There was silence in the hall when Mario Laginha began to play at the Estoril Conference. The well-known Portuguese jazz musician was invited to explain how music can save lives.
“Sometimes I meet people who are experts on the economy. All they talk about is numbers, numbers, numbers. But let’s rather talk about people. Because the numbers come from people who work or don’t work, some good and some bad.”
A more humane world: that was the theme of the Estoril 2023 Conference, with discussions ranging from the impact of artificial intelligence to world peace, showing that working for positive change is a common goal.
Peace, Planet, New Policies and People
Inspirational stories regarding planet preservation, to ideas for shaping new policies in the future and the future of health: Estoril Conferences delivered on many points. The four themes of the Conferences (People, Planet, Peace and New Policies) were all tackled by some of the most brilliant minds in the world.
Peace
Among them: Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations.
“I think European solidarity is working well so far. But this cannot be taken for granted. Because maintaining not only European solidarity but also transatlantic solidarity is the be-all and end-all for our common victory in the future.”
In the presence of Nobel laureates, politicians, scientists and environmentalists, the conference addressed some of the most pressing challenges of the day and provided opportunities for young generations to engage with these issues.
One young participant: “There are so many people from so many fields and scientific disciplines coming here. I think it’s a good opportunity to learn more about what has already been researched, but also about what is to come in the future.”
Planet
When it comes to the Planet, Maya Gabeira was the person Euronews turned to.
Big Wave Surfer, and current holder of the world record for the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman, she told Euronews that in order to re-humanize the sea, we need to find bridges to connect.
For her, people working with the sea, such as surfers, could very well be this missing link.
Suffering a major injury after an accident while surfing waves in Nazaré, Portugal, she found herself in a near-death experience.
Revived on the shore, this experience left a scar she decided to feed from—leading her, years later, to break a world record.
“I think to live is to have hope. Otherwise, you shouldn’t wake up in the morning”, she told Euronews.
“Because we’re living in a hot mess, you know!”
Although this would have left many people scared for life, she decided to fight for what could have killed her.
“There’s a lot of life below water. And you know, they don’t speak like we do. So in order to protect the ocean and to sensibilise society, it is important that people that spend a lot of time in the ocean and love the ocean and work and the ocean, understand the crisis, and speak out for it.”
She has since started campaigning in favour of ocean protection, and has been one of the voices at the conference voicing protection for oceans and its life.
New Policies
For Danilo Turk, former President of Slovenia and President of Club de Madrid, New Policies may very well be the way forward in shaping the future.
“I would plead for something that would produce greater equity and fairness and justice in societies,” he told Euronews.
For him, some urgent themes need to be addressed if we want to preserve our democratic societies – and that is, fighting nationalism.
“We have seen a rise of nationalist ideologies in different parts of the world and in different, very different nations. Of course, not all nationalisms are the same, but some nationalisms, particularly the big powers, are very dangerous, dangerous to international peace and security.”
People
As there are no connections without inspirations for people, the Estoril Conferences culminated with the 5th Patient Awards Ceremony.
Celebrating some of the biggest and most visionary recent developments in health innovations, the awards aimed at celebrating in categories, such as ‘Patient Innovation’, ‘Caregiver Innovators’, and ‘Collaborator Innovator’, exceptional innovations and groundbreaking technologies.
Adriana Mallozzi, winner of the Patient Innovation, could be seen as the pinnacle of the conference. Born with cerebral palsy and quadriplegic, her life has undergone a remarkable transformation thanks to assistive technology.
Fuelled by her entrepreneurial drive and a deep love for technology, she has been dedicated to extending this transformation to a larger community of individuals with disabilities, enabling them to lead more inclusive and self-reliant lives.
This led her to Estoril Conferences, where she shared with the public the remarkable impact of the technology she and her team developed to help people with disabilities access digital environments.
An example of what Estoril Conferences strives for: inspiring new generations to have a positive impact, by connecting people that may not have the opportunity to exchange otherwise.
