Theme: Inertia

TEDx is coming to UWC Red Cross Nordic! On March 6th, 2021, a group of students will present inspiring and informative talks on a wide range of topics ranging from time control to artificial intelligence.

TEDxUWCRCN will take place at United World College Red Cross Nordic (UWCRCN), one of the eighteen United World College schools all over the world. UWCRCN is located in Flekke, Sogn og Fjordane on the west coast of Norway. Although a small community in size, Flekke is one of the most diverse cities in Norway. Our school, UWCRCN is a dynamic community with current students representing close to 100 nationalities. Each of these students have prevailed through a rigorous application process and are all exceptionally motivated and driven to improving and advancing the world through politics, art, science, economics, technology, and more.

The event will take place in the auditorium of UWC Red Cross Nordic. With a spacious stage and an arsenal of technological equipments, the auditorium has the ability to optimize the success of the event. The venue has the capacity of 240 people, and is well decorated with flags from over 100 different countries to capture the diversity of the location.

This year's theme, “Inertia”, enables a wide array of topics to be brought up by our speakers. This theme was selected in order to cater for the broad and diverse interests of our students, guaranteeing that speakers from a variety of fields will be able to share their expertise with an abundance of avid and intrigued listeners.

Auditorium at UWC Red Cross Nordic
UWC Red Cross Nordic
Flekke, Sogn og Fjordane, 6968
Norway

Birch Banks

Student

My name is Birch from the US and I'm a rather big fan of the outdoors. For that reason, my talk will be addressing the rapid loss of wild spaces around the world and why it isn't everyone's fault it's happening. Inertia is simply the tendency for something to continue its current course of action unless a significant force acts upon it, such as environmentalists acting against a big business.

Elsa Fridell

Student

Elsa is a Swedish first-year student at UWCRCN. She grew up in Jönköping the city of water and safety matches. She spends her time reading, swimming, knitting, socializing, and feels no shame in forcing her friends to enjoy her favorite movies and books. She views inertia as the resistance of speed in our everyday lives which we can use to control the way we perceive time. She intends on exploring this further by discussing the force of slowness and how we can use it as a tool to take control of our lives. She identifies with the color yellow and looks forward to giving her TED talk.

Filip Kocian

Student

Filip likes the definition of inertia used in physics - the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. In his talk, he will introduce the concept of startups and how they turn the future into the present. He also likes space, physics, and applying economic concepts in inappropriate situations.

Laura Neal

Student

Laura is a Norwegian first-year at UWCRCN. Since the age of 6, she has had a chronic illness. Ever since, she has faced several obstacles and prejudices from society that have fueled her interest in political activism. She views inertia as the role forced upon the chronically ill and aims to explore the consequences of it in her talk. She is excited and looks forward to sharing her experience.

Omar Ali Ahmed

Student

He is from Alexandria, the beautiful costal capital of Egypt. His interests are confined between equations and human rights. He conducted research about the use of deep learning for medical diagnosis, and he cannot wait to share the excitement that he got from this experience about how this technology can contribute to more equitable healthcare models.

Paz Ortíz Santa Maria

Student

Paz is a first-year student at UWC RCN. Eighteen years ago, she saw the sun for the first time in Cusco, Peru. Her city is located at 3,399 meters above sea level, a height full of wonder and beauty, but also (dangerously) low on oxygen. Since childhood, Paz has been interested in books, movies, art and lost causes, and her biggest passions are film, philosophy and justice. She is a devoted defender of women's rights and gender equality. She aspires to become a war correspondent in the future and bring the world’s attention to the places and people that need it through her photographs, films and articles.

Rin Sato

Student

Rin was born and raised in Japan, the country of sushi and anime. To her "Inertia" is like laziness or unwillingness to make a change.