Speakers13
Saskia van den Muijsenberg
Certified Biomimicry Professional
Biomimicry, Circular Economy, Regenerative Business
Saskia van den Muijsenberg
Visit profileSaskia van den Muijsenberg shows how biomimicry can contribute to solving issues in organizations and society
Biomimicry NL describes biomimicry as ‘imitating life’. Using nature as inspiration to solve problems in our human societies. Does that still sound a bit abstract? It doesn’t have to be according to biomimicry expert Saskia van den Muijsenberg. She explains in a practical way how biomimicry can help people and organizations face complex challenges. Because, “we are nature, and once you start seeing this, you start seeing connections all around you.”
“Take care of the place that takes care of you“, that’s really the essence. The reason biomimicry stayed on her mind when Saskia was introduced to it in 2009:
“We as humans want to take care of our children and grandchildren. But we can’t physically do that for our descendants seven generations from now. What we can do is create an environment that takes care of them.”
That realization touched her, as it did the many people she inspires with biomimicry. Audiences are sometimes moved to tears. So Saskia strives for a better, more beautiful, fairer and healthier world, and if you ask her, biomimicry plays a key role in her mission.
According to Saskia, the philosophy of biomimicry can be applied in all facets of our personal lives, but also in all areas within various organizations. It can provide new perspective and guidance for engineers and architects, economists, policy makers, educators and entrepreneurs, for example.
Saskia van den Muijsenberg therefore appeals to a broad audience with her lectures and workshops, which are interesting for anyone who wants practical tools and answers to the question: “How can I start making changes tomorrow in order to do better?”

Daphne Laan
Innovative leader & Bridge builder
Feminine leadership, Entrepreneurship
Daphne Laan
Visit profileDaphne Laan is a bridge builder and expert in the field of feminine leadership
During her trip around the world, Daphne read the book ‘The Google Story’, and one sentence in particular stuck in her mind: “To make the unthinkable possible”. After some time had passed, she ended up having a cup of coffee at Google Netherlands, which marks a new beginning in her career.
What drives Daphne Laan to encourage transformation in people and (corporate) organisations? The essence of it all lies in her family history. She tells this story for the first time during the Peace Event Building Bridges, which she organises and hosts. A bridge builder, that is exactly how she describes herself. She makes the connection between practice and science, male and female values, head and heart, old and new. For years, Daphne advised boards on digital transformation, so stakeholder management is nothing new for her.
“If you want people to support your vision, to achieve a cultural change, then you have to look at what lies under the carpet, not just at the tangible things on the table. Knowing what goes on between the lines, is crucial.”
With her lectures, she wants to inspire CEOs, founders and shareholders, but also light the fire of change in people who – like her – work for large corporates and recognise themselves in her story. People who want to move forward, but are stuck. She demonstrates to the young generation of future leaders that feminine leadership and intuition are very valuable.

Niek van den Adel
Mr Featherforce
Resilience, Agility, Adaptability
If you ask Niek, we as a society are a collective burnout in the making. Climate change and high work pressure, these are the big issues of our time. How do we deal with them? How do we change and adapt? Last but not least; how do we become and stay happy? One word: Resilience.
If there is one person whose resilience has been put to the test, it is Niek van den Adel. His statements are anything but empty words, as he experienced firsthand that through resilience you can find a good portion of happiness, even in the deepest of valleys.
At age twenty-eight, he ended up in a wheelchair after a fatal incident. Although he could never have imagined this shortly after the accident, he works hard to see this event as a gift.
“Happiness is not in your legs but between your ears.”
Niek van den Adel is the resilience speaker of the moment. Book him for your event. Curious about Niek’s complete story? View his profile.

Harm Edens
Producer & Screenwriter & Columnist
Energy Transition, Resources & Biodiversity
Harm Edens
Visit profileKnowledge, humor and age; according to Harm, the prerequisites for being able to kick against sacred cows and keep pushing the boundaries
Harm is of course known to the general public as host of the satirical news program Dit Was Het Nieuws, language quiz 10 voor Taal and the Four Day News. But that is only the tip of the (melting) iceberg. Harm has been committed to nature conservation and sustainability for almost 30 years. Privately, too, he lives as sustainably as possible, eats with the seasons and – despite his great love for art city New York – has even given up flying.
Rumbling in the margins
Once Harm saw Princess Irene speaking in front of a group of people about sustainability. An 88-year-old man in the audience exclaimed, “I’m doing it all for my grandchildren“. Irene – then also in her 80s – replied somewhat piqued “if you don’t think life is worth doing it for yourself, then it won’t be anything!”
“That’s the way I see it. If you only do it for your children or grandchildren, you don’t really feel it. You also have to want it for yourself, for nature, for everything on earth.”
And it’s desperately needed too. Ecosystems are on the verge of collapse, deforestation, freshwater and resource shortages, plastic soup. Or in Harm’s words, “It’s drama! The Earth Overshoot Day is at the end of July, which means 5 months of living at the expense of the future, every year.” His lectures are a plea to stop messing around on the margins, and get two feet in the new economy.
“Companies need to stop lying to us, young people need to demand a better future from those currently in power, and we need to dream and act bigger and more radically.“
