Few of us can be found on Sunday mornings sitting at the breakfast table, sipping our coffee, buried under the gigantic, crinkly pages of a newspaper. But if you ever end up on the editorial pages, you often find those exaggerated, sometimes cryptic images depicting familiar faces or strange situations – caricatures and political cartoons long have been an essential part of newspapers and political or satirical magazines. Their unique ability to break down dense political and social issues and condensing the artists’ opinion into image is often astounding but always thought-provoking and trenc ..read more

‘‘War on women’’- this was one of the headlining discussion panels of this year’s 4GAMECHANGERS Festival in Vienna. Focused on the voices of women, be they witnesses, victims, or advocates of war-torn areas, the panelists, among which was Jody Williams, brought attention to the vital role women play in the peace process. Jody Williams is an outspoken American political activist, serving as the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) formally launched in 1992. The initiative brought about the signing of the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines ..read more

Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon, captivates its visitors with pristine natural beauty, a fascinating array of cultural displays and distance from the masses of tourists that would usually flock towards destinations as beautiful as this small mountain kingdom. With the global tourism industry being confronted with great sustainability challenges, the need to mend the gap between sustained economic growth and commitment to preserving natural heritage has intensified drastically in recent years. Bhutan, with its unique approach to sustainable tourism, presents a shining example of a soluti ..read more

For most, when a woman falls pregnant, it is an occasion worthy of a celebration for the nine months of gestation which she is going to experience. This physical and emotional change may prove to be challenging, and she will need as much support as possible, especially from her partner, the father of the baby.  This support usually comes in the form of emotional commitment and everyday involvement, and perhaps also by way of an announcement of “We are pregnant”. Ah, those dastardly pronouns strike again The phrase “We are pregnant” coming from a heterosexual couple has been floating aroun ..read more

Founder of MIT’s Urban Metabolism Group and Director of the University’s Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI), Professor John Fernández has spent more than twenty-five years looking for innovative solutions to pressing sustainability issues.  Both an esteemed academic and a practicing architect, John possesses a deep understanding of the intricate relationship between urban design, technology, and environmental consciousness. A true pioneer in his field, he recognizes sustainability not as a mere concept, but as a practical matter, actively pursuing projects that bridge the gap betwee ..read more

2023 marks the tenth year since the United Nations (UN) declared a particular, and peculiar day as one of its many UN days on 19 November – World Toilet Day. Supporting two of the three pillars of the UN – Human Rights, Peace and Security and Development, World Toilet Day raises awareness about the lack of basic sanitary facilities in some parts of the world, such as India, Indonesia, and some African nations. The right to water and sanitation was also declared a human right by the UN in 2010.  The world is facing an adversity to reach the UN goal of making basic sanitation and water acce ..read more

Working from home has brought about significant challenges for many people, especially during the pandemic, but it has also opened new opportunities to work and inclusion. While in some places, such as the US and Germany, remote working has become much more common, Austria registers a declining trend of an average of 14% of the working population located at the home office. Still, remote work is on the radar and depending on the branch of trade, up to 73% of people may work from home semi-permanently.  Recent research records the benefits of remote work for people who experience neurodive ..read more

Recent developments aiming towards social change have attempted to achieve greater representation of minority groups in all areas of our society. Especially in popular culture and the entertainment industry, we can see efforts include more women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and People of Color as protagonists, as well as an increased focus on authentic experiences. The aim is to move away from the traditional focus on cishet white men’s stories where e.g. women only play the supporting roles and explore other ways of narrative cinema. The now widespread term “male gaze” is used to disma ..read more

Technology surprises us more and more every day with its rapid advancement, sometimes to a point that frightens us. The thought of it one day controlling everything around us is becoming more of a real concern. However, it’s not the technology itself that we should fear,  it’s the minds behind it, the controllers. It was Sebastian Schrof, specialist in robotics and design, who stated this at the beginning of our interview, following his inspiring talk at our TEDx Vienna On the Rise conference. And it was Sebastian who in his talk reminded us of the love we should have for our home, the ea ..read more

“Will artificial intelligence take over the world?” That’s a question we keep hearing over and over again. Taking into consideration that in many complex situations, AI is nowhere close to “replacing” humans, we don’t have to worry about AI “taking over the world.” Well, at least for now.  At the TEDxVienna “On The Rise” event last October, we had the honor of having AI researcher Dr. Mennatallah El-Assady (“Menna”) give her first TEDx talk on explainable AI and how interactive human-AI collaboration interfaces can be used for effective problem-solving and decision-making.  Currently ..read more