The keynote speakers: short biographies
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Edward de Bono, Malta
Edward de Bono is regarded by many as the leading authority in the field of creative thinking, innovation and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He is equally renowned for his development of the Six Thinking Hats® technique and the Direct Attention Thinking Tools™ (D.A.T.T.™) framework.
Dr. de Bono is the originator of the concept - and formal tools - of Lateral Thinking, which is now a part of language enjoying an entry in the Oxford Dictionary. His techniques and work focus on improving the elements that constitute a perception and the formal design and application of the frameworks required towards innovative and creative action.
He has written 76 books with translations into 40 languages and has been invited to lecture in 58 countries. His methods are now mandatory on the school curriculum in many countries and widely used in others. The appeal of Dr. de Bono's work is its simplicity and practicality. It can be used by four year olds and by senior executives; by Down Syndrome youngsters and Nobel Laureates.
Dr. de Bono acts as advisor to various Governments, cities, regional Governments and global organisations dealing on a macro level with diverse topics including economy, unemployment, social policy, recidivism, pensions, health care, finance, transportation, education, conflict resolution, judicial processes, foresight scenario design etc. He established the World Centre for New Thinking which acts as a platform and channel to make visible New Thinking from any source.
Prof. Ursula Staudinger, Bremen, Germany
Prof. Dr. Ursula M. Staudinger is Vice President of Jacobs University Bremen and Founding Dean of the Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development.
Between 2008 and 2010, Prof. Staudinger was serving as President of the German Psychological Society DGPs, and since 2007 she has been Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Between 1999 and 2003, Ursula M. Staudinger was Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Technical University Dresden. Prior to that, she was Senior Scientist of the Max Planck Institute of Human Development. Prof. Staudinger is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science and corresponding member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences.
Prof. Joan Freeman, London, England UK
Joan Freeman is a distinguished British psychologist working for the development of human abilities to their highest levels. She has conducted substantial research over 35 years and has published widely in this area, including 17 books translated into many languages. For the UK government, she provides advice and has written two major reports on educating the gifted and talented.
Professor Freeman is Founding President of the European Council for High Ability (ECHA). She is an elected Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Honorary Fellow of the College of Teachers and Patron of the National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE). She is Founder and Chair of the think-tank, the Tower Education Group, which is carrying out world-wide research. She was honoured by the British Psychological Society with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work with the gifted and talented.
Plenary Speakers
Prof. Charles Hopkins, Toronto, Canada
Prof. Charles Hopkins is currently the UNESCO Chair at York University in Toronto, Canada where he coordinates an international network of teacher education institutions from 55 countries collaboratively working upon the reorientation of elementary and secondary teacher education to address sustainable development. Hopkins is also a United Nations University (UNU) Chair on Education for Sustainable Development, developing Regional Centers of Expertise in (ESD) globally.
Prof. Hopkins, as a former Superintendent with the Toronto Board of Education and as a long time leader in the fields of education and ESD, lectures and meets with education leaders around the world.
Prof.em. Harm Paschen, Bielefeld, Germany
Since 1980 Prof. Dr. Harm Paschen holds a position as professor of Systematics of Educational Science at Bielefeld University. His main fields in teaching and research has included topics, incl. publications, on Logos of Educational Science (1979), Analysis and standards of Pedagogical Argumentations (1990-1996); Systematics of Pedagogical Approaches – Pedagogies (since 1997-), Development of Human Domains of Knowledge and their Integration (since 2005); Qualities of knowledge of adults (since 2008).
Prof. Harm Paschen is retired since 2002 but works actively still at Bielefeld University and at other places and committees. He has continued to publish and lecture widely, the latter particularly in Eastern Europe (Russia, Hungary, Georgia, Czech Republic), as well as in India, Israel and Egypt.
