If we aim to cross borders, if we want true adventures and real discoveries, then we need to cross the borders to other cultures.

We need to meaningfully engage with others who see and experience the world in a different way or from a different point of view. In many respects our progress and prosperity depends on it. This is why we chose ’Conversation of Cultures’ as the theme of the TEDxDanubia Café 2011.

Where can we look for these cultural borders? Certainly, some do coincide with geopolitical ones, but far from all… So many idea driven opposing subcultures lack real conversation and meaningful engagement, staring at each other in wide eyed and often hostile or derisive incomprehension. Be it climate change, energy, smoking, ethics and politics, the story of minorities, religion and science, we find chasms everywhere we look. But there is hardly any potential for real progress without going beyond these divides, without making the effort to build bridges through exploration and mutual understanding. Certainly everyone is not right, but that does not mean anyone has the full and complete truth either.


Speakers: Ágoston László, Baritz Sarolta Laura, Benkő Gabriella, Benkő Vilmos, Bognár Botond, Dan Barber, Gunter Pauli, Harcsa Veronika, Joós István, Lang András, Molnár Attila Dávid, Oborny Beáta, Paul Garrison, Simon Cohen, Takács-Sánta András, Vicsek Tamás, Zsolnai László