TEDxDelft 2013 | Anne Walraven – A social innovator on a world changing mission

It is often said to ask the young because they know everything.

However Anne Walraven is only 27 years old and on a personal quest based on a question.

How?  How is it possible that in 50 years’ time the Maldives will not exist anymore. Just simply disappearing under water.  Gone. When this notion hit, Anne cried for 3 days and found herself confronted by 3 options.

1) get cynical and detach from the world

2) go to the Maldives on holiday, eat, drink and jump around while you still can without scuba gear

3) separate right from wrong, become an activist on hunger strike and chain herself to government buildings

Naturally she choose option 4.

And that was to go back to her initial reaction: how is this possible?? And she did what she does best: get into action. Act on her inner motivation. So she is travelling the world in search of answers.

She herself has often been in the position where she has been the voice of the young people. Probed for comments and explanations. A representative for many youngsters.  Already Anne Walraven has received a sustainable ribbon and a lot of praise for her work. She has been a UN Youth Advisor and co-initiated an international documentary on global climate change. She has participated in many youth sustainability programs and  founded the Bigmamma foundation, an innovative and interactive platform that connects and empowers youth efforts around the world.

She has proved her ability to act and realise, so I am very curious what it has meant to her to be involved in something so intangible as a search for answers on one of the hardest questions one could ever ask oneself: how is this possible? What can she tell us about her journey trying to make sense of the world?

The 4th of October Anne Walraven is at TEDxDelft.  I can’t wait to hear her story.