’s degree in the UOA, Department of Music Studies (2010). During her undergraduate studies, she participated in a Community Music seminar under Dr. Christina Anagnostopoulou. Following the seminar, she practiced with a group at the “Heliotropio” Day Center for people with special needs for a year. In the same year, she earned her degree in counterpoint. In 2011, she obtained the Diploma in Classical Piano Performance. She has also studied Instrumentology, History of Music, Choir, Morphology of Music, Chamber Music, and Practical Teaching. She has always been interested in finding the performative use of music among common people, and this need led her to folk music genres. Since 2005, she has discovered the popular Greek-speaking traditional music and the musical world of the Eastern Mediterranean through the old recordings of 78 rpm. In 2013, she started playing the accordion, which helped her find her way back to the piano from a completely different perspective. For the last 15 years, she has participated in numerous concerts, social events, and performances both in and outside Greece. Since 2017, she has collaborated with the theatrical team bijoux de kant as a performer and composer. One of the important moments of her career was definitely when she participated as a composer and pianist in the contemporary music project “Le piano a 13 queues,” led by Swiss pianist and composer Geraldine Schenkel, featuring an orchestra of 13 grand pianos. Since 2017, she has been the CEO of APTALIKO NPO. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I volunteered for nine months in the statistical survey “Mapping the community of musicians active in the field of popular culture” conducted by APTALIKO NPO. In the summers of 2021, 2022, and 2023, I volunteered as the lead project manager and Artistic Director at the Lava Music Festival, organized by APTALIKO NPO. For the last 8 years, she has been teaching courses and seminars focusing on the artistic Mediterranean repertoire and the system of the folk modes. Simultaneously, she continues the project of PianOLAternA and works in various entertainment venues with partners in the informal community sharing a common interest in gramophone sound and traditional music from the eastern Mediterranean. Currently, she works at the Athens Concert Hall in the children’s show “Shadows on the Pentagram” and has just released her first personal album called Anadysi.

Katerina Moustaka

Katerina Moustaka has always been fascinated by the beauty of words and the act of reading. She studied medicine at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and chiropractic at Life Chiropractic College West in California, USA, both of which she has been practicing for 25 years. At the same time, she broadened her practice by teaching as a presenter in her “Become A Body Whisperer” pain trigger point treatment workshops. Since the start of her professional career, she has delved into the unique and complex body-mind connection, exploring how our Biography influences our Biology. Its contribution to promoting exercise to prevent and preserve health is outstanding. She has published studies, spoken at scientific conferences, and worked on the translation and scientific editing of the renowned book “Pilates Anatomy” in Greek. Recently, she took the next step, combining her scientific expertise with her passion for literature, by publishing her first book, “My Little Truths-Tade Efi Katerina.” In it, she shares her years of experience and in-depth understanding of how our lives, attitudes, and choices affect our bodies and how changing our viewpoint may transform our reality.

Live DJ Performance

Takis Niaros was born in 1981 and has been professionally active as a DJ since 1995, having performed as a resident or guest in over 300 hospitality venues across Greece. He has served as a program director at major radio stations in Patras and, for the past four years, has run his own radio station. He has performed at the Patras Carnival seven times and, in 2010, was the scriptwriter, director, and producer of its official opening ceremony. From 2008 to 2012, he operated his own Sound & Light company, supporting a wide range of music events. In 2008, he founded the only DJ and Music Production school in Southwestern Greece, which remains active today. A passionate vinyl collector, he is also a strong advocate for embracing technology and evolution in DJ hardware. Michalis Toptsis is a student at the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics at the University of Patras. He has been involved in music production and sound engineering from a young age and currently releases music under the alias Mind of Two, with works published on international labels. He blends his technical expertise with artistic creativity, continuously exploring new forms of sonic expression. Giorgos Gampieris is a DJ and music producer. Born in October 1999 and raised on the island of Patmos, his first contact with music came at the age of 10 when he picked up a laouto (traditional Greek lute). Two years later, he began DJing, which later became his profession. Over time, he expanded into music production, creating remixes and original tracks, gradually shaping his own unique sound.

Marcus Liwicki

Professor In Machine Learning, Luleå University Of Technology

Marcus Liwicki is a chaired professor in Machine Learning and vice-rector for AI at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. He has been pioneering deep learning research since 2005 – long before the field’s explosive growth – and at age 32, he became the youngest recipient of the International Association for Pattern Recognition’s Young Investigator Award. Today, he leads a Machine Learning group dedicated to creating sustainable AI solutions that benefit society, with a vision to make cutting-edge technology sustainable and accessible for everyone.

Maria Koutsourli

Maria is a singer. She was born in Thessaloniki and raised in Xanthi. She’d wanted to sing since she was four years old. She saw herself singing in front of a large crowd in her childhood room, accompanied by an old guitar she had found at home. She desired to create a celebratory environment full of excitement, emotion, memories, and wonderful sensations. In high school, she played with a classical guitar her father gave her, teaching herself the first songs. At the same time, she performed with a four-piece rock band at cultural events in Xanthi. At the age of 18, she enrolled in the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. At the same time, she frequently went to Athens for vocal instruction. A year later, she chose to relocate permanently to the capital to pursue her music studies. She also studied Human Resource Management at the American College of Greece (Deere). She aspired to merge music and business skills, focusing on talent management. In her thesis, she researched talent management in the music industry. During the epidemic season, Maria introduced herself to us through live performances on her YouTube channel “Live from the Living Room.” She won us over with her great versions of songs by Portokaloglou, Pavlidis, Arletas, and others, establishing herself as a performer from the start. Autumn 2024 marked the release of her debut full-length album, “Another Version.” The album consists of eight stories, eight melodies, and eight diverse viewpoints, and it introduces us to Maria Koutsourli, a new vocalist full of skill and light!

Mark Earls

Writer, Thinker, Producer & Speaker

Mark Earls is an award-winning writer, thinker, producer, and speaker who is passionate about understanding human behavior, how it works at scale, and how to put those insights to work. His background is in marketing and advertising, and it is there he first pioneered the use of behavioral science and what we now know as the “Nudge” theory. In particular, Mark has argued strongly and repeatedly for the idea that we are a social species and that behavior is commonly shaped in the space between us (rather than between our ears). Mark works extensively as an advisor to businesses and NGOs around the world. This international perspective leads him to prioritize the role of culture over psychology universals, and this is where his interest in our ideas about Time comes from: both ideas we are conscious of and those embedded in our experience of the world around us.

Niklas Elmehed

Niklas Elmehed, known for his striking official portraits of Nobel Prize Laureates, painted in black and gold. Every October, when the Nobel Prizes are announced, millions see and share his portraits within seconds. His distinctive style has also caught the eye of prestigious clients worldwide. Most recently, he was invited to the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, where he brought the Nordic pavilion to life with a three-day live painting session. A unique opportunity for experiencing art through the eyes of the artist who creates it.

Panayotis Gezerlis

Panayotis Gezerlis is the Founder and CEO of Convert Group, a leading Data and analytics company serving omnichannel retailers and brands across 11 countries. Under his leadership, Convert Group partners with top global brands such as Ahold Delhaize, Dr. Max, Atida Group, Kenvue, Bayer, Haleon, Mattel, L’Oréal, Kärcher, Sanofi, LG, P&G, Unilever, RB, Estée Lauder, and hundreds more. Before founding Convert Group in 2014, Panayotis was Head of Business Planning at Upstream, supporting the company’s expansion into 40 countries and overseeing sales offices in Rome, Beijing, Singapore, Athens, Bucharest, Toronto, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro. His prior leadership roles include heading ELTRUN’s e-consulting unit, serving as CEO of Buldoza—one of Greece’s fastest-growing online retailers—and leading commercial strategy as Chief Commercial Officer at VoiceWeb, a pioneer in speech recognition technology. An active contributor to the industry, Panayotis is the co-author of two exit strategy books, holds board seats in multiple retail tech and ad tech startups, and was the first Director General of the Greek eCommerce Association.

Pouria Hadjibagheri

Software Engineer and Data Scientist

Pouria is a London-based software engineer, data scientist, and cloud architect with a multidisciplinary background encompassing computational biology, bioinformatics, and large-scale data infrastructure. A passionate advocate for open data, he has designed and delivered data science and machine learning courses for doctoral programmes in the UK, Germany, and China, while engaging the public through conferences and social media to promote accessibility and transparency. He is best known for leading the UK Health Security Agency’s COVID-19 Dashboard, helping establish new standards for transparency, real-time reporting, and accessibility in government data services. In 2023, Pouria was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his contributions to data transparency, and also became a Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS). His team’s work at UKHSA was recognised with the Royal Statistical Society’s Award for Statistical Excellence.

Stavros Gasparatos

Stavros Gasparatos is a composer, sound artist, and curator whose work spans contemporary music, mixed media projects, and sound applications in the performing arts. He composes music for theatre, cinema, and dance, and since 2022, he has served as a consultant for contemporary music and mixed media projects at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival and is the founder of Subset Festival. He has composed music for over 200 productions, working with renowned Greek and international artists and institutions, including the National Theatre, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens Festival, National Opera, BAM—New York, Dallas Opera, Documenta14 – Kassel, The Watermill Center – NY and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation—St. Louis. From 2017 to 2020 he directed the Transmedia Lab of the Greek National Opera; from 2019 to 2022 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Festival. His works include Expanded Piano I & II, music for the unveiling of the new Acropolis illumination (2020), music for the opening of the New Acropolis Museum (2009), and Rules of the Game (2016), in collaboration with Jonah Bokaer and Dallas Opera. He has presented musical works and performances in major venues and festivals in Europe, America, and Asia, and his original music has received awards from the Greek Film Academy (2013), the Drama Festival (2017), and the Greek Theatre and Music Critics Association (2009).

Titos Patrikios

Titos Patrikios was born in Athens in 1928. He completed high school at Varvakeio in 1946 and enrolled at the Law School of the University of Athens. During the German occupation, he actively participated in the National Resistance, first with EPON and later with ELAS. In 1944, he was sentenced to death by collaborators of the Germans, but his execution was postponed at the last moment. During his military service, he was exiled to Makronisos (1951–1952) and then to Ai Stratis (1952–1953), returning to Athens with a permit for political exiles. From 1959 to 1964, he studied sociology at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris and participated in research at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). After returning to Greece, he fled again to Paris following the dictatorship’s imposition, where he engaged in anti-junta activities and worked at UNESCO in Paris and FAO in Rome. He returned to Greece in 1975, working as a lawyer, sociologist, and literary translator. In 1982, he resumed his role at the National Centre for Social Research, which he held before 1967, and also collaborated with the Marxist Studies Center in Athens. His literary debut was in 1943 with a poem published in the magazine Youth’s Awakening, while his first poetry collection, Chomatodromos, was released in 1954. A founding member of the journal Art Review, he published numerous articles and reviews, many of which were later compiled into collections. He was also active as a translator (works by Stendhal, Aragon, Mayakovsky, Neruda, Gogol, Garaudy, Lukács, among others) and prose writer. Most of his sociological work was written in French. His works have been translated into French, Flemish, German, and Dutch. He has received numerous honors, including the Special State Prize for Literature (1994), the Kostas and Eleni Ouranis Foundation Prize from the Academy of Athens (2008), the International Premio Letterario “Laudomia Bonanni” (Italy, 2009), and the Max Jacob Étranger Poetry Prize (France, 2016). In February 2020, he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ambassador to Greece, Patrick Maisonnave. Twenty-eight volumes of his poems and prose have been published, and he has contributed to many anthologies. His complete poetic works are available in two volumes: Poems A, 1943–1959 (Kichli, 2017) and Poems B, 1959–2017 (Kichli, 2018).