TedxAmsterdam now has a royal touch to it. Since one of the new three speakers is Dutch Princess Mabel van Oranje. We’re also glad to welcome ecologist Marcel Dicke and designer Christien Meindertsma to the Royal Tropical Institute on November 20th.
Dutch Princess who changes the world
Dutch Princess Mabel van Oranje is the Chief Executive Officer of The Elders. The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by Nelson Mandela, who offer their collective influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. In 2005, the World Economic Forum named her one of its Young Global Leaders.
- Read her bio on the website of The Elders
Our guide in the world of insects
Marcel Dicke is an ecologist with a special interest in the relation between plants and insects. The central theme in his research is the way that plants define the lives of insects. For example, there are plants that spread special fragrances if they are attacked by caterpillars. The fragrances attract predators of the caterpillars (like ichneumon wasps) as a sort of bodyguards for the plant.
- Read more about Dicke’s research
Thoughtful designer who uses raw materials
Young designer Christien Meindertsma started her own studio, Flocks, after graduating the Academy for Industrial Design in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Meindertsma explores products and raw materials in unusually thoughtful ways. For her first book, Checked Baggage (2004), Meindertsma purchased a container filled with a week’s worth of objects confiscated at security checkpoints in Schiphol Airport after 9/11. She meticulously categorized all 3267 items and photographed them on a white seamless background. Meindertsmas second book, PIG 05049 (2007), is an extensive collection of photographic images that documents an astounding array of products that different parts of an anonymous pig called 05049 could support. With this book, Meindertsma reveals lines that link raw materials with producers, products and consumers that have become so invisible in an increasingly globalized world.
Currently Meindertsma is in the race for the Rotterdam Design Prize 2009.
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