TEDxUniversityofMalta: From Redesigning Our Approach To Climate Change To Immortalising Yesteryear’s Fashion
Featured speakers from TEDxUniversityofMalta have their eyes set eternally on the horizon. In the latest edition, the platform welcomed experts who deal with many modern issues and their solutions.
A host of themes were presented at the event which was held last November. From climate change and how we can engineer our way out of it, to the philosophy behind the notion that ‘knowledge is power’ as far as our genetic health goes.
One speaker also explored how Yesteryear’s fashion can be revitalised and even imortalised.
We saw how hindsight can do us a solid as far as our health and happiness goes, and questioned the nuances tied to happiness and heartbreak.
Among the brightest, the bravest, and the most inspired took the stage at TEDx UoM and imparted a wonderous insight with all they had to say.
1. Jonathan Mizzi: Designing Humanity Out Of A Climate Crisis
“We must convert hindsight into creative foresight and embrace hope.”
Jonathan Mizzi is a Maltese-British architect and designer, who runs Mizzi Studio: a multidisciplinary practice specialising in Bio-architecture.
Mizzi talked about humanity’s greatest challenge: the Climate Crisis, and how we can design our way out of it.
He unpacks the legacy of our planet’s most pressing and pervasive episode: the twin catastrophe of climate change and biodiversity erosion, highlighting the root cause; how the human race’s technological advancements have led to its own downfall.
In his talk, Jonathan highlights the role of technology, innovation, and design throughout history and discusses the ways in which these three elements are the key to solving the crisis.
“What we do in this decade will likely determine the future of our species,” he states.
Designing Humanity out of a Climate Crisis is a talk that outlines both a problem and a plan. Its underlying message: acknowledge hindsight, embrace hope, drive action.
2. Roberta Rizzo: Genetic Counselling – How Much Do You Want To Know?
Rizzo, a UK, and European registered genetic counsellor use her experience to explore a client’s personal and family narrative to guide them towards an informed choice. She currently works in Southampton Hospital, having previously gained experience in London. And her work involves counselling families affected by genetic conditions and familial cancer.
“When somebody with cancer is diagnosed and identified to have a genetic condition, their family members can get tested to see whether they are at risk. In the UK that means advanced screening, life-saving surgery, and medication.”
Imagine you had access to tools that test for genetic conditions. If so, would you like to know which among them, do you suffer from?
They say knowledge is power, but is it, really? Living life knowing what your body is predisposed to may lead you down a lonely road, looking over your shoulder at every turn out of fear that you may one day face a shocking diagnosis. But to some, it could be a lifesaver.
Hindsight can be a powerful tool indeed. But this talk questioned the instinct behind the answer. What conditions would you want to know about, or not know about? What genetics is personal, and what isn’t?
3. Iggy Fenech: Making Yesteryear’s Fashions Hot Again
Iggy Fenech is an author and editor for local papers, news, and websites, and harbours a background in culture, art, lifestyle, and fashion. He made a name for himself in local fashion circles, particularly through the incorporation of vintage accessories and items of clothing.
He starts his talk by opening up about where it all began.
“This passion for the stories that come with clothes and of giving articles of clothing new stories started with one article of clothing: an għonnella.”
He later touches on what elements stand out in particular pieces. Elements that serve as the foundation to magnify the history, as well as the quality, of each specific item.
Fenech has been sporting some thought-provoking outfits over the last five years. Of which would constitute anything from ruffs made from 100-year-old Maltese lace, a 20th-century għonnella, an oversized silver filigree ear brooch, a 1970s blue velvet blazer, high necklines, and oversized shoulders.
However, he has somehow managed to strike the right balance between costume and fashion.
In his talk, Fenech explains why history and art have been major influences on his style and sartorial choices, and why he believes that antique items of clothing and accessories should be given a chance to play their part in the modern world.
4. Emily Jones: If Only I’d Known Then
Emily is a plus-size influencer based in Malta. After losing her city job in London due to ill health, and dealing with a family crisis in Malta after her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Emily decided to put her energy into starting an Instagram page, with this becoming her full-time gig.
As a chronic-pain sufferer, Emily’s focus has been to bring awareness to an invisible disability, diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis and fibromyalgia in her mid-twenties, and highlighting the instance where it all began:
“I started finding that I was struggling with a lot of pain. Stiff, sore joints, constant headaches, upset stomachs, the list goes on. Initially, I just thought that I needed a lifestyle change. My pain was dismissed by one doctor as just me being overweight, deskbound, and needing a bit more exercise.”
“I can’t tell you how much that affected me. He had just confirmed what I was conditioned to believe all along. That I was just fat and lazy and that the pain was all my fault.”
But despite correcting the situation, nothing mitigated the pain. And in suffering from chronic pain, Emily has shifted her focus to try and bring awareness on the topics of disability, inflammatory arthritis, and fibromyalgia, after being diagnosed in her mid-twenties.
She manages a successful Onlyfans page and is enthusiastic about breaking the taboos around this controversial platform.
She takes a trip down memory lane, reflecting upon experiences that shaped her outlook from varying aspects. Health, relationships, beauty, and work are particular subjects she touches on from a positive, but a negative light too.
5. Sarah Young: Till Death Do Us Part
Sarah Young, a luxury event planner, specialises in extravagant weddings and celebrations. With over 20 years of experience and over 1,000 events planned, Sarah creates lavish and enthralling experiences for her discerning clients. At 24, she became Malta’s first wedding planner.
Having already touched on the power of hindsight before, here Young maintains that it could be a wonderful thing when it comes to love, relationships and marriage.
Happiness and heartbreak often come hand in hand. Like most things in life, everything slowly evolves, we evolve, we grow closer and sometimes we grow apart.
Nevertheless, our personal development is something we are constantly trying to improve. What comes to mind when you think of marriage? Is it influenced by culture, a belief system, a bond never to be broken?
Sarah Young takes you on a journey into the historical origins of marriage, the development of its meaning over time and how society and tradition are constantly influencing the way we perceive the happily ever after construct.
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