THE CONFERENCE 2022

2022 MARKS THE 10TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONFERENCE. DURING THESE TEN YEARS EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. AND SURPRISINGLY LITTLE. AFTER A DECADE OF EXPLORING THE WORLD OF DIGITAL WE CAN CONCLUDE:

THE NEXT BIG THING TAKES TIME. URGENCY DOESN’T EQUAL SPEED.

IN 2022, WE’LL KEEP GETTING JIGGY WITH SYSTEMS AND NICHE TRENDS ALIKE. THE ABSURD AND THE TANGIBLE. THE IDEALISTIC AND THE REALISTIC. THE PROBLEMS AND THE SOLUTIONS.

BECAUSE IN THESE CLASHES – LIES THE NEXT BIG THING.

2022 MARKS THE 10TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONFERENCE. DURING THESE TEN YEARS EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. AND SURPRISINGLY LITTLE. AFTER A DECADE OF EXPLORING THE WORLD OF DIGITAL WE CAN CONCLUDE:

THE NEXT BIG THING TAKES TIME. URGENCY DOESN’T EQUAL SPEED.

IN 2022, WE’LL KEEP GETTING JIGGY WITH SYSTEMS AND NICHE TRENDS ALIKE. THE ABSURD AND THE TANGIBLE. THE IDEALISTIC AND THE REALISTIC. THE PROBLEMS AND THE SOLUTIONS.

BECAUSE IN THESE CLASHES – LIES THE NEXT BIG THING.

THE CONFERENCE

The Conference is a two-day conference where curious minds from all over the world meet to delve further into the promises and pitfalls of digital development and the human and machine relationship. Over two days we explore the complexity of systems. The micro and macro of it all. Societal changes. Niche trends. Human behavior. Art and culture. The future and the past. Stuff like that. The sessions are carefully curated to help you connect the dots between the widespread topics.

We also run a parallel side event program with workshops, food, masterclasses and festivities from which you can customize your own experience.

WHO’S YAPPING?

We invite speakers from all over the world representing a wide range of disciplines. On stage you can expect to find anything from brain scientists and activists to design experts, chefs and artists who will cover topics like AI, sociology and outer space. Think of it like a mix between your favorite arts museum and your best friend’s best thoughts. For reference, have a look in our grand video archive with 300+ recorded talks from previous years.

WHO’S ATTENDING?

The Conference goers represent a wide range of industries and expertise but to give you a hint one could describe the crowd as a mix of communicators of all kinds, creatives and executives with a common interest in digital practices and how the world works. There are product developers, architects, publishers, designers, culture workers, corp and public executives, librarians, organizers, creatives and probably a whole lotta more. We ourselves, of course, believe it to be a great mix and a good foundation for interesting conversations with peers and peers-to-be alike.

PRACTICALITIES

Malmö is located in the very south of Sweden, only 15 minutes away from Denmark and Copenhagen Airport. If you’re flying in from another country, we recommend you to book your flight to CPH Airport. Yes, to Denmark, no joke. From there, you travel to Malmö and Sweden by train. It only takes 20 minutes for you to arrive in the city center, close to the venue, the hotels and the hospitable warmth of the Malmöites.,

VENUE

More information coming soon 🙂

THE MALMÖ

Never satisfied, ever debated, always engaging. Malmö is a character of its own: a visionary city with a strong will and the confidence to go its own way. This not particularly royal, southern pearl of Sweden is a huge part of what The Conference is all about. Those who’ve been here before knows this very well, and those who haven’t are in for a pleasant surprise.

Malmö has been Swedish since the Danes gave it back to us in 1658. Nowadays there is a really nice bridge connecting Malmö to Copenhagen. In recent years, Malmö has made an amazing journey from industrial city to international center for innovation and culture.

Malmö might be small in size, but its rich cultural scene and vibrant urban life makes it feel like something much bigger.

The best part of being “not that big”? Rent a bike or take a walk, virtually everything is near. It is the city of youth and diversity. 50 percent are younger than 30 and collectively, the people of Malmö speak 176 different languages. Welcome to our Malmö!

THE PROGRAM

As always, we seek to explore who sets the agenda, what changes the playing field and how we all can shape society and business from now on. All in all, we tend to look a lot at systems. The program is a parallel track format with a bunch of keynotes in between, all carefully curated to help you connect the dots.

The program will be launched during Spring, but if you’re curious, have a look at 2019’s version to get a feeling.

THE SPEAKERS

Amazingly talented humans from all over the world – from different spheres and of different opinions – will share their intriguing projects and mind-blowing theories to help you navigate the complexity of now and beyond. Practically speaking, expect anything from neuroscientists to economists to artists to chefs.

Speakers will be announced continuously during Spring. While waiting, do get lost in our huge video archive with recorded talks from previous years.

THE 4 OUT OF 40 BRILLIANT SOULS ANNOUNCED SO FAR

CAROLYN STEEL

Architect & author, Sitopia | Hungry city (UK)

What is a good life? Through the lens of food and cities British architect and author Carolyn Steel poses burning questions about value and progress, illuminating the obscure (and sometimes outright stupid) systems that we’ve put in place to live life better. For Carolyn, how we’ll eat in the future is really a matter of how we want to live and at The Conference 2022 she’ll take us on a journey through the many ways in which food has and could shape our cities and societies.Carolyn Steel is a leading thinker on food and cities. She is the author of the award-winning Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives and Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World. Her concept of Sitopia, or food-place (from the Greek sitos, food + topos, place), has gained broad recognition across a wide range of fields in design, ecology, academia and the arts.

DARJA ISAKSSON

Director General, Vinnova (SWE)

Darja Isaksson is Director General of Vinnova, Sweden’s national innovation agency, and serves as a member of the Swedish government’s National Digitalization Council. As the founder of two innovation studios, she has worked in business and product development for clients such as Sony Ericsson, Ikea and Husqvarna too. Darja has served as adviser to the Prime Minister’s Innovation Council, been recognized as one of Sweden’s most powerful opinion-makers and was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in digital government by the website Apolitical.So, who’d be better suited to say a thing or two about innovation? Exactly. You’ll hear from Darja Isaksson in a session called ”How to organize innovation” in which she’ll talk about large-scale mission-driven innovation.

KAROL GOBCZYŃSKI

Head of Climate and Energy, Ingka group | IKEA (SWE)

Karol Gobczyński is Head of Climate and Energy at Ingka Group, which is the largest IKEA franchisee with 392 stores in 32 countries, responsible for 90 % of IKEA sales (!). IKEA has committed to become climate positive by 2030 and it is Karol’s job to secure that the organisation meets its climate goals and co-creates climate positive IKEA.At The Conference, Karol will talk about how net zero has become a powerful framework to align organisations and sectors in solving a system scale problem, and what we can we learn from this journey when it comes to other large-scale, systemic crisis.

VICTOR GALAZ

Deputy Director, Stockholm Resilience Centre (SWE)

Victor Galaz is associate professor in political science and the deputy director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre. His research focuses on financial systems, and their connection to large-scale environmental change with global non-linear climate repercussions.In a session about models for systems thinking, Victor Galaz will elaborate on the Planetary boundaries concept for measuring human actions impact on the Earths systems – and enabling humanity to continue to develop and thrive for generations to come.

SIDE EVENTS

Whereas The Conference is two days of super curated talks at Slagthuset, the side event program is more of a pick and choose kind of venture. It’s what we call our “off conf” program with a mix of masterclasses, workshops, dinners and social events – all signed, sealed and delivered by speakers from The Conference and brilliant minds from our community. Simply put: The side event program is your alibi to stay in town a bit longer and get to know the Malmö community – or for busy non-conf goers to have a small bite anyhow.

The side event program will be launched during Spring.

Dates: August 22-26