Keynotes & Panel Discussions

Get excited and dive with our notable speakers from all over the world into the topic of ISWI 2025. During the Week we will offer several keynotes and panel discussion that focus on different aspects of the topic of “Sharing Power, Giving Opportunities and Enabling Participation”. The speakers and panelists will be announced before the conference.

World In Flux - And Our Role In It

Join us for our first discussion in ISWI 2025! It feels like our world is a rollercoaster and we are part of it. But where does it go and how can we influence the direction? To kick things off, we have invited speakers from different backgrounds to share their perspectives on our main topic in short inputs. And we also want to get your perspectives. So come around, get involved and let’s get ISWI 2025 started together.

James O. Young
Chris Melzer

Bee-yond Culture

What is “culture” — and what do we assume when we speak of it? In Bee-yond Culture, we take a critical look at cultural concepts and their risks, such as cultural rascism and stereotyping. Prof. Arnold Groh will open with insights on Theories of Culture. Afterwards you have the possibility to discuss with diverse speakers from different fields about the role of arts and culture in society. ISWI 2025 invites you to challenge prejudices, rethink “culture” and experience dialogue that bridges worlds.

Prof. Arnold Groh
Dr. Lea Horvat
James O. Young
Black Aspiring Creators
Stephan Fischer

Keynote - Distribution of Wealth

What is wealth and how to distribute it fairly? This is the major question for our interactive fishbowl discussion, where we will discuss the complexities of global inequality. In a short input Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah (New Economics Foundation) will give his perspective on the topic, which will be discussed with you and Ph.D. Vasco Molini (Senior Economist at World Bank). So join the bowl and dive deep into the topic.

Vasco Molini

Panel - Part(y)cipation through Sports

Sports can be a driving factor for participation and inclusion in society. Together with Sven Spannekrebs (Olympic trainer of Yusra Mardini, who participated in the refugees team in Rio 2016) and Dr. Antonio De Fano (trainer of the Italian Olympic team 2024 for breakdance) we want to discuss with you the possibilities and limits of sports to foster participation. At the same time we want to address, what it requires to lift these potentials and avoid drawbacks. Topics like self-awareness, empowerment and societal change, but also commercialisation of sports and health will be adressed. So join us and bring in your thoughts and experiences.

Antonio De Fano
Sven Spannekrebs

Panel - Ethical AI

The development and usage of Artificial Intelligence and algorithms have been on the rise for the last few years. It is nowadays part of our everyday life, influencing how we participate in society. But next to the positive impacts, there are ethical concerns about how AI and algorithms are currently used. In our panel, we will address topics like the role of big tech companies, biases of AI and algorithms and how to use i ethically. Our panelists Tianling Yang (Weizenbaum Institute), Aline Blankertz (rebalance now) and Michael Seemann (free journalist) will assess the development and discuss their thoughts on the current state and progress that needs to be made.

Tianling Yang
Michael Seemann
Aline Blankertz