On September 9, Tsaghkunk village of the Sevan community of the Republic of Armenia hosted the speakers and guests of the international TEDxTsaghkunk themed "Bringing Back the Future''. The famous TED-style conference brought to Armenia specialists in the fields of natural sciences, communication and innovation, who gave inspiring and educational speeches together with the local speakers.

The event was initiated within the Gagarin Project of the "DAR" Foundation for Regional Development and Competitiveness in order to promote science-based innovation in agriculture, community management, education and other fields.

The first TEDxTsaghkunk speakers were:

Stefan Verra - Renowned body language expert

Karine Sargsyan - Scientific Director at Cancer Biobank Cedars-Sinai, Cancer Institute

Tamás Landesz - Seasoned UN diplomat and Future-Intelligent Leader

Christoph Holz - Digital Transformation Speaker, Business Angel

Oksana Tarasova - Head of World Meteorological Organization’s Atmospheric Environment Research Division

Sahar Albazar - Member of Parliament, Egyptian House of Representatives, Country Ambassador at Women Political Leaders (WPL)  

Valeriy Petrosyan - Professor, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, former UN Expert of Chemical Security

Arsen Aghajanyan - Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Initiator of Gagarin Project

Ashot Gabrielyan - Youth and community development specialist, pedagogue

Zhanna Mkhitaryan - Young sports leader

MiF - Initiative of Armenian teenagers envisioning the future of Armenia.

Christoph Holz, a digitalization and computer science specialist, spoke about the eternal cycle of life and continuity in nature, which today is opposed and hindered by the consumer lifestyle of mankind. "Wars are not the absence of peace, but the absence of growth," the Austrian speaker emphasized, also referring to the "genocide unfolding these days in the Black Garden".

MP Sahar Albazar, a member of the House of Representatives of the Egyptian Parliament, called on the audience to reflect on the mental and psychological patterns handed down to us from our ancestors, which often have a direct impact on our behavior. Through her experience of being rejected from Harvard University for five years in a row and only being admitted to the prestigious University in his 6th year, she shared about healing the trauma passed down from generation to generation and revaluing the wisdom of the ancestors.

Arsen Aghajanyan, the Chairman of the board of trustees of the DAR Foundation and the initiator of the Gagarin Project, spoke about the dream of childhood and how to keep it alive in adults. Recalling his childhood memories, he gave the audience an opportunity to reflect on the environment that adults create for children, often unwittingly "imposing" their tastes, desires and customs on them.

Economist Tamás Landesz, who has a long experience of cooperation in the field of healthcare and innovation with world leading institutions such as the UN, EU, OSCE, etc., presented the importance of awareness of the future in leadership. Examining advances in various fields involving artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies, he assures that future calculations and predictions suggest not only robotization, but also the promotion of personal self-development and mindfulness, which redefines leadership challenges.

Another remarkable speech was given by an expert of the oldest means in human communication, body language specialist Stefan Verra. How to interest the interlocutor, how to convey what has to be said in an accessible and impressive way? The speaker addressed these and similar questions, giving instructive examples taken from life.

The speech of the Austrian-Armenian doctor and scientist Karine Sargsyan was about bringing change and becoming the bearer of change through the experience of her own life and progress. Her path from a student living in Vanadzor to the founder-director of the Graz Medical University Biobank is an inspiring story for young people trying to pursue their future in science and, in general, follow their own dreams.

TEDxTsaghkunk is run with the Countdown license, which highlights the presentation of ideas to address the climate crisis. Two speakers with extensive academic and scientific experience, Oksana Tarasova, head of the Atmospheric Environment Research Department of the World Meteorological Organization, and former UN expert on chemical safety, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor Valery Petrosyan, presented their professional analysis and solutions in this field. The causes of the global climate crisis, as the speakers mentioned, are primarily man-made, therefore the solutions can also be brought by targeted human activities. Professor Petrosyan suggests "Ecocatharsis" - environmental self-cleansing, towards which, according to the speaker, the Gagarin Project is carrying out an important mission in Armenia.

The participation of young speakers at TEDxTsaghkunk under the future-oriented theme was remarkable. Ashot Gabrielyan, a young teacher of the "Teacher for Armenia" program, joined the international conference from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) with a video-talk. He shared his experience of founding the "Janeh" youth center with his students from Kolkhozashen village and the transformational changes implemented in the community by the efforts of the locals. This inspiring story was followed by the presentation of the reality of the blockade in Artsakh that has been going on for 272 days, under which Ashot and other creative young people continue to look for solutions and ways out.

The speech of 17-year-old Zhanna Mkhitaryan from Ddmashen village was full of emotions. She talked about her journey of fighting for her dream. Zhanna's path began with the wish to play football in the village, which grew into the desire to form a girls' team in Sevan and the goal of playing in Pyunik team, however, after achieving these goals, the young footballer suffered a serious knee injury, as a result of which she had to give up her dream of playing on the field. She set a new goal: to train a team of children in the village and to record victories with them, and success did not make her wait long.

The MiF initiative of Armenian youth depicting the future of Armenia made a talk-performance. In collaboration with friends living abroad, they presented futuristic scenarios where humanity, paying tribute to robotization, lives centuries later without feelings and dreams. Young people decide to reverse these developments and control what kind of bright future they want to build today for the coming generations.

The conference took place in the hall of the non-functioning St. Harutyun church (19th century) of Tsaghkunk village, which gave a unique historical and cultural touch to the day. The special atmosphere was made complete by the RA People's Artist, world-famous soprano Hasmik Papyan’s performance of “Krunk” by Komitas.

Sponsors of the event are "DAR" Foundation and Gagarin Project, "Tsagkunk" restaurant-glkhatun, "Aniv" Foundation, ASKION and LVL technologies.

The full video of the TEDxTsaghkunk live broadcast is available on the program's social media platforms, and videos of individual talks are soon to be posted on the international TEDx Talks YouTube channel.