TEDxPrague 2018

Kamila Rundusová, known better as Kamu, finished her studies at the secondary school of hospitality and gastronomy when she was 19. And because female cooks were looked on as kitchen porters at the time, she decided to travel the world. Kamu has cooked in New Zealand and perfected menus in Australia, just to exchange them for street cooking throughout Asia. The Czech chef has even dropped by Jamie Oliver’s kitchen in England or in one of Prague’s Michelin star restaurants.

Nowadays, Kamu is the author of a cookbook that’s bestselling in the Czech Republic. A fairy-tale story? Not really. How to overcome the obstacles on your path to success? close

In the past many industries were relying on work by animals, the fastest way to get from A to B was by horse, mail was sent by pigeons, and land was cultivated by use of oxes. All these animals were replaced in their functions by machines. What if we could replace the animals of the meat industry too?

Jonathan is a tech enthusiast. He’s recently graduated from the TU Delft, back home in Netherlands. He is passionate about robots and holograms and he’s always on the lookout for the new challenges. Currently it’s his job in the start-up Mosameat - he’s developing a machine that would help us avoid animal slaughter when having a craving for meat.

It was not really a coincidence that director and polar explorer Petr Horký was born 50 years after the invention of the fridge. Petr reached the Northern Pole on foot, travelled through Greenland, visited the Pole of Cold in Siberia and crossed the frozen Lake Khövsgöl. After the Velvet Revolution, whereas some tried their luck starting their own businesses, he started travelling. Since then, Petr has visited about a hundred countries and directed about the same number of movies.

During his travels, he’s been thinking a lot about the topic of collapses of big civilizations and the similarities with the current one. Although Petr is not one of those predicting the end of the world, Petr’s sure, that our future is not what it used to be. Something that has never happened in the history of man is happening. The changes of the world as we know it are only a hair's breadth away, who’s behind all of this? close

Heřman Volf likes to make his dreams come true. When he had an idea to ride a bike to Paris, under the Triumphal Arch, he just did it. It was a triumph and Heřman continued criss-crossing Europe on his bike, from Roma to Oslo. He has inspired many people and helped them get into the spirit as well – never mind, how much life messed up with them. Unexpectedly, the Way to Dreams, which is what Heřman Volf’s NGO is called, has become the way to dreams of many other people.

He is now in charge of the longest bike marathon in Czechia, has come up with the unique concept of “handy quadrathlon” and specialised sports training, also organizes experience events. Heřman has found the meaning of his life in helping the others finding the courage – “In the end, you’re not only helping the other person, but yourself,” says Heřman often. And he knows his stuff well as he sometimes needs a helping hand as well. close

Many of us have a quite happy marriage and beautiful kids, we are financially secured and successful at work. It seems we’ve found what we’re looking for. And at this moment we find ourselves crazy-in-love. With someone else. Why?

Fairy tales and stories of any kind have always been what Nora was fascinated by. That’s why she never left them apart. But besides stories with happy ending she daily listens to the stories of ordinary people whose lives were disrupted by someone unexpected. How can we understand “love triangles” together with the middle-age crisis - one of the biggest challenges of our lives?

If there`s something that Maurice loves, it would be the moments when he can influence other people’s stories and create something that truly moves them. After graduating from Graphic design at the university in Hague, he decided to move himself. Therefore he set up a project - social experiment called “Birthdaysuit”. The rules were clear: “Go and travel the world! No money, no clothes.” Does it sound crazy to you?

Maurice is now coming to show what he found on his way. What can we find out when we abandon the luxury of everyday life to get a chance to face our fears and discomfort instead?

Ondrej got his Ph.D. at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Lyon and at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. He chose philosophy because he found nothing more difficult among school subjects than that. He also perceives it an effective tool in the fight against stupidity. And above all against his own. That's also why he cares about spreading philosophy to people. The Night of Philosophy, the event he organized, attracted the attention of 2000 of them.

During TEDxPrague 2018, Ondřej will take a look at mistakes, failures and other negative twists in a new light. What meaning do they have for us? And can unexpected deviations from the path we consider normal, succeed in further development?

When you grow up in a basketball family, it is only natural that the first thing you pick up is a basketball. On the top of that Jana found she is damn good at that. So when she started to climb sport´s ladder, the world soon took notice. She became an NBA female winner. With her team, she won a gold medal at the European championship. And she achieved silver in the World tournament.

When she was accepting the prize for the best Czech female basketball player she already knew something was off. Despite all of her successes, she felt empty. What do you do when you suddenly find out that you are living a life you do not want?

The life of investigative journalists tends to be quite short but intense. Pavla Holcová has just gotten over five tumultuous years of her life and knows very well that getting your life turned upside down is easier than people think. Especially when playing with the fire of uncovering organized crime in the Balkans or suspicious Russian investments in Montenegro, pointing out money laundering or trying to find relations between Slovak politicians and Italian mafia.

What does the internationally awarded journalist, who has also looked under the hood of Panama Papers case, know about somersaults?

Denise Konečná has lots od energy - she dances, travels the world, is a successful DJ and studies psychology at Masaryk University in Brno. She has many friends as any other smiling and an open person has.

Denise has known she is a trans for a long time. But she decided to transition only two years ago. How different growing up could be? How people perceive you according to your gender? And what kind of somersaults has Denise experienced on her life journey towards a big change? close

Peter Růžička has started moving 44 years ago and he did not stop ever since. Even though the sport was always a hobby, he spent most of his adult life in front of a computer screen at IT security business. When he became a close friend with an Israeli movement teacher Ido Portal, everything changed.

Now Petr is behind the project “Movement is life” and he teaches the universal movement skills based on the “Ido Portal Method” in Czechia. It is a bit of dance, a bit of acrobacy and gymnastics but also about strength and skills derived from martial arts. There is also a bit of yoga and circus school included. And they also do somersaults. Because their effect to the human body and mind is surprisingly almost magical.

Jakub Maschuch is interested in innovation in the energy industry. He studied Electrical Engineering at ČVUT, and he is interested in smart grids and decentralized sources. In 2015 he was awarded the Energy Globe Award of the Czech Republic for the Wave micro electric power plant - a unique chips boiler that also produces electricity in addition to heat.

Jacob is keen on the future of the energy industry and the transformation of the economy and the society, which each major change in energy brings with it. You will learn more about what will power the states and their citizens in the future and about new resources and energy somersaults waiting for us in his TEDx talk.

Tom Olsen got his Master`s degree in social work. Today he works as a crime prevention coordinator. That is next to his position as an independent consultant and lecturer in Norway and on the international stage. He is attracted especially by underlying causes of entry and exit processes in extremist ideologies and groups. His conclusion is that most extremists don`t have a defence against compassion and love.

He will show us that actually entered extremism for other reasons than hate, which leaves the door wide open for an exit if met by the right person. Tom knows very well what he`s talking about - he`s got a very unique experience himself.

Kamila studied culturology at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. She’s never really used the knowledge in her life, though. She fell in love with education and didactics instead.

The initiator of the web platform called The Third Parent, also the author of same-named book, Kamila Petrovská thought, that her experience with teaching would make it easy for her to be a third parent. Later, she found out that not everything is the way she had thought. She never wanted to be a stepmother or a stepmonster. How to make a “patchwork” family and how does one ensure that everything is just right? close