Theme: Countdown: We can change climate change!

TEDxOranjestad COUNTDOWN Event will be held in the middle of nature at the Aruba National Park. Seven local speakers will present their ideas on how to better the environment on small islands.

Hofi Shon Shoco
Aruba National Park
Santa Cruz, Aruba, 00000
Aruba

Anne Witsenburg

Director Monuments Fund Aruba

Anne Witsenburg studied Architecture at the Delft Technical University in The Netherlands. She attended summer school in Moscow and New York and followed studies in Public Administration specializing in Change Management. She is the director of Stichting Monumentenfonds Aruba. Goal of the foundation is to preserve monuments on the island of Aruba by acquiring, restoring, renting and maintaining monuments in a sustainable way. The foundation aims to raise public awareness about cultural heritage. Anne works at the interface of the 'hard' and 'soft' sector, particularly in real estate and organizational change, focusing on people. Anne has been working as a volunteer for almost 25 years in the fields of refugee care, neighborhood development and addiction care.

Arilee Arends

Eco-friendly Entrepreneur

Arilee Arends is a law student at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She has been selected to be part of the Amsterdam Law Firm of the University of Amsterdam and is an Honors Student of the Faculty of Law. As a child she has always felt a certain pull towards nature and the need to protect it and its creatures. During her second year at law school she decided to take action and start a business called "Talk Eco To Me", after not being able to find truly eco-friendly and responsibly made products on the big market. Her goal is to show that sustainability can be a part of everyone’s daily life.

Christie Mettes

Environmental Scientist & Social Entrepreneur

After seeing a pirated version of "An Inconvenient Truth" in 2006 an alarmed Christie started a flyer campaign in Aruba. While the campaign itself had little impact on the island, this action shaped her life forever. She changed her study path and completed a graduate program in environmental science at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands. Believing strongly that the fight against climate change should go hand in hand with poverty reduction she spent much of her education outside of Europe doing research in middle income countries. After completing an internship with Metabolic she joined the team and ended up leading Metabolic Foundation with her partner Tony. Together they've worked on a wide scope of projects looking at DIY-able appropriate technology and community-based development in Thailand, Jamaica, and in her home country of Aruba, where the foundation started Brenchie's Lab, a community maker space, and Plastic Beach Party, a small scale plastic recycling facility.

Elthon Lampe

Small Island Sustainable Development Activist

Elthon Lampe has an engineering degree in electrical energy conversion. After finishing his study he worked and gained experience in several industries including utility and hotel sector. In the utility sector he was the main driver for introducing a solar policy to the island of Aruba to help customers connect to the national electrical grid. He is now the director of Activated Power, a company that sells electric vehicles and innovative products. Elthon Lampe is best known for his extracurricular activities of teaching electrical science and his contribution to many conferences and strategic plan platforms regarding sustainable development. He strongly believes that Aruba could already be 100% energized by using renewable energy. His famous quote: “Think big, start small, move fast.”

Gregory Fun-A-Fat

Environmentalist with an Entrepreneurial Spirit

Gregory was born on the Caribbean island of Aruba. He left to study abroad and obtained a doctoral degree in Pharmacy in 2004. He always knew he wanted to make a positive impact on his island. This and his entrepreneurial spirit lead him to open his first company that collects used cooking oils around the island to make biodiesel. His passion for agriculture was the driving force behind the creation of 297 Farm, the first indoor hydroponic farm in Aruba. Greg is also the co-founder and current President of United Farmers Aruba Association (UFA). Through these learned experiences he became an advocate on the subject of circular economy in small island states.

Nichole Danser

Coral Restauration Expert

After teaching math in California for 6 years Nichole moved to Italy to live and teach in the country sides of Tuscany. After two years in Florence the blue oceans called her to the beautiful island of Aruba where she taught Math at the International School. Her foundation, ScubbleBubbles, started as a school project. Nichole, as their teacher, convinced 8 students to learn how to SCUBA dive. The group spent the first year working on skills and enjoying dives around Aruba, but over time they noticed the coral reefs were changing. They spent a year conducting research, raising money, and traveling to Bonaire to get specialized training on coral restoration. The ScubbleBubbles Foundation is a part of our Reef Rescue Network, and Nichole is in charge to certify new PADI Reef Rescue Divers on the island of Aruba. The foundation focusses on getting more local youth involved in ocean conservation activities.

Robert-Jan Moons

Multi-faceted Scientific Researcher

Robert-Jan Moons is an Aruban native. He received his MSc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology and evolved from a scientific researcher in field of telecoms and being responsible for product development in the banking sector to program management. He has ample experience with advisory studies in the field of sustainable development. He is skilled at leading public-private committees and stakeholder management. He is currently active as an independent consultant and assists utility companies, businesses and citizens with transitioning to more sustainability. Besides that, he has been reducing his own carbon footprint with practical solutions.