

CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Our sessions highlighted the connections between individual, organizational and societal wellbeing. Speakers delved into how a deeply embedded culture of wellbeing can alter and inform our approach to driving positive systemic change.
The conference included ground-breaking talks, conversations and panel discussions with cultural, scientific, governmental and social change leaders from around the world. Topics range from the neuroscience of wellbeing, to environmental belonging, to intergenerational trauma, and how to encourage healthier organizational cultures.
Click on each day to see the full program:
TUESDAY MAY 31: PRE-SUMMIT DAY
FIRESIDE CONVERSATIONS
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE – HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS EMOTIONS
16:00 – 17:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5H
- LAURELINE SIMON – Founder and Director, One Resilient Earth
- MALLIKA DUTT – Founder Inter-Connected, Activist, Social Change Leader
- CAROLIN SCHMEE – Partner at Manejo Ambiental, Co-founder of organisations on social change & wellbeing
- CLARE CELESTE – Artist
PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION – HOW TO FIND COMMON GROUND
16:00 – 17:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5A
- SHARON ROSEN – Global Director of Religious Engagement at Search for Common Ground
- VANESSA HAIGH – Journalist
OVERCOMING GRIEF AND LOSS – ANSWERS FROM PSYCHOLOGY AND BUDDHISM
16:00 – 17:30
Venue: Parque Doña Casilda (in case of bad weather: Euskalduna – Room: 0A)
- DR. BARRY KERZIN – American Physician and Buddhist Monk
- CRIS FERRAZ PRADE – Clinical psychologist and music therapist, co-founder of Casa do Cuidar
- CLARA OYUELA – Clinical psychologist and writer
VALUING OUR ELDERS – THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM IN SOCIAL CHANGE
16:00 – 17:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5B
- CHRIS UNDERHILL – Social entrepreneur, founder of BasicNeeds
- ANDREA COLEMAN – Co-founder of Riders for Health
WEDNESDAY JUNE 1 : WELLBEING
Together we will connect, explore and learn about individual, organisational and societal aspects of wellbeing. Groundbreaking speakers and world-renowned artists will inspire our curiosity and open our minds and hearts as we begin our three day journey.
EARLY MORNING PRACTICES: YOGA WITH REGGIE HUBBARD
08:00 – 08:45
Venue: Doña Casilda Park – Hospital for the Soul
Join activist and yogui REGGIE HUBBARD for a special yoga session and a conversation about yoga for social change activists. The session will take place at Hospital for the Soul, the art installation of Colombian contemporary artist YAZMANY ARBOLEDA in the peaceful and iconic Doña Casilda Park.
Bring your yoga mat if you have one with you, some will be available on site.
OPENING PLENARY SESSION
11:00 – 13:00
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: Auditorium
A warm and inspirational welcome to Bilbao and to The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change. You’ll get a sense of why we are deepening a culture of inner wellbeing and and how this matters from the individual to the societal. Whether you are an activist, an entrepreneur, a teacher, a politician, a storyteller, a scientist, a practitioner, or an artist, you will deepen your understanding of why inner wellbeing is important.
The sessions will take us through stories from all over the world, with topics ranging from integral ecology to intergenerational trauma to happiness policies in countries like Bhutan.
As resident artists, the Grammy-award winning SILKROAD ENSEMBLE will perform new music that engages difference and embodies cultural collaboration to create a hopeful and inclusive message for the artistic program at the start of the Summit.
OPENING SESSION – HOSTS
- ZAINAB SALBI – Founder of Women for Women and co-founder of Daughters for Earth.
- WELLINGTON NOGUEIRA – Social Entrepreneur, Clown, Actor
- EDWIN MACHARIA – Global Managing Partner, Dalberg Advisors
OPENING SESSION – SPEAKERS
- SATISH KUMAR – Peace-pilgrim and environmentalist
- JUAN MARI ABURTO – Mayor of Bilbao
- LOREA BILBAO IBARRA – Councilor for Basque language, Culture and Sports and Spokeperson for Bizkaia Provincial Council
- AARON PEREIRA AND SANDRINE WOITRIN – The Wellbeing Project Co-Leads
- DR. JULIA KIM – Program Director, Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan
- DR. EDDIE S. GLAUDE JR – Chair, African American Studies, Princeton University
- MALLIKA DUTT – Founder Inter-Connected, Activist, Social Change Leader
- RAJNI BAKSHI – Author, Speaker, Founder of Ahimsa Conversations
- LOUISA ZONDO – Board Secretary and Chair of Oxfam South Africa’s Funding Committee, CEO of the Bertha Gxowa Foundation
OPENING SESSION – ARTISTS
FIRESIDE CONVERSATIONS
WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5H
- GABRIELA GANDEL – Past Executive Director, Impact Hub Network
GENDER AND WELLBEING
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5A
- DR. DEEPA NARAYAN – Former Senior Advisor, World Bank
HEALING INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Oteiza
- KATHERINE MILLIGAN – Director, Collective Change Lab
- JOHN KANIA – Founder and Executive Director, Collective Change Lab
- LAURA CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA – Collective and Intergenerational Trauma Therapist
- SHRUTI JAYARAMAN – Chief Investments Officer, Chicago Beyond
COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5B
- CHRIS UNDERHILL – Social entrepreneur, founder of BasicNeeds
- VANEE SURENDRANATHAN – In charge of the CBM programme in Sri Lanka
- MONIRA RAHMAN – Executive Director, Innovation for Wellbeing Foundation, Bangladesh
- ROSEMARY GATHARA – Executive Director, BasicNeeds/Basic Rights Kenya
- CHANTHARAVADY CHOULAMANY – Senior Mental Health Specialist Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- RUKUDZO MWAMUKA – Clinical Programs Manager, Friendship Bench, Zimbabwe
CREATIVE LABS
THE POWER OF MUSIC IN WELLBEING – INDIAN RAGAS AND CHANTS
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 0A
Grammy-winning artist and singer FALU & KARYSHMA explores vedic chants and ragas that heal through sounds and ancient melodies sung at specific times of day or night evoking feelings from the nine rasas/colors of India in ancient Sanskrit languages.
COMMUNITY ACTIVATION THROUGH DANCE
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Azkuna Zentroa – Room: Lantegia 1/Kubo Beltza
Renowned choreographer ROYSTON MALDOOM and dance artist MAGS BYRNE are well known for their work internationally, working separately and as a team, bringing the philosophy and practice of community dance to people of all ages, ethnic, cultural and faith backgrounds, experience and/or ability. In this workshop, they explore the transformative power of large-scale community dance interventions around the globe – can dance and creative collaboration heal and build communities? The session includes a screening of Royston’s EXILE as well as dance/choreography exercises that build movement sequences based on the idea of community activation. Wear comfortable clothes.
THE POWER OF STORYTELLING AND WELLBEING
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Arriaga
How we Live Now : storytelling in a constantly changing internal and external world
- Telling your own story – previously incarcerated songwriter, KENYATTA EMMANUEL.
- Use your words with poet JAZMINE WILLIAMS.
- Storytelling through public art and community co-creation with YAZMANY ARBOLEDA.
BEGINNER’S EAR – OPENING THE EAR TO SILENCE AND SOUND
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Etxepare
Contributing music critic for The New York Times, CORINNA DA FONSECA-WOLLHEIM uses a combination of music and sound meditation to develop a friendly curiosity toward negative inner voices, developing a spirit of generosity towards the self, another person, and the community of participants. This Creative Lab includes a live music performance experience that unfolds in meditative silence.
LET YOUR SOUL SING
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 0B
BISHOP CHANTEL WRIGHT and Songs of Solomon lead a choir rehearsal to prepare for a short performance at the closing plenary session of the Wellbeing Summit.
NO EXCUSES, NO LIMITS
15:00 – 16:30
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Pío Baroja
Following his personal philosophy : “Adapt, stay positive, and learn to do things your own way”, this interactive Creative Lab is a journey through LUCA LAZYLEGZ PATUELLI’s life as he explores ways to maximise our potential by fully embracing ourselves.
AN INVITATION AND A CALL: WHY ARE WE HERE?
17:00 – 19:00
Venue: starting and ending at Maritime Museum (Itsasmuseum) esplanade
A collective creative experience, a time to be together, and a moment for your mind and imagination to take a journey through some of the Summit’s art pieces and exhibitions. Family groups will gather at the beginning and end of this time led by Edgard Gouveia Jr. The visits to multiple sites in between offer a time for self nurture and artistic adventure.
WELCOME COCKTAIL
19:00 – 21:00
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: Hall 2
All Summit participants are invited to a welcome cocktail bringing together the local and the global. Local choir, VOCALIA TALDEA perform two new choral pieces by Thomas Cabaniss and Josu Elberdin Badiola, specially commissioned for the Summit. Additional performances by ZIRKOZAURRE and SILKROAD ENSEMBLE as well as traditional pintxos and local wine all lead to a culminating experience in Dona Casilda Park of DAAN ROOSEGAARDE’s – Spark at 22:00.
ART EXPERIENCES
21:30 – 23:00
Venue: Doña Casilda Park
THURSDAY JUNE 2 : INSPIRES
The journey continues in a day dedicated to deepening understanding around wellbeing and its impact on key systemic issues.
EARLY MORNING PRACTICES: MEDITATION WITH SATISH KUMAR
08:00 – 08:45
Venue: Doña Casilda Park – Hospital for the Soul
Join peace-pilgrim and long-life activist SATISH KUMAR for an inspiring and unique meditation at Hospital for the Soul, the art installation of Colombian contemporary artist YAZMANY ARBOLEDA in the peaceful and iconic Doña Casilda Park.
Bring your yoga mat or meditation cushion if you have one with you, some will be available on site.
IMMERSION SESSIONS
09:00 – 12:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: Auditorium
An innovative series of talks pairing artists and speakers which will immerse us in different and exciting subjects such as how wellbeing intersects with technology, business or intergenerational trauma, among other things. It will ground a collective understanding that will help build bridges and unite us in our shared purpose.
RITUALS OF LIFE
- Host : ZAINAB SALBI – Founder of Women for Women and co-founder of Daughters for Earth.
- Speaker : FATHER TIMOTHY RADCLIFFE – Priest, Honorary Oxford University Fellow and Author, Former head of the Dominican Order
- Speaker : RABBI DAVID ROSEN – Chief Rabbi David Rosen, KSG, CBE
- Speaker : IMAM SAYED RAZAWI – British Scholar and Religious Leader
- Artist : AAKASH ODEDRA
RE-IMAGINING BUSINESS FROM THE INSIDE OUT
- Speaker : JAY COEN GILBERT – CEO Imperative 21; Cofounder B Lab
- Speaker : KATE BYRNE – CEO of Katapult X
- Artist : MAARTEN ROBBEN – FRESH FORCES
UNDERSTANDING AND ADDRESSING INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
- Speaker : NADINE J. KASLOW, PhD – Psychologist, Past president of American Psychological Association (APA), Professor at Emory University
- Speaker: DR. SARÁ KING – Neuroscientist, researcher
- Artist: GEO BRITTO – THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED
- Artist : HOPE MASIKE
HUMANISING TECHNOLOGY – HOW CAN MUSIC AND AI IMPROVE DIVERSITY
- Speaker : SENNAY GHEBREAB – Professor, Program Director and Founder
- Artist : TOD MACHOVER – Opera of the Future – MIT
PERSPECTIVES FROM NEUROSCIENCE: VISUALISING THE WONDERS OF THE BRAIN
- Speaker : RICHARD J DAVIDSON – Neuroscientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Artist : EVA LEE
FINDING YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE IN THE MOVEMENT FOR EQUALITY
- Speaker : JUSTIN MICHAEL WILLIAMS – Author, Musical Artist and Speaker
- Artist : KENYATTA EMMANUEL
- Artist : JAZMINE WILLIAMS
IMMERSION WORKSHOPS
In the afternoon, you will be able to deep delve in one of the subjects addressed in the morning, by participating in one of the six interactive and participative Immersion Workshops. These sessions and workshops will ground a collective understanding that will help build bridges and unite us in our shared purpose.
RITUALS OF LIFE
15:00 – 17:00
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 0B
RE-IMAGINING BUSINESS FROM THE INSIDE OUT
15:00 – 17:00
Venue: Deusto Library – Room: Atrio
UNDERSTANDING AND ADDRESSING INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
15:00 – 17:00
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Pio Baroja
HUMANISING TECHNOLOGY – HOW CAN MUSIC AND AI IMPROVE DIVERSITY
15:00 – 17:00
Venue: Azkuna Zentroa – Room: Skylight
PERSPECTIVES FROM NEUROSCIENCE: VISUALISING THE WONDERS OF THE BRAIN
15:00 – 17:00
Venue: Azkuna Zentroa – Room: Lantegia 1
FINDING YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE IN THE MOVEMENT FOR EQUALITY
15:00 – 17:00
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 0A
VERNISSAGE NIGHT
18:00 – 21:00
Join us for an incredible evening celebrating the arts! We recommend that you end the art evening in Plaza Nueva, where you’ll be able to enjoy a Basque gastronomic experience discovering the many local bars offering pintxos and txacolí while savouring the atmosphere of a summer night in Bilbao. Have fun!
AT AZKUNA ZENTROA
ART OPENING – GRIMANESA AMORÓS – SCIENTIA
18:00 – 18:10
FLOOR 0 – ATRIO
MUSIC – FALU & KARYSHMA
18:10 – 18:40
FLOOR 0 – ATRIO
ART PERFORMANCE – HIMALI SINGH SOIN – ANCESTORS OF THE BLUE MOON
18:45 – 19:15
FLOOR -2 – BASTIDA
BILBAO CITY SYMPHONY/HYPERSCORE
18:00 – 20:00
FLOOR 0 – FERNÁNDEZ DEL CAMPO
AT SAN NICOLÁS PALACE
EXHIBITION – ART AND SPIRITUALITY. IMAGINING THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE BBVA COLLECTION
18:00 – 21:00
MUSIC – KENYATTA HUGHES
19:00 – 19:30
THEATRE – BIRDHEART
19:30 – 20:00
AT MUSEO DE ARTE SACRO
URSULA HAUSER COLLECTION – BERLINDE DE BRUYCKERE
18:00 – 21:00
MUSIC – MADALITSO
20:30 – 21:00
AT PLAZA DE LOS TRES PILARES
ART PERFORMANCE – NIKHIL CHOPRA – WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Starts June 2 at 10:00 and ends June 3 at 10:00 – 24 HOURS PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY JUNE 3 : WELLDOING
We round out the week co-creating our commitments to individual, organisational and societal wellbeing to advance social change. We join together to catalyze this culture of wellbeing through collective action, momentum, and a commitment that Wellbeing Inspires Welldoing.
EARLY MORNING PRACTICES: MEDITATION
08:00 – 08:45
Venue: Doña Casilda Park – Hospital for the Soul
Join DR. SARÁ KING and ANU GUPTA for an inspiring and unique meditation at Hospital for the Soul, the art installation of Colombian contemporary artist YAZMANY ARBOLEDA in the peaceful and iconic Doña Casilda Park.
Bring your yoga mat or meditation cushion if you have one with you, some will be available on site.
FIRESIDE CONVERSATIONS
PHILANTHROPY AND WELLBEING
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5H
- Host : WELLINGTON NOGUEIRA – Social Entrepreneur, Clown, Actor
- Speaeker : PEGGY DULANY – Founder and Chair, Synergos
WELLBEING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5A
- ANEEL CHIMA – Director of the Division of Health and Performance at Stanford University, Professor
- DAVID GERMANO – Executive Director of the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia, Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies
HOW TO SPEAK WITH PEOPLE WE DON’T AGREE WITH
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Oteiza
- LUZETTE JAIMES – Co-Founder at Consciousness Coalition, Director of Learning and Development at Ashoka
- RUSS GASKIN – Managing Director, CoCreative
HOW TO INTRODUCE WELLBEING TO PUBLIC POLICY
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 0C
- Host : NICOLE SCHWAB – Co-Head, Nature-Based Solutions
- Speaker : MBARKA BOUAIDA – President of the southeast region Guelmim-Oued Noun in Morocco
- Speaker : NAJAT VALLAUD BELKACEM – ONE’s France Director. Former Minister of Education, France
- Speaker : HAIFA NAJJAR – Minister of Culture, Jordan
- Speaker : MARIO QUINTANA – Former vice Chief of Ministers of Argentina
- Speaker : JUAN MAQUIEYRA – Executive director of Fratelli Tutti Political School
CREATIVE LABS
THE POWER OF MUSIC IN WELLBEING – INDIAN RAGAS AND CHANTS
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 0A
Grammy-winning artist and singer FALU & KARYSHMA explores vedic chants and ragas that heal through sounds and ancient melodies sung at specific times of day or night evoking feelings from the nine rasas/colors of India in ancient Sanskrit languages.
COMMUNITY ACTIVATION THROUGH DANCE
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Azkuna Zentroa – Room: Lantegia 1/Kubo Beltza
Renowned choreographer ROYSTON MALDOOM and dance artist MAGS BYRNE are well known for their work internationally, working separately and as a team, bringing the philosophy and practice of community dance to people of all ages, ethnic, cultural and faith backgrounds, experience and/or ability. In this workshop, they explore the transformative power of large-scale community dance interventions around the globe – can dance and creative collaboration heal and build communities? The session includes a screening of Royston’s EXILE as well as dance/choreography exercises that build movement sequences based on the idea of community activation. Wear comfortable clothes.
THE POWER OF STORYTELLING AND WELLBEING
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Arriaga
How we Live Now : storytelling in a constantly changing internal and external world
- Telling your own story – previously incarcerated songwriter, KENYATTA EMMANUEL.
- Use your words with poet JAZMINE WILLIAMS.
- Storytelling through public art and community co-creation with YAZMANY ARBOLEDA.
BEGINNER’S EAR – OPENING THE EAR TO SILENCE AND SOUND
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Palacio San Nicolás
Contributing music critic for The New York Times, CORINNA DA FONSECA-WOLLHEIM uses a combination of music and sound meditation to develop a friendly curiosity toward negative inner voices, developing a spirit of generosity towards the self, another person, and the community of participants. This Creative Lab includes a live music performance experience that unfolds in meditative silence.
LET YOUR SOUL SING
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: Auditorium (backstage)
BISHOP CHANTEL WRIGHT and Songs of Solomon lead a final choir rehearsal and sound check on the stage of Palacio Euskalduna to prepare for the short performance in the final plenary session.
EVERYONE CAN DANCE
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Bizkaia Aretoa – Room: Pio Baroja
LUCA LAZYLEGZ PATUELLI presents a dance experience with a unique “twist” allowing participants to explore various adaptive movements using blindfolds, wheelchairs and crutches. The aim of this Creative Lab is to expand participants’ understanding of the importance of adaptation and inclusion on a day-to-day basis in life and in dance.
ART PERFORMANCES : BIRDHEART + MOHAU MODISAKENG – THE WATER DRUMMER
09:00 – 10:30
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: 5B (Birdheart), 0D (Mohau Modisakeng)
An opportunity to experience two of the performance pieces featured in the Summit’s artistic program.
South African artist, MOHAU MODISAKENG‘s WATER DRUMMER is a performance installation consisting of sounds of water interspersed with moments of stillness and silence. The installation and performance explore the correlation between the drum, the ocean, and ancestral memory in the African context.
BIRDHEART is an intimate puppet performance – a porcelain egg sits in a suitcase lid full of sand: the promise of action against the calming rush of the sea. The egg splits, birthing a creature in scrunched brown paper. Is it a strange sea urchin? It hasn’t yet decided. BIRDHEART is the beautiful love child of two independently successful puppeteers, SASKIA LANE and JULIAN CROUCH.
CLOSING PLENARY SESSION
11:00 – 13:00
Venue: Euskalduna – Room: Auditorium
The closing session is about bringing everything from the Summit together and helping us move out into the world as an energised collective. We will weave with the relationships, the explorations of different subjects, and other parts of the time together. We’ll hear stories and reflect about how to create a wellbeing movement. This last session weaves all of this to inspire us as a community that is bringing a wellbeing world to life.
The session begins with the visceral sounds of the organ at Palacio Euskalduna played by acclaimed Basque concert organist, LORETO ARAMENDI.
BISHOP CHANTEL WRIGHT will participate with members of her choir from Harlem, New York City, SONGS OF SOLOMON as well as Haitian music star, EMELINE MICHEL, who will welcome to the stage several artists who have performed in various sessions throughout the Summit – collaborative creation and the joyful embrace of a future filled with opportunity will close out our artistic program.
CLOSING SESSION – HOSTS
- ZAINAB SALBI – Founder of Women for Women and co-founder of Daughters for Earth.
- WELLINGTON NOGUEIRA – Social Entrepreneur, Clown, Actor
- EDWIN MACHARIA – Global Managing Partner, Dalberg Advisors
CLOSING SESSION – SPEAKERS
- KUMI NAIDOO – Human rights and environmental activist
- ZARLASHT HALAIMZAI – CEO and Founder of Amna
- REGGIE HUBBARD – Teacher, Activist, Yoga instructor
- AARON PEREIRA – Project Lead for The Wellbeing Project
- SANDRINE WOITRIN – Co-Lead for the Wellbeing Project
- BARRY KERZIN – American medical physician and Buddhist monk
- JAZMINE WILLIAMS – Writer, poet, producer, corporate responsibility consultant
- JUSTIN WILLIAMS – Author, Musical Artist and Speaker
CLOSING SESSION – ARTISTS
- BISHOP CHANTEL WRIGHT with members of Songs of Solomon Choir and the Wellbeing Singers
- LORETO ARAMENDI
- EMELINE MICHEL with special guest appearances by FALU & KARYSHMA, MAZZ SWIFT (from SILKROAD ENSEMBLE), KENYATTA EMMANUEL and HOPE MASIKE with ABEL MAFULENI