In May 2021, Gaya Raddadi, Silvia Ecclesia, Marta Quadrini Mosca Moschini and Conrad Otto Lude formed TEDxIHEID, a grassroots student initiative with support from the Graduate Institute Student Association (GISA), to share “ideas worth spreading”.
The team currently counts 24 student volunteers, both first and second year masters students, that represent multiple departments and a wide variety of backgrounds.
Why did you decide to organise a TEDx at the Graduate Institute?
The Graduate Institute has a long tradition of nurturing future leaders from a highly international student base. In the same spirit, we have witnessed students increasingly taking agency of what they wish to learn, unlearn and relearn, both in personal and professional spheres. With this in mind, we decided to organise TEDxIHEID as a platform to voice our community’s imagination of the coming era.
Located in the heart of the international Geneva, the Institute frequently engages with international organisations, NGOs, governments and multinational companies, truly at the centre of a multicultural hub that allows us to invite speakers and performers from an incredibly wide range of sectors and backgrounds - and we could not think of a more ideal setting for hosting a TEDx event that enshrines that community-driven circulation of inspiration and innovative ideas.
What is the theme and what is the goal of this TEDx?
Our theme for the TEDxIHEID 2022 conference is “The Dawn of A New Era”, which combines many of the changes that we have witnessed both globally as a society and within the Institute’s community as well.
Our goals for this event are threefold:
Firstly, we wanted to provide an event that is an inclusive space for all voices - both within and outside our university. In accordance with the core values of TEDx, our aim was to create a platform where innovative ideas can be brought forward, regardless of gender, ethnicity, class, or sexual orientation.
Secondly, we wanted to empower our students’ voices as the voices of tomorrow. With this in mind, we have created the Student Corner - a parallel event to the main conference - where a number of selected students are invited to spread their ideas, their work, from all the disciplines offered at our university, thereby tapping into the amazing potential of our student body to provide a deeper understanding of our world.
Lastly, we hope to start a legacy that can continue at the Institute for the years to come, as we are certain that there are many more "ideas worth spreading" that could arise from such a melting pot of backgrounds and cultures. We look forward to seeing how TEDxIHEID flourishes in the future, with a new influx of stimulating themes, talks and performances!