TEDxGlasgow

The first decade of the 21st Century has witnessed an unprecedented increase in conflict and terror-related activities across the globe leading to the implosion of old world certainties in places like Europe and the MENA region. Yet traditional state-based diplomacy singularly failed to anticipate any of these events, including the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS or the conflict in Ukraine, despite massive state surveillance capacities. Elsewhere international state-based attempts at stabilisation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya have failed to produce sustainable peace. Join Mark Muller Stuart as he explores why this might be so as he charts the rise of a number of remarkable, new innovative non-state and small power mediators who have helped ameliorate some of the world’s most intractable conflicts by using soft power tools. Discover the power of non-state and small nation dialogue as Mark reveals just how powerful Scotland’s voice could be in the field of conflict resolution and international affairs more generally.

Kids in care are one of the most marginalised and misunderstood groups in society. There are 15,404 children and young people in care now and many more thousands of people who have experienced care in Scotland. Whilst in care herself, Laura Beveridge felt different, was bullied and felt isolated. Throughout her working life, she has seen the barriers young people still have to face as a result of their time in care. This talk provides an insight into what life feels like in care and the real people behind those grim statistics. It invites you to be part of the movement that seeks to change care forever and it will leave you knowing that there are things we can all do to make the world a better place for those kids who are in care.

The older we get the more reserved we often become, taking less risks, totally under-utilising our potential and wasting opportunities. A million years of evolution made humans develop & evolve, but the last few hundred have taught us to conform, stay in our place and stay in our class. Using remarkable real-life examples, Ellis Watson demonstrated how to totally reinvent yourself by disrupting your life path – it’s like defibrillating your whole life in one massive reset.