The first speakers for the next edition of the Estoril Conferences, which had already been announced in March and will take place on 24th and 25th of October at the Nova SBE campus in Carcavelos, are already known. On the list are the former president of the European Commission and former prime-minister José Manuel Durão Barroso; the chief scientist of the European Food Safety Authority, Carlos Gonçalo das Neves; the director of the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, Sherri Aldis; the journalist Mariana Van Zeller, author of the popular National Geographic series On the Trafficking Route; or the young refugee and Immigrant and Refugee Youth Ambassador at Green Card Voices, Zaynab Ali Abdi.
The ninth edition of the event will also feature the director of the Geneva office of the United Nations Population Fund, Mónica Ferro; the founder and CEO of EngineEars, an innovative platform for sound engineers and music producers, Derek Ali; Nobel Prize winner in Medicine Sir Richard Roberts; and artist, activist and member of the Women of TIX Movement, Watatakalu Yawalapiti.
Time to rethink
This year's motto is Time to ReThink, with a programme based on five thematic pillars: Peace, Politics, Planet, Artificial Intelligence & Technology and Longevity.
"We are very confident in the relevance of the speakers and the diversity of themes in a year that will go down in history as the year with the most active wars and armed conflicts since the Second World War, but also marked by the geopolitical changes resulting from the fact that there are 70 electoral processes underway around the world, with particular emphasis on the European and American elections", emphasises the executive director of the Estoril Conferences, Laurinda Alves. "Added to all this is the fact that 2024 will be the historic year of the demographic transition, as for the first time there are more people on the planet over 65 than under 16. For all this, we remain committed to inspiring all generations to promote a better world and we remain committed to helping raise awareness in our society of the need for urgent change so that we can all live in a more sustainable, humanised, fair and equitable way", she adds.
This year, and for the first time, the organisation is joined by Harvard's Digital Data Design Institute (D^3), which is dedicated to studying the impact of new technologies on the world and on business. This is a joint partnership with Nova SBE, Nova Medical School, Cascais City Council and Turismo de Portugal.
Access to the Estoril Conferences is free, but subject to registration, as places in person are limited. However, it is also possible to watch the debates live via a digital platform, which is open to the whole world free of charge.
Estoril Conferences, Nova SBE in Carcavelos. 24th and 25th of October. Free of charge
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