Theme: Porous Borders

Unique collaboration between TEDx organizers from different European countries gathered to talk about refugees in a “relay race format”: Different cities, different speakers, different perspectives for new ideas on a complex theme.

Nowadays we are facing one of the greatest human flows in history. According to the United Nations reports, wars and economic crisis push 33,000 people daily to move from their countries looking for peace and fundamental rights. Women, men and children die every day on the long journey to salvation in an attempt to cross seas, borders, physical, political and cultural barriers. Far from being a temporary phenomenon, this issue requires immediate responses but also a wider reflection on human rights to face new long-term challenges. In this framework we intend to contribute to a constructive debate at international level, assuming a glocal format that transcends borders and opens new scenario for a deeper understanding of this matter and the people that it involves.
What is a border? It is something that protects or that divides us?
What if it became porous? Would it be a risk or an opportunity?

With this TEDxSalon we invite speakers and our communities to explore the theme from multiple points of view, offering a safe space to discuss an uncomfortable topic in a singular manner.

The Lovelace
Kardinal-Faulhaber-Straße 1
Munich, Bayern, 80333
Germany

Moritz Reitschuster

Activist+Operations Manager

Moritz Magnus Reitschuster (32) is an original „Münchner Kindl“. Since finishing his philosophy studies in 2015 he’s been actively involved in humanitarian aid. He started as a volunteer for the IHA helping refugees along the Balkan route. Afterwards he worked as a field coordinator for CESRT, a local grassroots initiative on the Greek island Chios. There he coordinated boat spotting and shore patrol and was responsible for the initial care of new arrivals. Besides this work Moritz built up a cooperation with the upcycling startup Mimycri – Boats to Bags in order to give abandoned refugee boats a second life – as bags, produced in collaboration with refugees themselves. For three years now he’s been the operations manager of the IHA (Intereuropean Human Aid Association Germany e.V.) where he has the overall responsibility for IHA’s humanitarian projects, being the first full-time employee of IHA in Germany.

Zarah Bruhn

Social Activist+Entrepreneur

Zarah Bruhn (27) originally from Bamberg, studied business studies and technology in Mannheim and Munich. During her semester abroad in Stockholm she took part in a refugees-welcome event. Realising that it’s nice to welcome refugees but not really helpful or sustainable for them in terms of integration, she returned to Germany with an innovative business plan in her mind. After several interns and jobs in the fields of venture capital and startups, she founded the social start-up „Social-Bee gGmbH“ together with her partner Maximilian Felsner in Munich. Germany's first integration service provider uses the temporary employment model to integrate refugees into the labour market and society, reinventing it socially. Thereby, the missing bridge between refugees and companies is built. Social-Bee takes care of all the bureaucratic work and supports its employees by offering them an opportunity to acquire further qualifications and integration programs.