TEDxBalaton was launched in 2022 as the only outdoor TED event in Europe under a TED license – the conference organizers state, created with the support of MTI’s Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme.
As we have shown, this year’s speakers have in common that they are all connected to Lake Balaton and convey the message that its lessons are universally valid and supportive of social responsibility.
The speakers at TEDxBalaton, dreamed up by founders Krisztina Sághy and Imre Végvári, were selected, with the help of an expert jury, from fifty applicants. The presentations are valuable not only because of the credibility of the invitees, but also because presentations of 15 minutes or shorter length are preceded by two months of intensive preparation, as the advertisement states.
For example, book publisher, writer and literary historian Kristian Nyary undertakes to show how Lake Balaton became a vacation spot and part of Hungarian identity in a few generations, and how the lake was drained and planted with wheat.
Diana Org-Vorsatz, climate researcher and vice chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, helps her audience choose between continued consumption and a better, more sustainable quality of life, talking about technology, lifestyle change, and the importance of maintaining prosperity and peace.
Architect Dávid Smiló will talk about red stone, presenting the history of the symbolic building material of the Balaton Heights, as well as how ancient values can be used innovatively with the latest design techniques.
Based on recent research prepared for TEDxBalaton, generational researcher Ádám Guld explains how the relationship between certain generations differs from Balaton, while tourism economist Anna Lili Tóth takes into account the differences between views of the southern and northern shores, revealing their origins.
Author of Balaton Architecture, architect Domonkus Wettstein gives a lecture on different development models in the area Botanical therapist Monica Halmos talks about the edible flowers found around Lake Balaton Oliver Kovacs Lorand Scientific Director of the Institute of Archeology at the Hungarian National Museum, Villa Romana-Balaka The surrounding area showcases the history of the largest Roman villa plantation.
Barnabás Kovács, associate professor and environmental farmer, is looking for ways to preserve the sector based on the thousand-year history of Balaton grape and wine culture, and Árpád and Zsuzsi Litkey will introduce sailing as an accessible team sport.
The full list of speakers and event program is available at https://www.tedxbalaton.hu.
(MTI)
