Program
The Program
Contributors
ELIAS DIAZ
Elias Diaz (he/him) is a Philippine-based facilitator dedicated to surfacing contradictions and deepening dialogue on the subject of technological evolution and its impacts on relationality and consciousness. Elias is driven by questions of how cultural impulses discover their power in the self-organizing of civil society, and how this offers the possibility of developing empowering civic technologies. He is interested in how communities can awaken to collective agency in order to counterbalance market imperatives and state logics—examining the role of technology therein—and how contemplative wisdom can enable us to see the social organism more clearly, and catalyze social renewal. Elias is currently working with an environmental coalition focused on stopping environmentally destructive infrastructure projects that have been flagged in the massive national corruption scandals that have recently erupted in the Philippines.
KAIT ZIEGLER
Kait Ziegler (she/they) is an organizer who believes movements are built by people from all walks of life willing to speak truth to power, take risks, and take action collectively. Their work centers on building mass, people-powered campaigns that directly confront systems of extraction, capitalism, and violence, while cultivating leadership development rooted in deep listening, dignity, empathy, and collective power. Organizing must be built from the bottom up!
Kait spent years as a National Organizing Director with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, helping lead national organizing and mass mobilizations that challenged poverty, racism, ecological destruction, and militarism — and insisting that those most impacted must be at the center of the strategy and the solution. They later worked with People’s Action Institute as a Movement Politics Senior Strategist, strengthening grassroots political infrastructure and developing leaders committed to long-term, revolutionary change.
Today, Kait is the Chief of Organizing at The Patients Union, where they are helping build a new patient-led movement to transform healthcare in the United States. Their work asks a core question that resonates deeply with YIP, and is one of the reasons they are so grateful to be a part of IF this year: What does it take to move from intention to impact — and from individual conviction to collective power?
Evening program
TWIiiins
TWIIIINS is a violin due from South Korea and Germany, known for their energetic and genre-blending performances. They combine classical music with pop, funk, film scores, jazz and rock creating a unique and dynamic sound.
With their lively stage presence and passions for live music, TWIIIINS captivates audience, turning each performance into an engaging experience.
TEATER X
Teater X is a Stockholm-based theatre group with over 20 years of experience in Playback Theatre.
Playback theatre is an interactive form of improvisation that has its roots in experimental storytelling. In a performance, the actors mirror the real stories of audience members with the use of poetry, music, and movement. A Playback performance is a “here and now” experience that is both humorous, moving and inspiring!
Workshop Leaders
ANNIE MEIJER (she/her)
Annie Meijer is a biographical counsellor, adult educator and biography work trainer. She has worked with individuals and their unique biographies for 20 years exploring the expanse and breadth of what it is to be human, the challenges of our times and the creative capacity of the individual under every circumstance.
Annie will run Biography Work sessions at the forum. Biography work is a reflective and creative process that involves examining one’s own life story and sharing insights in a small therapeutic group setting.
Annie’s workshop will involve working with questions to guide participants to understand their unique stories and where they fit in the complex world.
SUSAN BÄUCKE KOLLEM
Susan Bäucke Kollem is an art therapist working in Ytterjärna.
Since 2006, she has been working within Waldorf pedagogy and curative education where she uses art as a form of creative, non-verbal communication. Susan’s workshops include therapeutic painting, chalks and modelling/sculpting methods.
Her workshops adopt an Anthroposophical approach and aim to stimulate a degree of self-regulation, the activation of resources and the gain of freedom in everyday life. The therapeutic approach is oriented towards actions- and experiences in the context of the arts. Imaginative suggestions, sensual impressions, emerging feelings and thoughts create images in the form of paintings, drawings or sculptures.
World Cafe and Open Space
World Café and Open Space Technology are participatory workshop formats designed to digest, deepen, and connect the content and learnings from the Forum, including the lectures by Kait and Elias.
Both methods focus on meaningful dialogue in small groups, creating space for open exchange, cross-pollination of ideas, and fresh perspectives. This form of learning encourages collective intelligence to emerge and allows participants to explore topics that matter most to them.
These workshop methods are commonly used at YIP, as they support a more connected, relational, and self-directed learning experience. We are excited to share them with you at the Forum!
MORE CONTRIBUTORS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON...
