RTL Today - In Conversation with Lisa Burke

The story of six entrepreneurs' bold pivot into climate action to spark a global movement investing in real decarbonising solutions. Arthur Auboeuf: Social Stardom to Team for the Planet Arthur Auboeuf was born in a tiny village near Geneva. Whilst a young student, in his spare time, he built an incredible social business with viral humor and music communities online, ultimately reaching over 10 million followers. He sold these ventures young and became part of the entrepreneurial elite of Europe. But despite his monetary and social success, Auboeuf felt increasingly disillusioned as he saw his talents serve fleeting digital addiction rather than lasting impact. Witnessing climate change devastate his childhood ski slopes and forests ignited a deeper purpose, to use his entrepreneurial toolkit not for profit, but for the planet. Team for the Planet: A Business Model to Battle Climate Change Founded in 2019 by Auboeuf and five fellow entrepreneurs, Team for the Planet is a mission-driven company using the power of collective intelligence and capital to detect, fund and scale the world's most impactful decarbonizing innovations. Unlike traditional funds, TFTP is not for profit. Anyone, from students to CEOs, can become a shareholder for just €1, helping to select innovations, assess their global potential, and bring them to market. The goal is to identify tech (or even low/no-tech) solutions that already exist but haven't scaled—and give them the entrepreneurial engine to do so. My guests today also include Emma Scribe, Head of Major Investors, and Geoffrey Crofte, shareholder + evaluator. Crowd-Powered Climate Action What makes Team for the Planet different is its radical openness. With over 128,000 shareholders worldwide, the community isn't just a passive group of donors, it's an army of trained evaluators, investors, and ambassadors. All over the world, from developers to designers, people contribute time, skills, and capital. Together, they've reviewed over 1,600 innovations, leading to investment in 13 climate-tech companies. These solutions range from wave-powered energy to CO₂-to-sand conversion, all aimed at cutting emissions on a global scale. The Climate Dividend: Profit in Planetary Terms Forget financial ROI. TFTP invented the Climate Dividend—a metric that tells shareholders exactly how many tons of CO₂ their investment has avoided or captured. This indicator, developed in partnership with institutions like ADEME and recognised by the UN, enables investors to measure real climate impact rather than hypothetical financial returns. It's become a tool used by over 100 funds to track the environmental performance of their portfolios. Open-Source Innovation, Shared Globally Team for the Planet doesn't just scale green startups—it shares their tech freely. Once a company is funded and functioning, its innovation is made open source, allowing any business to adopt it. In return, those adopters must report usage (to calculate CO₂ impact) and share improvements. This bold model ensures that breakthrough solutions don't stay locked in one market or one monopoly—they ripple out globally for maximum effect. Luxembourg's investment of people and business Though still in early days, Luxembourg is an exciting frontier for TFTP. With only a few hundred shareholders, the country's financial ecosystem, global talent mix, and green ambitions make it a strategic springboard. Local scientists like Thomas Gibon are already involved, and companies like Circu Li-ion have adopted the Climate Dividend metric. In Auboeuf's words, “Luxembourg is a green field” waiting to be cultivated. How You Can Join Whether you're a student, scientist, investor, or want to make a difference, there's a role for you at Team for the Planet. You can invest money, time, or expertise. You can become an evaluator, reader, or ambassador. Or you can simply buy a €1 share and know you're part of something that has already avoided 40,000 tons of CO₂—a figure equal to 40,000 Paris–New York flights. Connect & Learn More

From World News to Crypto Frontiers, my guests this week are Sasha Kehoe and Christopher Jack, who gives us a quick history of money, how Luxembourg became a financial centre and what the country needs to do next, with digital assets. This week I'm delighted to have Sasha Kehoe back on the show with her signature news roundup. From the passing of Pope Francis and its global significance to lighter stories about Luxembourg's driving habits and the latest tech marvels. Christopher Jack, Programme Manager at the Cambridge Digital Assets Programme, joins us to unravel the fascinating history of finance in Luxembourg, from its steel roots to its rise as a global financial powerhouse and its bold leap into the world of digital assets and crypto. Sasha Kehoe's News Roundup Sasha Kehoe is back on the show, much to the delight of listeners who've missed her warmth. We discuss the passing of Pope Francis, its impact on Luxembourg and the world, and speculation that Cardinal Hollerich is a contender. The ongoing Ukraine conflict is ever-present with more difficult news this week. For a lighter touch, Sasha dives into studies on Luxembourg's drivers (we don't fair well), the emotional bonds between dogs and their owners, and Kawasaki's futuristic ride-on robot lion-proof that the future is closer than we think! Christopher Jack: Luxembourg's Financial Evolution and the Digital Asset Revolution Christopher Jack takes us on a quick journey through the evolution of money. He explains the three pillars of money - means of exchange, unit of account, and store of value, and most especially how trust underpins every financial system, from ancient bartering to today's digital currencies. Christopher then unpacks why Luxembourg became a financial hub. In the 1970s, as the steel industry declined, Luxembourg pivoted fast, offering attractive tax laws and regulatory clarity. The listing of the first Eurobond in 1963 and the adoption of the UCITS directive in 1988 cemented Luxembourg's status as a global financial centre, now managing over $7 trillion in assets. Looking ahead, Christopher explores Luxembourg's push into digital assets and crypto. With pioneering blockchain laws and the EU's MiCA regulation, Luxembourg is positioning itself at the forefront of the digital finance revolution. Tokenization, stablecoins, and new regulatory frameworks promise to democratize investment and reshape global markets-if the country can balance innovation with robust oversight. Luxembourg's necessity to adapt fast, stay stable and secure Luxembourg's story is one of adaptation and trust. Its future as a financial leader depends on attracting top talent, fostering innovation, and staying agile in a rapidly changing world. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-jack-3953b2142/ https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/alternative-finance/the-digital-assets-programme/ https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/alternative-finance/

This Easter on The Lisa Burke Show, neuroscientist and newly baptised Christian Baroness Susan Greenfield reflects on a life of scientific discovery, spiritual awakening, and the enduring quest to understand consciousness. In this exclusive for The Lisa Burke Show, we welcome one of the most visionary minds of our time—a scientist, entrepreneur, author, and House of Lords peer who has dedicated her life to researching the brain and consciousness, and now journeys inward toward faith. This Easter Sunday, as the season of renewal and rebirth arrives, it is a profound privilege to share with you a conversation that speaks to the mind and the soul, with a science icon of mine. For the first time, newly baptised Baroness Susan Greenfield will mark this Easter as a Christian. Classics to Pharmacology Baroness Susan Greenfield began her intellectual life immersed in Ancient Greek and Latin thanks to an inspirational teacher, and it was there that the seeds of her fierce curiosity took root. For Susan, the Classics developed a rigorously disciplined way of thinking: a mental gymnasium that trained her to ask the deepest questions of what it means to be human. “The Romans and Greeks dealt with love, fate, identity - questions we still grapple with. We've advanced technologically, but philosophically? Not much.” This foundation in classics led her, perhaps surprisingly, into science. Encouraged by a bold Oxford pharmacologist who told her she could “tell us about Homer during the coffee break,” despite not knowing the basics of chemistry, Susan entered neuroscience. Since then, she has gone on to lead research groups at Oxford and founded the biotech company Neuro-Bio Ltd, devoted to early-stage diagnostics and interventions for Alzheimer's disease. Susan is also affiliated with the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, where she confronts one of our century's greatest challenges: how to extend our health span, alongside lifespan. Alzheimer's, Cognitive Capital & Consciousness The Alzheimer's research Susan leads is revolutionary. She and her team have devoted over 40 years to identifying molecules that could stop neuronal death potentially before symptoms even begin. With a latency window of 10 to 20 years between brain degeneration and visible symptoms, Susan envisions a three-step screening model, starting at home, to catch the disease early enough for real prevention. Yet she is just as passionate about prevention through lifestyle. Cognitive capital may well be the new GDP. A daily life filled with rich conversation, curiosity and mental stimulation is just as vital to our brains as sleep or diet. “The brain should be part of the school curriculum,” Susan insists. “Ten-year-olds can grasp it. It's their brain, their identity. Why should they wait until university?” Susan's take on consciousness brings us to a realm we haven't quite been able to grasp yet in words or measurement. “It's subjective, immeasurable… and that makes it terrifying for many scientists.” She distinguishes between the brain, the mind and consciousness. And then there is the soul. Faith and the Soul “I think the riddle of consciousness is somehow tied up with what we call the soul,” she muses, a space she now embraces more openly. Raised in a home divided between Jewish and Christian grandparents, married to a self-proclaimed atheist, Susan has now found faith in her own way. “I feel a deeper sensitivity to faith now,” she confides. “I believe in God more than I used to.” Her faith journey culminated in a quiet baptism last year. “This Easter,” she says, “feels like my first.” For a neuroscientist whose every instinct is to explore and analyse, this act of surrender is to someone bigger than oneself. It doesn't conflict with her science; it deepens it. “Consciousness may vary in degrees,” she says, “like sleep or anaesthesia. So why not faith?” Female leadership A scientist style icon, Susan has always been unapologetically herself. “I cultivated my look as a kind of armour,” she explains, “but it also reflects who I am—curious, expressive, unwilling to conform.” Now as a CEO, Susan calls on all of us, especially women, to invest, support, and mentor. Indeed, only 2% of venture capital still goes to women. “Leadership,” she says, “is about vision, not control. It's about showing what's possible.” She embodies this truth in every aspect of her life—from the lab to the Lords. Legacy is in addressing the big questions In reflecting on her legacy, Susan doesn't cite awards. She returns, instead, to the passion of discovery. “Just doing the science is the reward,” she says, echoing physicist Richard Feynman. And to young people unsure of their path, she offers the same wisdom that has shaped her own life: don't be afraid to ask the big questions. “It's better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers.” Happy Easter in whatever way you plan to spend the weekend. To follow more from Susan Greenfield:


This week we dig into life's big questions: how to love, laugh & financially flourish in a world that seems to be doing its best to keep us off balance On my show this week I have a medley of minds and hearts to tackle life's most elusive pursuits: purpose, prosperity and punchlines. From the philosophy of love to economic psychology, and a sprinkle of comedy to bind it all together, the episode was a bouquet of unexpected wisdom. First up, Rick Serrano, philosopher, engineer, and Harvard MBA, returned with his relationship roadmap now available in book form: “All You Need is 10 Cherries.”  This method to finding one's perfect life partner offers a structured framework to navigate your options —five cherries for self-awareness and five for action. From recognising doubts and defining values to the financial equivalent of the ‘Sunk Love Fallacy.' Rick urges us to approach relationships with the same discipline we apply to business. One of his main principles can be summarised here: “If you were not in this relationship today, would you enter it? If the answer is no, you already know what to do.” Rick's philosophy stretches beyond romance. His new workshop “The Quest for Meaning – Unveiling Your Life's Purpose” invites participants to envision their lives in 2040, both with current constraints and without. He combines forward vision with retrospective reflection, helping people identify patterns, possibilities, and pathways to an extraordinary life because he believes we owe ourselves nothing less. The theme of self-reclamation was echoed by comedians Jess Bauldry and Marta Correia, co-founders of Frilly Curtains Comedy Club and Festrogen Festival. They spoke of comedy as a healing force, particularly for women reclaiming their identity after traumatic life events such as divorce. Marta shared a poignant story of reading her “letter to the universe” onstage from which an audience member came up to her afterwards and told her that was how she found her own husband! Sophie Jablonski and Minna Schmidt of Flourish Financially joined once more to bring a fresh, empathetic take on economic empowerment with the “Four Seasons of Financial Health”. Spring is a time for planting seeds of confidence in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous). The goal is to cultivate financial resilience, emotional steadiness, and long-term thinking amid global instability. Why is it that many financially savvy women don't invest. Fear, uncertainty and emotional barriers seem to be the recurring reasons. Sophie and Minna work with women to integrate personal development with financial literacy. They believe it's about knowing yourself and acting with intention, especially during turbulent times. So, whether you're rethinking your savings strategy, relationship status, or life purpose, hopefully this episode can serve as a catalyst to seek out your extra-ordinary life with intention. But first, clean your airplane. Attend the upcoming Festrogen Festival in Luxembourg here. A gift to explore your Financial Wellbeing Flourish Financially are happy to offer my listeners access to their exclusive self-assessment tool, the Financial Flourishing Scale. Grounded in research from positive psychology and financial resilience, it helps individuals reflect on their current relationship with money—whether they're thriving, surviving, or languishing. https://bit.ly/flourishing-scale https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-serrano-luxembourg/ https://festrogenfestival.com/ https://www.instagram.com/comicbyaccident/ https://www.instagram.com/frillycurtainscomedy/ https://drsophiecoaching.com/ https://www.minnaschmidt.com/ https://flourishfinancially.org/

From butterflies to birds, experts and citizen scientists unite in a shared mission to monitor and protect nature's habitats. On my show this week, we zoom in on the declining richness of Luxembourg's biodiversity and why it matters. From powerful EU projects to local volunteers counting butterflies, my guests show how citizen science can be crucial to help collect data in a clear and scientific manner. Dr. Youri Martin, Senior R&T Engineer in biodiversity at LIST, is at the heart of Luxembourg's monitoring systems. As principal investigator of the BIODIV project, Youri and his team track protected species using standardised data methods. He coordinates the Luxembourg Pollinator Monitoring Scheme, where volunteers conduct pollinator transect walks and pan trapping to observe bees, butterflies and other insects. “Consistency in data is everything. It allows us to see real trends,  and the picture is concerning.” Over 60% of butterfly mass abundance has declined in just over a decade. Citizen science has gripped John Park, who created Bee Together.  From identifying butterflies to pan-trapping pollinators, John works hands-on with LIST and is cited among contributors to the new Butterfly Atlas of Luxembourg. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not,” he quotes from The Lorax. John's work has even contributed to published research on genetic drift in insects . Joining us from Austria was Gerid Hager, a research scholar at IIASA and a key figure in the EU's FRAMEwork project and Urban ReLeaf initiative. Gerid emphasised the strength of collaborative data collection from farmers and citizens alike. “This isn't just about data, it's about community, ownership, and the cultural shift towards biodiversity-friendly agriculture.” On the birding front, Patric Lorgé, field ornithologist at natur&ëmwelt, has spent decades building Luxembourg's bird monitoring network. With over 120 volunteers, he has standardised the national tracking of bird populations and authored Vögel Luxemburgs. Patric has personally observed 283 of the 336 bird species in Luxembourg, contributing vital knowledge to EU conservation frameworks like Natura 2000. Digitally documenting this natural world is Paul Braun, Digital Curator at the National Museum of Natural History Luxembourg (MNHNL). As the Luxembourg node manager for GBIF and site manager of iNaturalist.lu, Paul promotes citizen science through technology. The iNaturalist app, he explains, allows users to photograph and identify wild species globally. "The data doesn't just sit there—it feeds into research, policy, and international conservation." The show also highlighted the upcoming City Nature Challenge, a global bioblitz encouraging everyone to document as many species as possible in their city using iNaturalist. Last year Luxembourg contributed over 9,000 observations. “This is where science becomes personal and powerful,” says Paul. So, whether you're walking transects, installing pan traps, identifying birds or just using an app in your garden, you are a vital part of Luxembourg's biodiversity mission. The data you collect today could shape conservation policy tomorrow. As Youri said, “We can't protect what we don't understand. And we can't understand what we don't observe.” https://www.list.lu/en/environment/project/biodiv-iiia/ https://www.list.lu/en/environment/project/lupoms/ https://beetogetherlux.wordpress.com/ https://iiasa.ac.at/ https://www.naturemweltasbl.lu/produit/exemple-de-produit-4/ https://www.mnhn.lu/science/2024/07/11/ferrantia-90/ https://recodo.io/ https://iiasa.ac.at/blog/sep-2023/reshaping-local-frontiers-of-farming-and-biodiversity https://www.naturemweltasbl.lu/centrale-ornithologique/ https://www.ornitho.lu/ https://www.mnhn.lu/ https://www.gbif.org/ https://inaturalist.lu/ https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/ https://www.list.lu/

After traversing seven countries, and spending six years in camps here, Bushra & Mahmood just want a home to raise their family. On this week's episode I had the profound privilege of sitting down with Bushra Ahmed and Mahmood Abdu, a couple whose lives have been defined by a war that is still ongoing in Yemen. Their courage, endurance, and aspiration for their family's future drove them to leave everything behind and begin the journey to find a new home. Their story, spanning seven countries, is one of unimaginable hardship and enforced determination. Bushra and Mahmood fled Yemen in 2017 with their three young sons aged just 3, 6 and 9 at the time. The political unrest and increasing danger made their home untenable. Bushra, once employed by the US Embassy, faced life-threatening risks as tensions escalated. Mahmood had worked for Yemen's Ministry of Agriculture. Both had built stable, professional lives – lives that were upended due to war. Their journey from Yemen went via Oman, Malaysia, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Belgium, and finally, Luxembourg. In Iran they were living in forests at border with Turkey and had to climb mountains at night and walk, with their three young boys, for two weeks to the capital city of Ankara. There, they paid for a treacherous boat crossing to Kos, captained by someone who didn't know the way. On Kos, where they lived for six months in awful conditions, Mahmood built them a shelter. Finally, they reached Luxembourg in 2019. A new chapter. A place of peace. Another baby. They could not have envisaged still living in camps in 2025. A Hidden Struggle in the Heart of Europe Since arriving in Luxembourg, Bushra and Mahmood have been housed in various refugee camps. Six years later, they're still there. Currently, they live in two small rooms in a camp in Luxembourg City, sharing bathroom and kitchen facilities with five other families. And they pay for it – over €1,100 per month. Despite Luxembourg's wealth and reputation for high living standards, their search for a stable home seems insurmountable. Their teenage sons, now in school in Clervaux, spend four hours a day commuting to and from school. Bushra, works but her health has been deeply impacted by relentless stress. Mahmood, has to manage the travel logistics for the children and support their education, alongside learning French. They have filled out hundreds of housing applications – public and private. But the answer is always the same: too expensive, too large a family, or simply, no response at all. Their story is one of many – but one we rarely hear. Luxembourg's Deepening Housing Crisis To shed light on the broader context, I was joined by RTL's French-language housing journalist, Gaël Arellano. His reporting has laid bare the critical state of housing in Luxembourg. Why is renting so hard – and so expensive? It's a perfect storm: - Population growth vs. housing supply: Luxembourg needs to build around 6,000 new homes per year to keep up with demand. In the last two years, only 700–800 homes were built annually. - Collapse of new construction: Rising interest rates and stagnant prices have stalled new builds. - Pressure shift: As buying has become unaffordable, pressure has shifted to the rental market, pushing rents higher. - Discrimination: Gaël has spoken with real estate agents who confirm that some landlords openly discriminate – against nationalities, large families, even people with children. Though laws exist to cap rent or ensure fair treatment, enforcement is often absent or toothless. And for refugee families like Bushra and Mahmood's, who may not have perfect credit histories or high incomes, the barriers multiply. A Home, Not Just a House Despite all this, Bushra and Mahmood remain incredibly gracious and resilient. Their sons are doing their best in school and have many friends, but they crave a normal, stable home life. “They just want to invite their friends over. They want to feel normal.” They simply want what every parent wants: a stable home where their children can grow, dream, and belong. Luxembourg is their home now. So let's ask ourselves – and our community – what can be done? We know the housing situation in Luxembourg is extremely tough, but so much moreso for refugees who are living in limbo. Bushra and Mahmood's story is so deeply humbling. A family who simply want to start their life from scratch and a build a home for their family. https://play.rtl.lu/shows/fr/la-bulle-immo/episodes

Fashioning a future with style, strength & storytelling: ELLE magazine's Editor-in-Chief, a French actress-singer, two fashion designers... my guests this week open up about the need for sincerity in branding oneself or a product, and finding alignment in life and with your work. A Gathering of Creatives In the latest episode of The Lisa Burke Show, the spotlight turned to creativity, self-alignment and the evolving identity of women in business and the arts.  The show featured four guests joining online and in the studio: Aurélia Khazan, French actress, singer and peace ambassador; Marie-Adélaïde Leclercq-Olhagaray, editor-in-chief of ELLE Luxembourg; Elena Gromova, a fashion business consultant; and Senay Simsek Trierweiler, founder of Soul7 Couture. Each guest united through the common theme of finding one's voice and turning passion into purpose. The birth of ELLE Luxembourg and the power of words Marie-Adélaïde shared the journey of launching ELLE Luxembourg, celebrating its first anniversary with a cover story featuring the Grand Duchess. More than just a fashion magazine, ELLE stands as a platform for women's voices across generations.  “Words give birth to ideas—maieutics is the art of giving birth through dialogue.”  Marie-Adélaïde spoke about communication being so much more than just words, either written or spoken.  “The power of words is immense... you need to choose them wisely. ”   Aurélia Khazan: combining creative endeavours for a full career Aurélia Khazan, radiant and multifaceted, joined us from Paris. Aurélia spoke candidly about managing a creative career across continents while staying true to herself.  “We can't wait for the phone to ring like Prince Charming—today, women must take an active role in shaping their careers.”   Recounting feedback from a French agent who said she “smiled too much,” Aurelia responded with grace: “Art is about sincerity, not distance.” Her career across France, India, and beyond reflects a fearless embrace of multicultural storytelling through performance and activism. “Beauty is not a face. It's what you do. It's how you live. It's how you give back.” Senay's Soul7 Story Senay's journey was one of strength, style, and innovation. A psychologist turned designer, she created Soul7 Couture to blend elegance with activewear, crafting pieces that work both in and outside the gym. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2020, her brand became a creative outlet that supported her recovery.  “I didn't fight cancer—I learned to live with it. I never gave up on my dreams.”  Her recent appearance at Miami Fashion Week marked a significant step in taking her Luxembourgish label to the international stage. Senay also talks about how it was not so easy to set-up a business in Luxembourg, but this was not the experience of Elena.  Branding with Meaning - Fashion Business Lab Elena Gromova, founder of Fashion Business Lab and No.Rainer, highlighted the importance of authenticity in branding. Having transitioned from finance to fashion, she emphasised the emotional core of every successful brand.  As Marie-Adélaïde said, “Branding is who you are; marketing is what you offer. You need both feet to move forward.”  Elena's raincoat label, No.Rainer, was inspired by Luxembourg's weather and the desire to build something meaningful.  “Luxembourg surprised me—it's small but full of creative potential.” The Power of Storytelling in a Fast-Paced World The conversation turned to the contrast between fast-paced social media and the depth of long-form content. Marie-Adélaïde spoke of the balance in ELLE between daily digital articles and print features that “live longer” on readers' coffee tables. Elena, who produces beautifully crafted short videos, noted, “You need to show what's behind the picture. A 15-second video can be a hook, but sincerity is what builds a lasting connection.” As Marie-Adélaïde said, ELLE Luxembourg has a multi-generational audience and readership. They have to craft stories and interviews that appeal to all.  Whether building a fashion brand, launching a media platform, or navigating a global creative career, the message was clear: authenticity, adaptability, and self-belief matter most, plus knowing your audience.  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3549980/ https://www.instagram.com/aureliakhazan_officiel/ https://www.facebook.com/aureliakhazan.page/ www.elle.lu Instagram: @elle_luxembourg   www.soul7couture.com https://norainer.com https://www.instagram.com/no.rainer/ https://www.instagram.com/fashion.business.lab/

Member of Parliament, Paul Galles, came to politics via the unconventional route of priesthood. We talk about this, his zest for life, philosophies he abides by and the want for happiness for all.   In my latest episode, I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Paul Galles, a man whose life journey is steered by excitement and a depth of being. Despite leaving the priesthood aged 37, Paul's core values remain in his role as a politician: commitment to faith, community, and the pursuit of happiness for all. Spiritual awakening   As a teenager, we all confront the big questions of life, and that's when Paul's spiritual journey began. Aged 15, he was on a Christian retreat which ignited his connection to God. Coming from a family of mathematicians and scientists, Paul has always been keenly aware of the intersections between faith and reason. Contrary to the notion that religion and science are incompatible, he believes they complement one another. Faith, he asserts, seeks to understand meaning and purpose, while science unravels the mechanics of the universe. His upbringing reinforced the idea that curiosity and belief are not at odds but rather enrich each other, a philosophy that continues to shape his worldview and political approach.   After studying theology, aged 21, he had the opportunity to travel to Brazil to observe the community developed by a Dutch priest who lived there. He was immersed in a vibrant community, "A joyful, lively, young Church that dances and is socially engaged". This experience deepened his faith and ignited a passion for social justice. From Priesthood to Social Advocacy After 11 years as a priest, Paul faced the challenges of remaining celibate, something he feels should not be a requirement for priests. Although he stepped away from the clergy, it was not as a rejection of his spiritual path, but an evolution of it. Transitioning to social work, he joined Young Caritas Luxembourg as a project coordinator, focusing on youth volunteerism in the social sector. His work emphasized the importance of solidarity and community engagement, reflecting his enduring commitment to societal well-being. In 2016, Paul was awarded the prestigious European Citizen Prize for his outstanding contributions to society. This honor, bestowed by the European Parliament, recognizes individuals and organizations that promote European values, solidarity, and cross-border cooperation. For Paul, this was an affirmation of his lifelong mission to serve others, both within and beyond Luxembourg and he dedicated it to the team.  Stepping into the Political Arena Paul's foray into politics was a natural progression of his advocacy work. Joining the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) in 2016, he quickly became a prominent figure, serving as Deputy Secretary-General and later as Vice-President. His electoral success continued through 2017, 2018, and from 2023, where he serves as an Alderman responsible for children and youth in Luxembourg City. Philosophies Rooted in Compassion Central to Paul's ethos is a profound belief in the dignity of every individual and the pursuit of happiness. Inspired by Robert Baden-Powell's words, he emphasizes that true happiness stems not from wealth or career success but from living a life of purpose and love. Paul's commitment extends to environmental justice, social solidarity, and the fight against poverty, with a particular focus on empowering children and youth. A Vision for a Happier Society In my preparation with Paul, he posed some introspective questions that challenge us to reflect on our lives: What are you thankful for? What impresses your heart so deeply? Which wounds of the world do you want to be healed? How do you see the world if you want it to be perfect? These questions, he believes, should be integral to our education system, fostering a generation that values emotional intelligence, creativity, and genuine human connection. Embracing Life's Rhythms Beyond his professional endeavors, Paul finds energy in various passions: a strong network of family and friends, faith, sports, 5Rhythms dance, open-mindedness towards diverse beliefs, astronomy, and philosophy. These interests not only rejuvenate him but also provide a holistic perspective on life, enriching his approach to public service. Paul's story is one of evolution, guided by faith, introspection, and an unwavering commitment to making the world a better place. His journey from priesthood to politics serves as an inspiring reminder that our paths may change, but the core values of compassion, justice, and love remain steadfast. For a deeper insight into Paul's philosophies and his vision for a happier society, tune in to our full conversation on RTL Today. We do also talk about the Council of Europe but this conversation will be a larger one when I interview Ambassador Ragnhildur Arnljósdóttir in a few weeks time. www.paulgalles.lu https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-galles-b6897429?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app https://www.facebook.com/share/19UyFpEioy/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurological condition that impacts an estimated 2.8 million people worldwide. This week we explore the science behind MS, treatment options, and the lived experiences of those navigating life with this chronic illness. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has been called "the disease of 1000 faces" for good reason - it manifests differently in almost every person it affects.  Understanding MS: The Science Behind the Disease Dr. Zied Tayeb, neuroscientist and CEO of MyelinZ, explained the fundamental mechanism of MS in terms anyone can understand: "The brain communicates using electrical signals. These signals travel from one neuron to another through axons, which are protected by myelin sheets that help accelerate the transmission of these signals. In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks these myelin sheets, leading to demyelination.” This disruption in communication between neurons explains why MS symptoms can vary so dramatically - the location of demyelination determines which functions are affected. "It could be the motor cortex, resulting in mobility issues, or the visual cortex, causing problems with vision," Dr. Tayeb noted. While the exact cause of MS remains unknown, researchers have identified several factors that may contribute to its development. According to our panel, MS is significantly more prevalent in women, who represent approximately 65% of MS patients - possibly due to women's more active immune systems making them more susceptible to autoimmune conditions like MS. Geographic distribution also offers clues, with higher rates in regions farther from the equator such as Canada, northern United States, and parts of Europe (with Denmark having a particularly high prevalence). This pattern has led scientists to investigate a potential link with vitamin D deficiency, though studies remain inconclusive. The Patient Experience: Hassan's Journey Few stories illustrate the unpredictable nature of MS better than that of Hassan Nada, entrepreneur, journalist, and self-described "MS warrior." Hassan's first symptom appeared in 2018 when he suddenly lost vision in his right eye while on holiday in Egypt. "I woke up one day, and out of nowhere, my vision was blurry to the point where I thought I was blind," Hassan recalled. Despite seeing an ophthalmologist, his condition went undiagnosed as MS. His vision eventually returned after treatment with corticosteroids. Four years later, after moving to Luxembourg, Hassan experienced sciatic nerve pain and numbness in his lower body. His general practitioner recognized the connection between his previous episode of optic neuritis and his current symptoms, immediately suspecting MS. "She screamed at me and had me go to the ER right away," Hassan shared. After extensive testing, including MRIs, blood tests, and a spinal fluid sample, the diagnosis was confirmed: Hassan had multiple sclerosis. The emotional impact of this diagnosis was profound. "My life changed from that moment onwards, and I went into complete depression," he admitted. But through the unwavering support of his wife and access to modern treatments, Hassan has found ways to adapt and advocate for others with MS. Treatment Approaches: Managing an Incurable Condition While MS currently has no cure, Dr. Tayeb emphasized that it is treatable. "Notwithstanding the fact that MS is incurable, it is treatable," he stated. "The problem is that every patient is different. The trajectory of the progression, diseases, symptoms are different.” Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) aim to slow the progression of MS by suppressing or modulating the immune system. These treatments vary widely in their administration methods (pills, injections, infusions) and side effect profiles. Hassan's treatment journey illustrates the often challenging process of finding the right approach. After being diagnosed, he was unable to receive his doctor's first-choice treatment due to having a virus that made it dangerous for him. He then tried a pill-based DMT that, despite its high success rate with other patients, didn't work for him. Finally, he found success with a monthly subcutaneous injection called Kesimpta. "Last week I went to the neurologist office depressed," Hassan shared. "I was like, 'I know it didn't work.' She's like, 'No, it actually worked. There are no new lesions. You can now make long-term plans in life.'" Innovative Approaches: The Brain's Virtual Gym Dr. Tayeb and Samaher Garbaya, co-founders of MyelinZ, are taking a different approach to MS management. Their "virtual gym for the brain" uses neurotechnology to promote neuroplasticity - the brain's ability to form new neural connections. "We're trying to promote neuroplasticity in the brain," Dr. Tayeb explained. Their platform uses games to stimulate specific brain regions while measuring brain activity. Using machine learning, they analyze six different digital biomarkers to create personalized brain exercises. This approach draws inspiration from research showing that activities like playing musical instruments or singing can activate certain brain areas, potentially slowing disease progression by strengthening neural pathways. The Role of Support: Community and Family Multiple speakers emphasized that MS affects not just the individual but their entire support network. Anne Leurs, who manages the Multiple Sclerosis Society in Luxembourg, noted that MS typically appears between ages 20-40 - a critical period when people are building careers, starting families, and establishing their adult lives. "It's a very difficult period, this period of diagnosis," Anne observed. "It's a chronicle disease. This means that you will have to live your life on with this disease.” Hassan's experience underscores the crucial role of support systems. "MS either breaks a couple or it makes them the strongest couple in the world," he remarked. When first diagnosed, he told his wife she should leave. "She's like, 'It's because I love you that I'm not leaving, and we're going to make it out of this stronger than ever.'" Five years later, she remains his "backbone," managing his appointments and ensuring he takes his medications. For those without close family support, community organizations like the Multiple Sclerosis Society provide vital resources, information, and connection. Complementary Approaches: The Mind-Body Connection Mariette Lentz, a Luxembourgish soprano who specializes in the Alexander Technique, offered insights into complementary approaches that can help manage MS symptoms and improve quality of life. The Alexander Technique is "a mental technique" focused on "exploring the relationship between our thoughts and our movement," Mariette explained. While not a therapy or cure, it offers tools to help reduce stress and bring the nervous system to a calmer state - particularly valuable for MS patients who often experience anxiety related to their unpredictable symptoms. This, naturally, is a method that can help us all.  The Daily Reality Hassan painted a vivid picture of what daily life with MS can entail: "Imagine waking up every day of your life with the worst hangover in the world without having to drink.” Despite this challenge, he maintains a positive outlook and has channeled his experience into advocacy work, connecting with MS communities around the world. "I'm disclosing some personal parts of my life in hopes that it's actually going to benefit people," he explained. Looking Forward: Hope in Research and Community While MS remains incurable, advances in treatment options continue to improve outcomes for patients. From traditional DMTs to innovative approaches like brain-computer interfaces and neuroplasticity training, the landscape of MS management is evolving rapidly. As our conversation demonstrated, the combination of cutting-edge medical science, dedicated healthcare professionals, strong personal support systems, and community resources creates a foundation for living well despite MS. For those navigating the complex journey of MS - whether as patients, family members, or healthcare providers - knowledge and community remain powerful tools. By continuing to share stories like Hassan's and insights from experts like Dr. Tayeb, Samaher Garbaya, Anne Leurs, and Mariette Lentz, we can work toward greater understanding and better support for everyone affected by this challenging condition. https://myelinz.com https://www.msweb.lu/wp/

Many of us are lucky to grow older, and in Europe there is an aging demographic. With this come the diseases of aging such as dementia and a burden on family and society for care. For a long time people have thought this inevitable but we will learn today that, as with so many diseases, lifestyle changes from a young age can counteract this, to reduce the risk of getting dementia and also stabilising mental decline. In 2021, 20.8% of the EU population was aged 65 years or older. In 2019, an Alzheimer Europe report on the prevalence of dementia estimated that there were about 9 million people living with the disease in Europe. This number is projected to double by 2050, rising towards 19 million in the European region. Globally, there are around 55 million people worldwide who are living with dementia. However, research is now showing that up to 45% of dementias could be prevented: by addressing a range of modifiable risk factors, at different stages of our lives. My guests today are: Dr. Ange Bradshaw: Director for Research at Alzheimer's Europe Dr. Joëlle Fritz: Research and Strategy Specialist, Luxembourg Institute of Health Dr. Francesca Mangialasche: Geriatrician, Division of Clinical Geriatrics: Alzheimer Research Center Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Executive Director of the World-Wide FINGERS Global Scientific Coordinating Center at the FINGERS Brain Health Institute Hassan Fadli: Founder, 5 Ironmans Beat Alzheimer's Association The 2024 World Alzheimer's report noted that 80% of people think dementia is a normal part of ageing, and 65% of healthcare professionals. Only 2% of the population are affected by rare genetic factors but for most of us this is not the case. ‘Modifiable risk factors' can be replaced to deter and stall dementia. Francesca Mangialasce is based at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and also works as executive director of the ‘FINGERS' Brain Health Institute, founded by Professor Mija Kivipelto, a world renowned researcher in the field of Alzheimer's disease and Dementia. FBHI is dedicated to promoting healthy brain aging and preventing cognitive impairment and dementia through innovative multi-domain clinical research and the fast translation of these results into personalised clinical practice. Brain is our main capital, and there is so much we can do to promote brain health. Studies have show that cardiovascular and metabolic disorders such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, high blood sugar or diabetes are risk factors for dementia. There are many other emerging factors such as hearing impairment, vision loss, impaired oral health.  Being mentally, physically and socially active during life is important to reduce the risk of memory problems in old age. Secondary and tertiary prevention is also really important, even at the later stages of disease with therapies including art, dance and cognitive stimulation therapy .  The FINGER study across 70 countries shows that a multi-domain approach can benefit cognition:exercise, healthy diet, cognitive training, good control of metabolic/vascular disorders, and social stimulation. Stigma Hassan Fadli's father faced stigma in the village he lived all his life. This stigma deepens the pain of the suffering, knowing you are losing ‘yourself'. It is also a burden for the caregivers at a time when family and friends need the most help to support their loved one.   Hassan promised his father to work towards breaking this stigma and founded the 5 Ironmans initiative. Hassan has also made a documentary of his advocacy work alongside the endurance sport to reach people from children in schools across Europe to the Queen of Sweden.  His aim is to bring brain health into normal conversation, break the stigma, and integrate brain health awareness into public discourse.  Luxembourg support Joëlle Fritz is working  as Research and Strategy Specialist at the Luxembourg Institute of Health where she aims to bridge research to clinical care. "Programme démence prevention" (pdp) is a programme raising awareness on modifiable risk factors for dementia prevention and promotes life style changes. PDP is an integrated prevention concept funded by Luxembourg's Ministry of Health and Social Security. PDP is currently coordinated by the Centre Hospitalier  de Luxembourg in collaboration with national institutions (Luxembourg Institute of Health and Luxembourg Centre for System's Biomedicine at the University of Luxembourg) and partner associations (listed below). It is important to start as early as possible in the prevention of dementia, and so the PDP Braincoach app was created, accessible via browser to everyone also outside Luxembourg: www.pdp-app.lu Associations related in Luxembourg: L'Association nationale des diététiciens du Luxembourg: www.andl.lu ZithaAktiv: www.zithaaktiv.lu   Club Seniors of HELP asbl: www.help.lu Club Senior “Schwaarze Wee” Dudelange:   www.schwaarzewee.lu Lëtzebuerger Verein fir Gediechtnistraining: www.lvgt.lu NEUROvitalis home and digital Info-Zenter Demenz:   www.demenz.lu Association Luxembourg Alzheimer (ala) : www.ala.lu  Longevity with health  The results are clear, for dementia and living a long life with good health: we need to put in place good habits of physical, social and mental health.  Links to the notes above: https://www.5ironmansbeatalzheimer.com www.pdp.lu https://www.alzheimer-europe.org https://fbhi.se/sv/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/fingers-brain-health-institute/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/miia-kivipelto-8a8b1b3b/ https://www.chl.lu/fr https://m3s.gouvernement.lu/en.html https://www.uni.lu/lcsb-en/ https://ki.se/en

Coming up for air after being trapped in the fog of a cycle of domestic abuse – the story of (mostly) women who have finally found the strength to leave. After a news review with Sasha Kehoe, the topic of today's show is Domestic Violence. Eric Lamhène and Rae Lyn Lee set out to make a film a few years ago where the back-story of one of the characters was domestic abuse. When they started their research in 2017, visiting shelters of victims, they realised this was the story they wanted to tell instead. ‘Breathing Underwater' (Hors d'Haleine) is the result. Produced by Samsa Film, this Luxembourgish independent feature-length film was released in cinemas on 13th of November 2024 and will be re-shown on 7 March ahead of Women's International Day on 8 March. Eric is the director and Rae Lyn is the co-writer and Director of Photography. www.breathingunderwater-film.com My other guest, Christine Renzi, is a social worker who has worked with women and children at Foyer Sud for many years. Today she is part of a team that runs “Log-in”, part of Conseil National des Femmes du Luxembourg, CNFL. Eric and Rae Lyn talk about the strength of women in the shelters they visited, the camaraderie and strife they share as they figure out a new path ahead. Eric mentions the fact that most of these women are ex-pats as Luxembourgish people tend to reconnect with family or friends here in these situations. Christine tells us that even though some women (as it is mostly women) return, they usually, eventually, leave when the time is ready for them. Both Christine, and Eric & Rae Lyn, have brought their work into schools and every time, whatever the socio-economic demographic, they have children come to talk to them as they know what this is about, they have lived it. Or they walk out as it is too painful for them to relive it. Domestic abuse comes in many forms and it is not always physical. Psychological abuse can be more harmful in ways as it constantly chips away at the other's confidence, gaining control of that person, making them feel as though they live in a fog of doubt. The victim's circle diminishes, they may loose work and certainly loose confidence. Often there is a trigger to leave the home, and often this trigger is the children. 

Of course men are also victims although the figures at the moment for men are much lower than for women. Nonetheless, in Luxembourg law, both genders are seen in equitable terms. What makes a (mostly) man abuse another? Eric says that his conversations with psychologists suggest it happens with these men are not in contact with their emotions. “The patriarchy hurts both sides”. If you want to check the violence scale, here is a good resource: https://oivf.seinesaintdenis.fr/app/uploads/2022/06/violentometre-2019-anglais.pdf If you need help and support in Luxembourg please contact: www.violence.lu You can find more information from Eurostat here: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20241125-3  www.breathingunderwater-film.com

Is Luxembourg too risk-averse to foster a true startup culture, or can a shift in mindset help entrepreneurs embrace failure as a stepping stone to success? When Pascal Wiscour-Conter got invited to speak at an event in the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, and then at 'Fuckup Nights' (link below), he realised there was an issue about the fear of failure in Luxembourg. This is an issue more broadly across Europe and is one factor as to why Europe doesn't seem to be as entrepreneurial as some other countries.  https://fuckupnights.lu/en/our-speakers/ Is it possible to develop a true start-up spirit in Luxembourg or is it too difficult to pierce the current model of continuity and minimal risk taking? How does all of this fit the exponential age of technological change around us? These are some of the questions we consider.  Attila Lengyel is an expert in organizational culture and change management, and spent a large part of his career at Amazon. Attila talks about how an individual and an organisation can learn to deal with risk; real versus perceived risk, and how failures can be celebrated.   One-way and two-way doors are a thought experiment we explore, showing that many decisions are not necessarily permanent. The culture of a company is a tangible blueprint for behaviour and decision making. Getting this right is key to ensuring the company's voice is disseminated through all employees, and that employees can fit the feel of a company.  Attila currently leads innovation and business development at Edugamitec, a groundbreaking EdTech startup hoping to revolutionize corporate learning through game-based nano-learning. Daniel Tesch is head of ULESS, Union Luxembourgeoise de l'Economie Sociale et Solidaire. He spent eight years living in Brazil working for Arbed steel group, now Arcelor-Mittal. A lawyer by training he now helps social impact entrepreneurship in Luxembourg.  Veerle Dierick is the  Fundraising coordinator and corporate relations at Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner, the Childhood Cancer Foundation in Luxembourg.  15 February is International Childhood Cancer Day, a global collaborative campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer.  In Europe, every day 100 children are diagnosed with cancer. It's a rare disease that kills 6000 children per year. In Luxembourg, 180 children and their families are helped by the foundation, with about 30 new children every year. You can find out much more information on their new website here. www.fondatioun.lu  You can also raise money on the Lëtz Go Gold charity run which takes place on 27 September each year.  www.letzgogold.lu

"Killing and Starving children is not Jewish. Fighting antisemitism demands decoupling of Jews from Israel." Since many people don't have time to read full articles anymore, I want to start by linking to two poignant interviews I've had the privilege of conducting over the last few years: - Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, the first Palestinian doctor to work in an Israeli hospital: lost his wife to leukaemia aged just 43, leaving him with their 8 children. Just four months later,during the 2008-9 Gaza War, three of his daughters and one niece were killed. And yet Izzeldin has dedicated his life to using health as a vehicle for peace.  https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/in-conversation-with-lisa-burke/episodes/n/1612726 - Bassam Aramin, Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, Israeli, are members of The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF), due to the most painful loss of their daughters at different times due to the intractable Israel and Palestine conflict. They have become 'brothers' and advocate constantly for solidarity and peace in their land. https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/in-conversation-with-lisa-burke/episodes/n/2171062 Last week saw the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. It also saw the return of Palestinians to the north of Gaza. This juxtaposition of events hits hard. The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz had 56 survivors of the camp in attendance; down from 200 survivors for the 75th anniversary. We are losing the voice of those who experienced violence, discrimination, hatred and genocide first hand in these camps of torture and death. Of course we must add it was not only Jews that suffered in these camps. Meanwhile, anti-semitism is on the rise since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing war in Gaza and Lebanon. This sudden attack on 7 October was not out of nowhere of course. It follows in a line of attacks on both sides, and in the greater region, over decades, despite various ‘agreements', ‘accords', political handshakes… nothing has yet brought peace. On my show this week I have four strong and learned voices on the region, the culture and the law: - Dalia Hader, a Palestinian living in Luxembourg who is asking for petition signatures here so that the Government of Luxembourg discusses this topic in the chamber: “Luxembourg must sanction Israel for its policies in Palestine.” https://www.petitions.lu/petition/3231 - Martine Kleinberg, President, Jewish Call for Peace a.s.b.l. - Dr. Michel Erpelding, International lawyer specialising in this region - Dr. Engy Ali, President of MSF Luxembourg Dalia Hader, is a Palestinian from Jerusalem but grew up primarily in Amman, Jordan. Like so many Palestinians, families often move if they have a choice as it becomes untenable to ‘live' and raise a family in Israel / Palestine. Current records show the state of Palestine to have about 5.5 million inhabitants. The Palestinian diaspora is numbered at about 7.4 million. About one third of Palestinians living in Palestine are under the age of 15; only about 3% live to be over 65. We discuss one definition of genocide with Dr. Michel Erpelding, which targets the killing of children to minimise population growth. Access to care and medication Dr. Engy Ali, President of Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF Luxembourg, is specialised in Critical Care medicine and public health, working for over 20 years in the medical and humanitarian field; 12 years with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders. She has worked in Bangladesh, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Haiti, Liberia, DRC, Philippines, Pakistan, Gaza and Europe.   The MSF team in Gaza have lost 9 members since 7 October 2023. This loss is deeply felt by the MSF family as they dedicate their lives to giving access to health to all, equally. ‘Access to care and medication' is, according to Dr. Ali, the driving force of MSF. Dr. Ali reminds us that MSF has been present in Gaza for years. She herself was working Gaza in 2020, trying to organise medical evacuation programmes for complex trauma cases (but then Covid 19 happened.) “Our humanitarian action in Gaza is guided by our core humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, but we do not stay silent about humanitarian crises as in Gaza. We publicly speak out and report attacks on healthcare facilities, shortages of medical supplies, and obstacles to access care, ensuring that humanitarian needs are recognized.” The testimonials you hear in this interview are from from Nadia Abo Mallouh, MSF medical coordinator from Rafah, and Abu Abed, Deputy Medical Coordiantor. Impunity reinforces antisemitism Martine Kleinberg, President of Jewish Call for Peace (JCP) has worked unceasingly to increase the clamour of Jewish voices that do not want to be connected with the direction of Israel's government and want to work with Palestinians for peace. This is a growing movement around the world with the Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Not in My Name refrain. https://jewishcallforpeace.lu Martine is herself trained in conflict resolution and prevention.  JCP is a founding Member of the European Jews for Palestine launched in October 2024, with more than 20 organisations in 14 European countries, a member of Global Jews for Palestine, and a Member of Luxembourg Collectives for Palestine. On 1 February Martine organised a conference to discuss: “Exploiting Memory: the Holocaust and the distortion of antisemitism” In organising this event, Martine faced cultural decision makers in Luxembourg who did not want their venue associated with such open conversations. Neimënster said no; the Culture Bar said yes. Neimenster said this event did not “correspond to their values…the title leads to negative interpretations against associations and institutions partnered with Neimënster. As a public establishment we remain a neutral entity and cannot be associated with this type of event” Martine is extremely clear in her own reckoning of what the Israeli government are doing to use Judaism as an instrument of war: “I refuse the instrumentalization of my Jewish identity for colonialist supremacist purpose, that has nothing to do with Judaism. My commitment is the solidarity with the oppressed and deconstruction of antisemitic prejudices.” Martine believes strongly that there is a “weaponization of the Holocaust memory and antisemitism by Israel, to gain impunity, which is destroying international law”. “Fighting antisemitism demands decoupling of Jews from Israel.” Martine Kleinberg is aghast on why almost no religious leaders, of all religions, cannot speak out with clarity that the violence against a trapped civilian population in Gaza is indefensible and wrong Does International Law have any power anymore? Michel Erpelding, is a legal scholar in the history of international law, with an additional degree in Middle Eastern studies, and works on international law particularly related to colonialism and individual rights. We speak about the definitions of international lawyers and the International Criminal Court of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and apartheid.   Israel was viewed by the UN, well before 7 October 2023, as an occupying power in Gaza, and as such remained bound by international law to meet the essential needs of the civilian population. Israel can control water going into Gaza. It can exert decisive control over Gaza via land, air and sea. We explore the notion of ‘double standards' in political discourse when it comes to annexation (for example, Putin annexing Crimea; Netanyahu annexing East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank). Naturally the 7 October attacks by Hamas was the catalyst to this most recent war, but there is also the legal notion of ‘proportionality' in war. Dr. Erpeling and Dalia discuss why the Oslo Accords of 1995 did not work. “Oslo led to a clearer apartheid reality in the West Bank and Jerusalem” says Dalia, and goes on to say how certain Palestinian segregation means one cannot drive on certain roads, cannot visit certain parts of Palestine without the ‘right' passport, requires a certain number plate, will be held up for hours at check-points to be humiliated, and so the layers of discrimination continue. This un-ending story of war sits in a region where, fundamentally, humanity has been abandoned. And this humanity at its core, will find not much difference between Israelis and Palestinians, just like the Irish and Northern Irish, just like the Ukrainians and Russians. When the Ukraine war started, how often did we hear the line, “But they are our brothers and sisters?”  Humanity is a source of life and support. Borders, walls, check-points, active discrimination and suppression are not the acts of humans who, with a religion or not, know what is right in their heart. Let's end with a recent poll in the French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, which showed that when 986 people aged between 16 and 24 were questioned about the Holocaust, one in five had never heard of it (18%), and almost one in five had heard of it without knowing more (17%). Let's try to remember what has gone before.  Let's try to break the circles of hatred in history. Get in touch  Contact Lisa on LinkedIn or via her website. Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast. Watch on RTL Play. Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am.

Philanthropy and rare disease are the topics in this week's show, after a global news review with Sasha Kehoe. Philanthropy for Brain Research and Rare Disease What would you do if you had a spare €10,000 or more to donate? Well, the University of Luxembourg has just opened up a new fund to tackle Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and Rare Diseases. You could become part of their ‘Champions Circle' and get to know the researchers, the cutting edge development and help shape the future for so many people in the world with these conditions. Research is expensive and philanthropy can be targeted giving, where you get to make a difference during your lifetime.  Naturally another way to give is to leave a legacy through your will. As an entirely separate aside, it is always a good idea to leave a written will. The act of writing one can crystallise what matters most to you once you're gone, and therefore perhaps what matters most to you whilst you live.  Philippe Lamesch created and leads the Fundraising Office at the University of Luxembourg. His own background is in biological sciences, firstly at Namur in Belgium, followed by research at the and then the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University. https://www.uni.lu/en/about/fundraising/how-to-donate/ Daniela Ragni, Director of the André Losch Foundation, talks about his legacy.  Given that he didn't have his own children, he created the foundation with a mission is to support youth, education and social inclusion. They work in partnerships with people and organisations over a number of years to make real and lasting changes within our community.  Daniela herself spent a couple of decades working for non-governmental organisations trying to raise money and now finds herself on the other side of the this equation, developing relationships with organisations and individuals who need financing for their ideas for the social good of the community, always with a focus on young people.  https://www.loschfondation.lu Rare Disease Associate Professor Dr. Carole Linster's scientific work has made her the leading researcher on rare childhood disease in Luxembourg. Her biomedical science studies started in UC Louvain in Brussels, followed by the prestigious de Duve Institute there, followed by UCLA in California. Here she discovered enzymes that plants depend on to produce vitamin C. Carole and co-workers also discovered several new enzymes of human metabolism, involved in the breakdown of metabolic side products that become toxic when left to accumulate. In collaboration with researchers from Australia, the US, and the UK, the Linster group identified a novel infantile rare neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by the deficiency of one of those metabolite repair enzymes (NAXD).  Carole talks about the fundamental global research that is necessary in order to tackle rare disease, which is not really that rare by definition. It is extremely time consuming for talented scientists to write proposals for grants and other fund opportunities. For this reason again, the idea of university led funds, or partnerships with organisations such as André Losch which can extend over years, takes some pressure off the constant need to ‘ask' for money. Sip of Self-Care Dr. Laura Riordan flew over from Lisbon to join our conversation. She is an Executive and Career Transitions Coach with a Ph.D. in psychology and over 20 years of coaching experience. Through her work of creating the Sustainable Mom methodology, Laura has extended her knowledge to the world of Raregivers - caregivers within families of Rare Disease. From 2019, Laura has developed retreats for rare caregivers to find relief in a supportive community and bolster their self-care practices to sustain themselves and their families at home. Laura talks about the need to look after one's own well-being in order to support a child with a chronic condition. We talk about the diagnosis odyssey, on average 5-8 years with a rare disease. This limbo in itself is a source of immense pain and stress for a family, layering on top financial stressors when often one parent has to give up work to care for a child. The Raregiver's guide trains caregivers and medical professionals on the Raregiver's methodology, a research-based stress relief methodology shared through peer-to-peer support groups and emotional witnessing workshops. The Raregivers organization is singularly focused on providing necessary mental health and wellness services to raregivers - from sustainable psychosocial training and transformative retreats to a connective peer-to-peer multilingual network. Raregivers currently supports over 22,000 rare families across 33 countries. https://www.raregivers.global Get in touch  You can contact Lisa on her website or through LinkedIN. Watch all her shows on RTL Play. Listen on Today Radio: Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am. Please do subscribe to the podcast, rate and review.

Today's episode is all about tips from the renowned Vivamayr clinic on how to have a healthy gut, which means a healthy life; plus audits set in stone from the Accounts of the Acropolis. This week we start with a news review with Sasha Kehoe, where naturally the focus is on Trump's inauguration, and the direct flow of executives orders from that point on.  The conversation continues to Bettel's comments on his time working with Trump; who is leaving X and Stargate. In other news, we have the continuing, if fragile, Gaza ceasefire, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's response to a fatal knife attach in southern Germany, Oscar nominations, the return of wolves to Luxembourg and other Luxembourg news. Vivamayr - the basics of gut health Vivamayr is a renowned, world-class medical health resort in the south of Austria, surrounded by a beautiful lake and mountains. Its primary focus lies in a holistic approach to health, emphasizing proper nutrition, gut health, detoxification and healthy aging. The resort has a team of medical and holistic health experts who follow the decades old principles of F.X. Mayr plus more modern additions. Dr. Werner Zancolo is the Head Physician at Vivamayr since 2021. He is a medical doctor specializing in gut health, holistic, and complementary medicine.  “Our goal should be to help people maintain their health and support them in aging healthfully.”   In this interview, even thought the technology didn't allow us to see him, he talks us through what we can all do in 2025 and beyond to help our gut heath, and therefore our overall health. Dr. Zancolo talks about the need to eat a mostly plant based diet, with one third animal or other products. He says that about 30% of the population has ‘leaky gut syndrome' which can be easily diagnosed with a stool sample. This can actually lead to depression due to lack of serotonin. The focus of food is on developing a two thirds alkaline diet, minimising caffeine and alcohol, but everything in moderation.  Fasting is good to reboot our cells into a sense of autophagy and cleaning up the internal systems. If we were to skip one meal a day it should be dinner, and we shouldn't eat raw food in the evenings, nor fruit.  Naturally, exercise, minimising chronic stress, adding meditation, good sleep… all of these are necessary for a healthy long life. Perhaps we know this, it's just good to be told again from a doctor.  Accounts from the Acropolis Damijan Fišer from the European Court of Auditors joined us once more to talk about a unique exhibit which has just opened at the European Court of Auditors. Courtesy of the Acropolis museum in Athens, the ECA now proudly hosts the accounts of the Acropolis from over 2000 years ago. On 23 January, the ECA President Tony Murphy and Nikolaos Milionis, ECA Member from Greece, unveiled an exhibit which comprises unique copies of the financial accounts for the construction of the gold and ivory statue of Athena which stood at the centre of the Parthenon. These stone slabs (steles) contain the complete accounts of revenues and expenses of the construction. The unusually large sums of money recorded may have implied that the gold employed in the construction of the statue of Athena Parthenos could be used as a state reserve for emergencies. Art is also increasingly being used to improve working environments and engage with ‘ancestral intelligence'.  Get in touch  Contact Lisa on LinkedIN or other social media platforms.  Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am. Watch on RTL Play.

Welcome to 2025 from RTL Today here in Luxembourg! As the new year dawns with blue skies and crisp temperatures, we welcome listeners from around the world. On today's episode of The Lisa Burke Show, we're taking a glimpse into the year ahead. What does 2025 hold for geopolitics, technology, culture, and beyond? Joining us is Sasha Kehoe, our seasoned daily news host, adept at finding the most interesting stories, and Sam Steen also jumps onto the show! Geopolitical Shifts The political landscape of 2025 promises dramatic shifts, with the inauguration of the 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump, in January. Domestically, his administration is an unknown quantity, but he is likely to pursue pardons for the January 6th rioters amongst other possible promises in his election campaign. Internationally, we anticipate he will alter U.S.-China relations, remove the US from some climate organisations, and Trump has already been a possible catalyst for the ceasefire in Gaza. What will happen in 2025 for Ukraine and the Middle East? Notably, there's cautious optimism about a time of rebuild and reconciliation after a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, alongside predictions of a peace deal in Ukraine by May, aligning with the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's World War II victory. Europe, meanwhile, faces rising populist movements. Germany may see Friedrich Merz steering the nation to the right, while Austria's Freedom Party forms a far-right government, the first since World War II. France continues to grapple with political gridlock, and tensions simmer in the Balkans, Moldova, and Nagorno-Karabakh. However, there are bright spots, such as Bulgaria's adoption of the euro and Romania's upcoming presidential election. Technological Breakthroughs 2025 is officially the UN's Year of Quantum Science and Technology, heralding advancements in AI, robotics, and space exploration. Companies are pouring over $1 trillion into data centers to harness AI's potential, though adoption rates remain tentative. Tesla's humanoid robots are expected to debut in factories, with predictions of increasingly autonomous machines capable of household chores like tidying and loading dishwashers. Eastern Europe continues to lead in cybersecurity and dual-use technologies, while China drives a global clean tech boom with solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles. Luxembourg's space sector stands out, with the University of Luxembourg having launched its first satellite, POQUITO, on January 14. Luxembourg also ranks third globally in space investments as a percentage of GDP, trailing only the U.S. and Russia. Cultural Highlights and Luxembourg The Luxembourg Song Contest heads to Basel, Switzerland, with semi-finals scheduled for May 13 and 15, and the Grand Finale on May 17. Closer to home, Luxembourg is implementing significant social and economic changes. These include higher wages through indexation, increased energy allowances, and tax reforms to attract foreign talent and support single parents. On the mobility front, tram services will extend to Findel Airport, with WiFi available on board. Educational policies also see changes, such as a ban on mobile phones in primary schools and a doubling of university tuition fees. These initiatives aim to strike a balance between modern convenience and societal well-being. Environmental and Health Trends Environmental challenges persist, with California facing wildfires, the Amazon experiencing drought, and Spain battling floods. Scientists warn 2024 was the hottest year on record, setting a worrying precedent for 2025. Yet, there's hope in health innovations, such as expanded malaria vaccine rollouts and efforts to eliminate cervical cancer through HPV vaccination. The Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year, “Brain Rot,” underscores the mental toll of extended screen time. Encouraging movement remains vital, as demographics shift in the U.S., where deaths now outpace births, affecting economic growth. Looking Ahead As we navigate this year of change and innovation, The Lisa Burke Show invites you to stay engaged, curious, and hopeful. Watch us on RTL Play, listen on Apple or Spotify, and write to Lisa on LinkedIn. Here's to embracing the unpredictability of 2025 together!

The launch of Girls in SciTech in Luxembourg last week is a movement aimed at empowering girls to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths. The Girls in SciTech campagin, coordinated by Professor Serge Haan, brought together high school students, university alumni, industry professionals, and political leaders, all united to tackle the gender imbalance in STEM fields. How can we encourage more young female minds to take up the ‘hard' sciences rather than just the ‘soft' sciences (life sciences, medicine, biological sciences etc.)? Indeed one can even question the words attributed to the sciences here.  The State of Women in STEM: A Statistical Snapshot Despite incremental progress, women remain underrepresented in STEM, particularly in senior roles. According to Eurostat, 41% of all scientists and engineers in the European Union were women in 2022. The figures are consistently lower for maths, physics, computer science and engineering, varying from country to country.  Philippe Hiligsmann, Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of Luxembourg, underscored the importance of the campaign: “This is more than an event; it is a movement to change things by motivating and inspiring girls to pursue a career in science.”  A Powerful Group of Role Models The event featured a panel of inspiring women from diverse STEM backgrounds, who shared their own personal journeys and ideas: - Hania Tayara, Programme Leader at Native Scientists - Marie-Alix Dalle, Environmental Engineer at ArcelorMittal - Prof. Serge Haan, Full Professor in Biological Chemistry, University of Luxembourg - Laurence Lampecco, Analyst Developer at POST Luxembourg - Prof. Skerdilajda Zanaj, Full Professor in Economics, University of Luxembourg - Marie-Louise Uwizeye, Chargée d'études at Administration de la gestion de l'eau - Monika Zlopasa, Investment Fund Risk Manager at UBS Luxembourg Stéphanie Obertin, Minister for Research and Higher Education in Luxembourg, captured the essence of the event's message when she said, “It's about transforming our society by empowering women in STEM fields. The unique perspectives and ideas they bring to the field enhance problem-solving and spark innovation.” The Challenges: What's Holding Girls Back? The panelists identified several key barriers that contribute to the gender gap: Stereotypes and Gender Roles:  From an early age, girls are exposed to stereotypes that suggest STEM is not for them. Many girls are told, either overtly or subtly, that they are not as good at math or science as boys. These messages, often reinforced by parents, peers, and teachers, can impact their self-confidence and limit their aspirations. As Prof. Skerdilajda Zanaj pointed out, “It's not that girls don't like science, it's that they are taught to believe it's not for them.” Lack of Role Models:  The absence of female role models in STEM fields further discourages girls from pursuing these paths. Research shows that girls are more likely to enter STEM fields if they see women succeeding in them. “For every 10 Google queries asking, ‘Is my daughter gifted?' there are 25 asking, ‘Is my son gifted?'” said Marie-Alix Dalle, an alumna of the University of Luxembourg and an Environmental Engineer at ArcelorMittal. The lack of female role models in leadership positions can make it harder for girls to imagine themselves succeeding in science. Parental Biases:  Parents often unconsciously reinforce gendered expectations. Research has shown that girls are less likely to be encouraged to pursue STEM subjects, particularly in math and technology. This parental influence can have long-term effects on girls' academic choices and self-perception. Workplace and Family Balance:  Women in STEM often face the additional challenge of balancing their careers with family life. Marie-Louise Uwizeye, an engineer and mother of three, shared her experience of working in engineering while raising children: “If you really want to do it, you can. I am a mother of three children, I have a PhD, and I am working full-time. Don't excuse yourself—this is your right.” Despite the challenges, she emphasized that women can thrive in STEM, even as mothers. Breaking the Barriers: Solutions and Strategies To address these barriers, the panelists discussed various strategies that can help increase the number of girls in STEM, especially in leadership positions: Increased Representation of Women in Senior Roles:  One of the critical points raised during the discussion was the importance of seeing women in senior positions within STEM fields. Not only do these role models inspire the next generation, but they also demonstrate that leadership in STEM is achievable for women. “We need to increase the representation of women in science at senior levels to show young girls that it's possible to rise to the top,” said Hania Tayara. Studies show that having female mentors or professors increases the likelihood that girls will continue to pursue STEM studies and careers. Changing Course Content:  Many panelists emphasized the importance of making STEM content more relevant to girls. As Marie-Alix Dalle put it, “Enough talk about cars!” In order to engage more girls, science education must reflect a broader range of interests and real-world applications. “Science should resonate with girls as well,” she added, advocating for curricula that connect STEM to real-world issues like climate change, healthcare, and technology. Mentorship and Support Networks:  Several initiatives are already in place in Luxembourg to support girls in STEM. For example, mentorship programs, such as those offered by Native Scientists and the University of Luxembourg, help guide girls through the uncertainties they may face when applying to university or entering STEM fields. Laurence Lampecco, an analyst developer at POST Luxembourg, shared her personal experience of mentorship and the crucial role it played in her journey: “Having someone who believes in you makes all the difference.” Challenging Societal Norms:  Finally, the discussion underscored the importance of challenging the societal norms that dictate what careers are “appropriate” for men and women. By showcasing the success stories of women in STEM, through media and other platforms, we can shift perceptions and inspire young girls to see these fields as viable career paths. As Monika Zlopasa, a Risk Manager at UBS Luxembourg, pointed out, “We miss out on complementary skills and points of view when we don't have women in STEM. It's not just about representation—it's about making work better, more innovative, and more inclusive.” Moving Forward: A Collective Effort The Girls in SciTech event marked an important milestone in the effort to close the gender gap in STEM. But as the panelists emphasized, real change requires a collective effort from all sectors of society. From parents and teachers to industry leaders and policymakers, everyone has a role to play in creating a more inclusive environment for girls in STEM. Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg's Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity, stated, “When young girls see women excelling in STEM fields, it serves as an inspiration. It shows them that they too can achieve success in these areas.” By continuing to promote mentorship, support networks, and initiatives like Girls in SciTech, we can ensure that the next generation of STEM leaders includes a balanced representation of both women and men. In the end, the journey towards gender equality in STEM is just beginning. With sustained commitment, collaboration, and advocacy, we can create a world where girls in science are not the exception—but the norm.

From the youth uprising of Bangladesh in summer of 2024 which overthrew the Awami-led government, a new nation is beginning to sprout. Watch and listen to the interview on RTL Today. Bangladesh doesn't hit international headlines so often unless it's for cyclone reasons. It's been quiet and slightly hidden from global news discussion. Why was that? Well last summer, the youth of Bangladesh ensured their desires for their country was heard. During July and August 2024, the youth of Bangladesh rose up against the Awami League-led government of Bangladesh, with nearly a thousand young people killed. Sheikh Hasina was the longest serving Prime minister, and is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh. Her regime was known to be authoritarian and she's now in self-imposed exile since the uprising.  In October 2024, a team of ten students and three teachers from various Luxembourg high schools, who had been corresponding with Friendship secondary schools in Bangladesh for over a year, went to meet the young people and learn about some of the challenges of Bangladesh.  On my show this week, Aysha Siddiqua Tithi and Mir Mahbubur Rahman (Snigdho) talk about their experience, losses and the future they hope for.  Mir Snigdho, 25, is the twin brother of Mir Mugdho, who was shot dea by police whilst trying to supply water to demonstrators. His twin brother Snigdho now heads up the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation, to help the victims of the violence of July-August 2024. Mir Mahbubur Rahman (Snigdho), has a background in law and a passion for social impact and the “transformative power of collective action”. Aysha Siddiqua Tithi, 22, is a 3rd year university student who was at the forefront of the July protests and accompanied Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2006) and current Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, to the United Nations General Assembly last September.  Tithi is Project Director at WOOW (Work for Orientation and Organizing the World), and currently a third-year Computer Science student at BRAC University.  Snigdho encompasses the passion these young people have in turning the weight of history into something positive for Bangladesh: “The Quota Movement of 2024 was a moment of sacrifice and resilience. The Movement is deeply personal to me because I lost my own (identical twin) brother during this struggle. His sacrifice has been a profound source of inspiration, driving me to work tirelessly toward building a better future for those who have faced similar losses. This tragedy has given me a strong sense of purpose, motivating me to ensure that every sacrifice is honoured and that no one is left behind in our collective fight for justice and equality. “Witnessing the struggles of my family and  of those who fought for equality and justice has inspired me to dedicate myself to ensuring their voices are not forgotten. Through the foundation, I work to provide financial assistance, healthcare, and emotional support to the martyrs and injured, keeping alive the spirit of hope and solidarity that emerged from the movement. This experiences has profoundly shaped my vision for a stronger Bangladesh. I won't let my brother's death be in vain. “I see Bangladesh 2.0 as a land of opportunity, innovation, and inclusion—a nation where the dreams of all citizens are supported and valued. With the right blend of education, leadership, and global collaboration, I believe we can overcome systemic challenges and create a brighter future. My goal is to be part of this transformation, using the skills and knowledge I acquire to contribute meaningfully to the country's development”

What a year 2024 has been. It's had it all. Highs and loves and lows, elections and entertainment. With my colleagues Sasha Kehoe and Vanessa Phelan, we take a look at some of the biggest news stories of 2024.  It was a year of elections, but also of countries coming undone through continuous wars or overthrowing of regimes (Syria and Bangladesh). Paris hosted the Olympics and added breakdancing as one of its choices.  We can't go without mentioning Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour. Then there was the mispronounced names including Kamala Harris, Chappell Roan, Zendaya, Barry Keoghan. Bringing it back to Luxembourg, we had the Caritas embezzlement scandal, increased defence spending (along with much of Europe), and the idea of conscription was floated. Eurovision mania hit Luxembourg for the first time in 31 years and the new crop of talent is lining up for next year's show.  What were your highlights or lowlights? Get in touch and let us know what stories touched you the most in 2024. 

As we approach the holiday season, where so much emphasis is put on families being together, I wanted to touch on the taboo topic of parental estrangement. “Dirty Grief” is the phrase Stephanie Peirolo coined to describe that messy landscape of grief when a parent you are estranged from dies.  Stephanie and Eugene S. Robinson are seasoned storytellers through the spoken and written word, along with music in the case of Eugene. I first came across Stephanie when I heard her talk about her son's death on The Moth. One might think that this is what she would want to talk about. But no. It is the story of her estrangement from her mother, and more recently, the unexpectedly messy grief she is currently walking through after her mother died.  Eugene has his own story of estrangement from his father, and has also written about this in "Father: the Final Installment". With such familial bonds, when they are frayed or fractured, others often want it to be ‘fixed' as there is still hope whilst people are alive. There may be judgement from others who perceive you as not trying hard enough to either accept how the parent shows up or just accepting some behaviours which may never change.  "We are meaning making beings, we need story and ritual to carry grief” Stephanie and Eugene both honestly share their experiences, and the ripple effect such dynamics have on other family or partner relationships. Stephanie suggests not to rush that line from ‘grief to grace' and to lean into chosen family. She believes there is a deep sense of knowing what is right inside oneself.  My Guests Stephanie Peirolo spent years working in advertising and is now a board-certified executive coach. She is a writer and storyteller whose work on The Moth has been featured on NPR and in the best-selling book All These Wonders. Her new book The Saint and the Drunk - A Guide to Making the Big Decisions In Your Life will be published in the spring. Eugene S. Robinson, an author whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the LA Times, GQ, and Vice, spent time “in the trenches” at Adobe, Apple, Intel, Nikon. His books include A Walk Across Dirty Water and Straight Into Murderers Row, a memoir and Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass Kicking But Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking. He is the lead singer for the band BUÑUEL, touring soon through Europe. You can listen to Eugene and Stephanie on their podcast The Bad Boss Brief. Eugene's newsletter is Look What You Made Me Do Stephanie's is The Consigliera Papers Find them on Instagram @speirolo and @mrsleep3 https://consigliera.substack.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WebsjShV0ZA https://eugenesrobinson.substack.com/p/father-the-final-installment http://www.upperhand.biz https://badbossbrief.com

Have you ever looked for a mentor or thought about becoming one? This week's show explores the benefits on both sides. Mentorship can help shape careers, foster inclusivity, and make a workplace less lonely by developing stronger connections across teams and experiences. Whether through formal programs or informal connections, mentorship creates opportunities, and nurtures growth on both sides. My guests are: - Sonata Louvigny - Patricia Souza - Inês Crisóstomo - Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau National Mentoring Day on 27 Oct was inaugurated at the Houses of Parliament in London, led by Chelsey Baker. In December 2023 the Official Journal of the EU published the Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions entitled “Mentoring: A Powerful and Meaningful Tool for the Europe of Tomorrow." (links below) 


 During this conversation we discuss how to find a mentor, build a trusting environment for effective listening and communication and setting outcome expectations. Two way Street Mentorship can also be effective for mentors themselves, to develop stronger bonds and ideas within their organisation and learn how to ask good questions of oneself along with the other. Inês Crisóstomo encourages people to reach out to someone you might admire professionally and ask for an ‘information interview' with them for about 15 minutes. “You are not alone” Mentoring can be viewed as a learning conversation: learning about oneself; creating space for reflection and supporting action planning. It also helps to equalise opportunities, to create frameworks that support professional development. Informal networks often serve men more than women for example. With over a decade in Science Management, Inês supports scientists to thrive in an ever-evolving research landscape. She coordinates the Mentoring Program sponsored by the Gender Equality Group at the University of Luxembourg and works as a mentor and coach. Her own background is a Ph.D. in Biology from ITQB-UNL (Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier ITQB NOVA, Lisboa), with research conducted at the Rockefeller University in New York, USA. She has worked at iMM (Lisboa, Portugal) and in the Vienna BioCenter (Austria). Inês knows how important mentorship can be in a research environment and is accredited by the MCAA (Marie Curie Alumni Association), EMCC, EMCC Luxembourg (European Mentoring and Coaching Council), and the CARE network (Career Advisors Supporting Researchers in Europe), fostering collaborations and knowledge sharing within global communities. Patricia Souza is the co-founder of WeSTEM+ (Women in Excel STEM) and a Leadership Development and Inclusion Consultant focused on creating more inclusive and equitable business environments. She is also the co-chair the Membership Stream for the NextGen chapter of Lead Network and a board member of the BeLux Chapter. Patricia believes in empowerment through guidance, and a build-up of confidence and leadership through a good mentor. However, she also states that mentorship is a two-way relationship with a ripple effect to the circles of influence for both participants. “It's about building a relationship that can change the trajectory of their life.” Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau is a leadership expert who worked in HR for many years, where she became involved with mentoring. Sylvia created the first ever mentoring programme at the European Investment Bank and later, together with Rita Knott, the Youth Mentoring Programme in Luxembourg. Today she works as an executive coach to leaders on all levels, with a focus on leadership presence, resilience, communication and impact. For organisations, Sylvia believes mentor programmes are fantastic (and cheap) L&D tools that cover several purposes, in particular: 1) fostering a cohesive organisational culture 2) passing organisation specific knowledge to newcomers and younger professionals, 3) creating networks 4) fostering a learning environment Mentors give back AND about learn about themselves. Mentees: “You get as much as you put in (it's not a free lunch)” Keys to successful mentoring include building trust and openness at the start; clear agreements and engagement from both sides; basic coaching skills for mentors. Sonata Louvigny is an EU project and program management leader, coach and mentor. Her starting point in mentoring was experiencing the negative impacts of mismanaged mentoring within her team. Sonata's master's thesis was on managing the mentoring process and to help various organisations develop effective mentoring programs aligned with their goals. She is a member of professional mentoring associations such as IMA and EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council). She worked with EMCC Luxembourg, where her role was to oversee the accreditation process for coaches and mentors. Sonata warns that a mentor could be in a position of authority over the mentee, which is more common in traditional mentoring but not in developmental mentoring, and therefore professional guidelines are really important. Through her work she believes that mentoring is not just a hobby but requires specific competencies and skills. Effective mentors should be aware of the professional standards, continuously develop their capabilities, and, if they wish, seek accreditation to ensure they provide high-quality, impactful mentoring. How to find a mentor My guests suggest: - Identify people that inspire you. - Reach out to them - Join groups - Find peers - Take advantage of organisations that create mentorship programs (workplace, non-profit organisations, educational institutions, professional associations, government initiatives, and community organizations, among others). Links: Mentorship Platforms for anyone, for example: https://www.mentoring-club.com/ https://nationalmentoringday.org/history/timeline https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52023IR1537
 https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvia-rohde-liebenau-phd-b51b0328/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciasouza11/ http://we-stem.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonata-kucin/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/inescrisostomo/ https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-luxembourg/ University of Luxembourg (@uni.lu) • Instagram photos and videos

From a reflection of the COP29 results & what we can do, to Office Hours and a rousing invite to sing Christmas Carols in Echternach next weekend. On this week's show we talk to Andrew Ferrone about the latest COP29 results from Baku with Tessa Moeller. We also have Adam Petersen to tell us about his new show, Office Hours, on Today Radio. And Jeff Hemmen is inviting us all to either sing, play or come to watch the ‘Big Christmas Wind Orchestra & Choir' who will perform in Echternach on 15th December. My guests are: - Dr. Andrew Ferrone, Deputy Director for Climate and Sustainable Development, IPCC Head of Delegation Co-Coordinator of EU Negotiation team on science issues at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - Tessa Moeller, upcoming Ph.D. student and contributing author to the last IPCC report - Dr. Adam Petersen, presenter of Office Hours on Today Radio - Jeff Hemmen, Organiser of the Big Christmas Wind Orchestra & Choir COP29 Andrew Ferrone & Tessa Moeller are not pessimistic about our climate future and work hard to bring their research to both policy makers and the general public. Andrew Ferrone is a seasoned attendee of the COP events and shares his insight of the latest one, where the key message was the adoption of a climate finance commitment aimed at supporting the Global South. He has not lost hope and can see that combined efforts in all domains, across all countries could, will, and already does make a difference. If you want to make a calculable difference yourself go to Carbon Nerd from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology. They have examples of how an individual can reduce their carbon footprint. Make research more actionable Tessa's work focusses on ‘overshoot', the likely move above the 1.5°C Paris Agreement's temperature target and its potential consequences for global mean sea level rise. The higher the temperature peaks, the longer the overshoot, the greater the risk of crossing irreversible thresholds in the ice sheets, which in turn, locks in faster and more substantial long-term sea level rise. You can read more about Tessa's work in her recent publication in Nature Communications article (summarized here ). Tessa's broader aim in the climate conversation is to make research more actionable.  By complete coincidence, Adam Petersen used to run oil rigs in Baku for BP, amongst other places. He talks about the brilliant science which also takes place on the rigs in order to minimise emissions and how fossil fuel scientists are a deep part of this transition conversation. Office Hours Adam Petersen's ‘business' show is more about understanding the business world around us here in Luxembourg, and in connection to the world around us. You can find his show, Office Hours, on RTL Play. The Big Christmas Wind Orchestra & Choir Jeff Hemmen fell in love with carol singing whilst studying in the UK, and so he brought it back to Luxembourg. Next weekend, everyone is invited to sign up and sing or play traditional carols in the beautiful and oldest city of Luxembourg, Echternach. This is an open invitation to all to enjoy a Christmas moment with the beautiful Christmas market, and you'll even be rewarded with a free Glüvin for your efforts. It is important you sign up for numbers however. He also talks about the wonderful work done by shareaction.org Listen to the show Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am. Please do subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify, rate and review! You can get in touch with Lisa on LinkedIN or via her website. LINKS: https://unfccc.int/news/cop29-un-climate-conference-agrees-to-triple-finance-to-developing-countries-protecting-lives-and https://carbonnerd.list.lu https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49863-0 https://play.rtl.lu/shows/en/office-hours/episodes https://www.bigchristmaswindorchestra.lu/ https://www.lisatoniburke.com

LUNEX legends undertake the Laponie Trophy to raise money for the Red Cross's programme to support families with trauma through nature activities. Imagine the drudgery of a one hour commute each way to work: France to Luxembourg and back again, to do an office job for the Red Cross Luxembourg. This was Sonia Barjonnet a few years ago. She wanted to do more for her employer, the Luxembourg Red Cross, rather than ‘just' an office job. Sonia wanted a challenge, and with a random google search for ‘Adventure Travel' she happened upon the Laponie Trophy. Her reasons: “Because I don't like the cold, I've never been to Lapland; because I'm not sporty, I've never run a marathon; for all of these reasons, I signed up, a bit by chance, for the Laponie Trophy in 2024 in aid of the LRC.” This three day event in January, with temperatures hovering around -30 degrees Celsius, takes place in Lapland and requires proper preparation. The first day is a walk / run with rackets for about 10-15km; the second day is an orientation race; the final day involves a Nordic ski 4 x 800m relay race and then an obstacle course. It's not for the faint of heart. On top of hard training, Sonia had to start using social media to communicate and ask for sponsorship.  LUNEX LEGENDS Dr. Kim Buchholtz, born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, is Assistant Professor in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, chair of the exam board and programme leader for the Bachelor in Physiotherapy here at LUNEX in Luxembourg.  “The hill that I am willing to die on is that we should (almost) all be doing more physical activity than we do for our mental and physical health… it's more powerful than medication in preventing disease.” Her motto is ‘Lift as you rise' - use one's privilege and opportunity to provide spaces and mentoring for those less experienced, less privileged and less supported than us to have the same or better opportunities in life than we have had. Kim believes that young adults should be able to see themselves in their role models, and therefore wants to show her current and former students, and patients, that “even a  geriatric millennial with low cold tolerance can trek through the snow at -30 degrees for a good cause!”.  Dr. Buchholtz was recognised in 2018 as one of the Mail and Guardian's 200 Young South Africans in the Health category. https://200youngsouthafricans.co.za/kim-buchholtz-2018/ Dr Johanna Johannsson Ingvarsdottir is a senior lecturer and research fellow in the Department of Health at LUNEX. Similar to Sonia, Johanna had a bucket list of activities she wanted to pursue. One was to visit Lapland, another was to complete a sports challenge. The Laponie Trophy combines both.  Johanna believes “It doesn't matter how slow you go, so long as you don't stop!” Jessie Tembo is the LUNEX Legends Social Media Manager & student.  Sophia Harith is a Research Fellow at LUNEX, lecturer and Programme Leader for Bachelor in International Sports Management, plus a reserve on the team. They would all like to you follow them and their training on social media, but more importantly sponsor them on their GoFundMe page: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/lunexlegends/collectes/lunexlegends-lapony-trophy https://gofund.me/bef3798b Or here: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/lunexlegends/collectes/lunexlegends-lapony-trophy Instagram: @lunex.legends LUNEX www.lunex.lu Croix Rouge Luxembourg Kim and Johanna have also decided to support the Luxembourg Red Cross, but more specifically their Service d'Accompagnement et de Transition (SAT) who organise outdoor activities for children or families at risk of social isolation, or who have just moved here as immigrants. This is led by Melodie Neves. As of today, there are approximately 89 children ranging from 4 to 12 years in age, coming from Turkey, Chile, Colombia, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Venezuela, Kosovo, Angola, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Peru, Eritrea, Gabon and Oman.  Melodie's team built the ‘First welcome' centre for those arriving in Luxembourg fleeing war zones. It is the first point of social contact for these children and their families, when they land in a strange country, entirely aligned with the mission of the Luxembourg Red Cross: to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people. SAT helps children with trauma slowly and gently integrate, learn Luxembourg's languages and culture through building trusting relationships. “Komm mat an d'Natur” was created to offer children and families with trauma the chance to reintegrate with educational activities in nature that strengthen their well-being and develop their social skills. The aim is to combat social isolation and build self-confidence. https://www.raid-feminin.com/sahara-trophy/laponie-trophy-raid/ Croix-Rouge luxembourgeoise (@croixrougelu) https://www.croix-rouge.lu/fr/service/structures-daccueil-et-deducation-integree/ https://www.croix-rouge.lu/en/

Financial advisors can be quite intimidating, especially if we feel we're starting ‘too late', or we don't have ‘enough' money. Dr. Sophie Jablonski and Minna Schmidt are on a mission to break that stigma and encourage more people to talk about money matters in a healthy way. On The Lisa Burke Show this week, Sasha Kehoe starts off by giving us a reflection of the week's news.  Flourishing Financially in mid-life. Dr. Sophie Jablonski and Minna Schmidt set up Flourish Financially to help empower people both mentally and financially, the two being highly combined.  Their main community are midlife women who fall into the statistical bracket of being behind men in building wealth. The gender wealth gap across all countries has been averaged as about 77%: that's to say for every €100 earned by a man, a woman earns €77. There are many reasons for this including taking time out to raise a family, returning part-time and sickness.  Women are also less likely to talk about money, often end up dependent on others, especially in older years, despite also living longer on average. For many people, it's midlife, that crunch-point of perhaps raising a family plus parents who might need more help, to heavy workloads, plus possibly divorce, where one contemplates the purpose of having a buffer in life; a financial blanket to ease the inevitable moments of hard times. This duo want to encourage anyone, whatever stage of life you are in, to take control of your own financial health. Unquestionably, more money means more freedom: freedom of choice; freedom to find the best healthcare for aging parents; freedom to leave a bad marriage.  Sophie and Minna hope to inspire and create a community who is more aware of their own financial options, without feeling shame or fear, whatever the starting point; at whatever age.  Sophie is particularly clear that positive psychology is linked to a flourishing mindset, and when this part is ‘right' the rest can follow. How is your Financial Health? Sophie and Minna have developed a Financial Flourishing Scale - a reflective tool to help people understand where they stand on their financial health journey— thriving, languishing or surviving. Using evidence-based insights from positive psychology and financial resilience research, it's a great starting point for building financial well-being. Access the tool for free here: Financial Flourishing Scale https://flourishfinancially.org The PROVIDERS celebrate their 25th anniversary at Den Atelier The Providers started out 25 years ago in a garage in Kehlen with three teenagers. It's now grown to a 10-piece band and old members will join them to perform at their sold-out show at Den Atelier on Saturday. However, there are two tickets left. In this show, Pit Mass talks about The Providers and mentioned how many people will be on stage for this show. Write into hosts@rtltoday.lu with your answer after listening to the show! Website of Minna: https://www.minnaschmidt.com Website of Sophie: https://drsophiecoaching.com LinkedIn of Minna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minnaschmidt/ LinkedIn of Sophie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sophie-jablonski/ Instagram of Minna: https://www.instagram.com/minnaschmidt/

Problems with traceability of the EU's Covid Recovery Fund is one of the issues Tony Murphy discusses, with concern, on this show. Irishman Tony Murphy is at the helm of the EU financial watchdog, as President of the European Court of Auditors. The European Court of Auditors is one of the seven EU institutions and it's based in Luxembourg. With nearly 1000 staff members, their role is to scrutinise the way in which EU money is spent; make it transparent, traceable and accountable. Plus, does the use of the money ultimately serve the EU citizen? And so, one part of the job is to follow the money trail, the other is to ensure the performance or use aligns with the EU's broader strategic priorities. 2024 has been a year of major reports, most prominently the Draghi report on EU competitiveness and the Letta report focussed more on the single market. Letta also emphasises the need for much stricter control on state aid for those most in need. Both highlight the challenges facing the EU in terms of being a global player, competitiveness, the internal market and industrial policy. ‘Sustainable' Debt versus ‘necessary investment' is something that auditors have to consider and advise on, when thinking about the future of the EU and kicking the problem down the line, for future generations to pay for. Tony Murphy talks passionately on the EU's COVID recovery funds which are a huge problem in terms of following the money - it is not transparent and not easy for  the auditors to see whether the money is or was actually used in the right manner as designed https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/news/NEWS2024_04_NEWSLETTER_03?mtm_campaign=NewsletterAnalytics&mtm_kwd=RelatedNews&mtm_source=Newsletter-2024-4-2&mtm_content=https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/news/NEWS2024_04_NEWSLETTER_03 They ECA examine revenue and spending in every area of the EU's work from growth and jobs to environmental policy and climate action. https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/what-we-do They undertake ‘performance audit' reports which digs into whether EU action and funding is efficient and effective - does it deliver results for citizens. Naturally there are also the ‘compliance' and financial audits to see if rules are being complied with.   https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/search-publications#k=#l=1033 ECA governance and structure https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/governance   ECA's activity report for 2023 (2024) – this gives a good brief overview of our role and work https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/news/NEWS-AAR-2023   Just published (yesterday): ECA plan of audits for next year and afterwards: https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/news/NEWS-WP-2025   

Today we discuss the whole energy life cycle of a home and how, perhaps in the future, we should consider a ‘carbon-wallet' for our lives, which includes where we live and its own carbon costs. "Build nothing, build less, build efficiently, build with less impact" Architects have to think of many things. Resource-efficient designs will help reduce the need for new construction and demolition. In a world facing resource scarcity, the way in which materials are sourced and buildings are constructed must change. My guests are architects Carine Oberweis and Philippe Nathan, civil engineer Lee Frank and Paul Baustert, policy maker and Attaché at the Ministry of the Economy in Luxembourg. Carine is passionate about creating healthy living spaces with low-energy design. Having spent many years working in Ghana (and being the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Ghana in Luxembourg), Carine also works on developing new building products made from waste material. This is an industry with huge future potential. Lee Franck works with the construction industry, currently responsible for about 40% of carbon emissions, to devise low carbon designs. Architect Philippe Nathan has worked on The ‘Grande Porte des Alpes' in Lyon, developing a vision of a decarbonised and resilient region by 2050.  As Attaché at the Ministry of the Economy in Luxembourg, Paul Baustert works on preparing legislation related to the whole life carbon of buildings. Where does carbon reside in our homes? This is not as obvious as it may seem. Every bit of material that makes our home has an energy cost to it, which is why it is not always the most energy efficient decision to demolish and build again. We are all very aware of energy consumption when it comes to heating, ventilation and electricity, not least because this is an on-going (and likely increasing) cost.  However, we are less conscious of the ‘stuff' that our buildings are made of. This is grey energy. For so long the conversation on reducing energy consumption has circled around insulation, energy efficient windows, machines to vent the house mechanically, but not the overall carbon dioxide savings. We are now moving to a ‘whole-life' carbon approach, and new legislation is on its way to take into account the impact of the materials that go into construction. From 2028 onwards, for a new building to be permitted, it needs to have its carbon footprint calculated over its life-time, energy consumption and carbon in the materials to build it. From 2030, limits on how much carbon can go into a building will come into place. An average size house in Luxembourg has a carbon footprint of roughly 200t CO2 in the materials. That's about 100 return flights to the United States. If we reduce the carbon footprint of our house by 20%, we save the equivalent of about 20 return flights or the offset of an average person in Luxembourg's carbon footprint over 2 years (an average person's carbon footprint in Luxembourg is 18t/annum)! And if we scale this up to a global scale – we could build one city like Paris each week in energy savings. How can we change this situation fast? Lee Franck has a few suggestions here: - Build Nothing: do we need to build more? Could we convert existing buildings? Stop demolishing! “Demolishing and building something new which claims to be “green” is greenwashing.” - Build Less: what is enough? - Reuse materials: start the mindset of urban mining. All existing buildings are material banks. We need better data management systems to log this however. - La frugalité heureuse: what are our fundamental needs to be happy? For example, cellars are highly carbon intensive to build. Can we use one space in multiple ways. - Logistics: how to transfer one component from an old to a new building. - Leave things ‘unfinished'  (exposed ceilings and floors etc.) - Build efficiently: use fewer resources for the same needs - Carbon footprint calculation and set goals on how much carbon should be used - Build with timber. There is a common misconception that building in timber has a negative carbon impact. Global demand for timber is predicted to quadruple by 2050 and although at least in Europe forests are growing, this demand cannot be met and these monoculture plantations come with a loss in health of the forests and biodiversity and illegal sourcing. - Innovation for better materials and products. What is the role of an architect in our society? Architects play a unique role in society, enhancing lives by thoughtfully considering how people live, work, and shape their environments. In today's fast-paced world, homes should offer a sense of calm and grounding. Carine believes in creating a home which has a soothing effect on the human senses, through careful consideration of volume, colour, touch, acoustics, and even scent. Architects and engineers also have to design for communities, to encourage human interaction whilst ensuring privacy and reducing isolation. Carine's work in Ghana develops her passion for empowering local communities and promoting social equity. “In response to global challenges such as the climate crisis, demographic changes, economic instability, and disrupted supply chains, the focus is on finding innovative, sustainable solutions - local solutions to local problems.” Collaborative efforts in West Africa have led to the development of new building materials from waste, with plans to apply this knowledge to projects in Luxembourg. Carine's vision aligns with the philosophy of "build nothing, build less, build more clever, build with less impact." She encourages us to value what already exists, appreciating imperfections both in life and in the built environment. “It's about embracing nature-based materials, minimising transformations, and reducing both embodied and operational energy. For example the Gulf of Guinea may seem distant, the ripple effects of its developments will touch us all. Global well-being is a shared responsibility, shaped by the daily decisions we make. Every choice has global consequences, underscoring the interconnectedness of our world and the urgent need for sustainable, responsible practices.” Paul has the unenviable task of thinking about the whole building ecosystem with associated environmental challenges in order to put together a framework of policy decisions that will help the country for generations to come. Carbon Budget As a final thought, Carine Oberweis has a suggestion for us to consider as we move towards the New Year - what is your carbon budget? “To grasp the importance of global well-being, we must recognise it as a shared responsibility - one shaped by our everyday decisions. Each choice we make has a compounding effect on the world, emphasising our global interdependence and the urgent need for sustainable, mindful practices. Imagine it like a monthly budget, with a limited "carbon wallet" for spending. With each choice, your carbon budget gets smaller, and by the month's end, we hope you've managed to keep enough for future flexibility. Let's start thinking of each decision as an investment in the world of tomorrow, striving to make each choice one that preserves our collective resources for the long term. What's your carbon budget for 2025 ?” Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am on Today Radio. Watch on RTL Play. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Coping with blindness, then paralysis, to showing us that we can achieve more than we thought possible. Blindness Mark Pollock started losing his sight from childhood, culminating in blindness just before his finals at Trinity College Dublin in 1998. Mark's blindness is tied to the date of the Good Friday Agreement being signed on 10 April 1998 in Northern Ireland. He speaks of the uncertain years of autopilot after this diagnosis, the five stages of grief and the sense of being left behind as his friends went off to start their adult lives. Mark had to navigate the loss of what he had assumed was his identity; one very much tied to being a sportsman, defined by things he did. He speaks of being a spectator on the sidelines of his life. Slowly, as he emerged from this state of shock and grief, he moved from being a spectator to competitor, designing a life with clarity, confidence and commitment. Small goals built up confidence. Always a lover of endurance sports, he went on to attempt many such feats, both ‘successfully' and other times needing to be helicoptered off mountainsides. Mark went on to become a global adventure athlete, competing in ultra-endurance races across deserts and the first blind person to race to the South Pole in 2009. Paralysis Perhaps a worse tragedy occurred in 2010, when a fall from a second story window nearly killed him, leaving Mark with a broken back, fractured skull and many internal injuries. He survived, just, but paralysed. Since then, Mark has redirected his attention to the intersection of humans and technology to cure paralysis in our lifetime. Off-air he spoke to me about a particular teenager he shared a ward with, whose life's potential was wiped away at the time he was paralysed from the neck down. Mark Pollock works to inspire us all, optimise performance and build collaborations and communication channels that can ultimately effect change. He is Chairman of Collaborative Cures. Mark now works a lot with neuroscientists, to understand how to best achieve a state of flow. He also believes in collaboration with an element of competition to get the best results. This also requires great communication, and that relies on trust. Run in the Dark Mark is the founder of the global running series Run in the Dark and here Luxembourg plays an important role! This event will be held on 13 November at 8pm in 50 cities around the world, with 25,000 people running 5km and 10km. You can choose to race, walk or be a Marshall or volunteer on the night. If you want to support Mark's work you can contact him here: https://www.markpollock.com/ runinthedark.org/volunteer

Colleagues Vanessa Phelan and Sarah Tapp join Lisa to discuss a bookshop book and more besides. The first shocking fact about this month‘s Book Club is that we found a communal date after one try. For three working women, with children and other jobs, this is rather remarkable.  We start our discussions by talking about Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. And, as always, there is a conversation full of books to follow.  Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am.

Lisa discusses the significance of the "minority vote," swing states, and other topics that will impact the U.S. elections coming up in November. Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, Retired Ambassador Dr. Carlo Krieger, and U.S. Diplomat Meghan Dean share their thoughts on this week's show. Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins observed the importance of having the right to vote in childhood, watching her Grandmother pick cotton in the morning and teach school in the afternoon so that people could learn how to write their names and therefore vote, once that law eventually came into place. Dr. Jefferson-Jenkins took up the baton to become a life-long advocate and activist for civil rights and social justice. She is a voice for under-represented populations and served two terms as the President of the League of Women Voters of the United States and Chair of the League of Women Voters Education Fund, the only woman of colour to have ever done so. Retired Ambassador Carlo Krieger served around the world: Brazil, China, Russia; and as Deputy in the Embassies of Washington D.C. and Vienna. His academic passion is social anthropology, and in this conversation we learn about Carlo's knowledge of how Native Americans are discriminated against when it comes to their right to vote. Meghan Dean is the U.S Embassy Luxembourg's spokesperson. She served as a Deputy Spokesperson for European Affairs and at the State Department Operations Center, the Secretary of State's 24-hour crisis management and communications centre in Washington, D.C. Meghan served at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia and on the State Department's Ukraine Desk. Meghan is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Albania and Georgia. She talks about the Electoral College, the complexity of the American elections and that it's not one Federal election but 50 state elections. On the evening of Tuesday 8 October 2024, Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, was in Luxembourg at the behest of Miami University Luxembourg Foundation's inaugural event, supported by the US Embassy in Luxembourg.

Joining Lisa and Sasha in the Today Radio studios are the planners of Differdange's Fashion Week Luxembourg, sneaker savvy Today Radio presenter Steven Miller, and Laura da Silva – a fashion-forward nurse, tattoo artist and advocate for breast cancer support and awareness. Starting with a review of the week's global news with Sasha Kehoe, we discuss:  US Election Just one month away and Melania Trump has declared her support for a woman's right to control her own body, including abortion. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/02/melania-trump-memoir-defends-abortion-rights JD Vance, Donald Trump's pick for vice-president, has indicated he would support a national abortion ban https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/kfile-jd-vance-abortion-comments/index.html Pelicot Trial Rape Case in France The horrific mass rape trial of 71 year old Gisèle Pelicot continues, creating debate about the culture of male domination in France and across borders https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240927-french-rape-trial-sparks-timid-debate-about-masculinity Teleworking no longer Amazon now requires all employees to return to the office, sparking debate amongst many companies to rethink their working from home / office balance for maximum productivity  / employee satisfaction, especially when long commutes are a feature of working in Luxembourg for many. Grand Duke Abdication Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume will officially assume the role of Lieutenant Representative on 8 October, as appointed by his father the Grand Duke.  In September Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa moved to their Fischbach residency allowing their son, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and his family to take over Berg Castle in Colmar-Berg. https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/2207770.html Real Art vs Posters Scientists in the Netherlands using eye-tracking and MRI scans found an enormous difference between genuine works and posters. A neurological study revealed that real works of art in a museum stimulate the brain in a way that is 10 times stronger than looking at a poster. Commissioned by the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, home to Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, the independent study used eye-tracking technology and MRI scans to record the brain activity of volunteers looking at genuine artworks and reproductions. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/oct/03/real-art-in-museums-stimulates-brain-much-more-than-reprints-study-finds Fashion Week Luxembourg  Livia Smith, Communication Strategist for Luxembourg Fashion Week talks about its growth from the starting point six years ago,  with Fabiola Puga still at the helm. This year there will be twelve national and international designers. Luxembourg Fashion Week hopes to become part of the cultural fabric of the hospitality and economy of Luxembourg. Livia also talks about her own use of fashion to help create confidence for someone who is naturally shy. Max Felten,  Chief Economist and City Manager of Differdange returns to talks about why Differdange will, once again, host Luxembourg Fashion Week. Natalia Wrona, in charge of the promotion for Differdange City Management, explains the three different locations this year, including one at the International School in Differdange, celebrating all children, with two autistic children taking to the catwalk. AquaSud Differdange is another of the three locations for the Fashion Week, and Céline Moreira, their Communication Manager, explains the difficulty in using an aquatic setting for a fashion show! Céline also talks about the link to Pink October and how emphasising the beauty in diversity. A theme throughout today's discussion is the power of self-acceptance,  and promotion of a positive body image regardless of challenges. Laura da Silva overcame breast cancer ten years ago. Now, she spends her time between nursing at CHL and running her own business as an image consultant and tattoo artist, helping other women who have gone through breast cancer. She travels around with a pink chair, which is a reminder to those who have dealt with cancer that there is a lot of waiting and sitting, for both the patient, but also for their friends and family. https://www.instagram.com/luxembourgfashionweek My colleague, Steven Miller, a presenter at Today Radio is renowned in the office for his sneaker collector. Steven started his collection at the age of 15, peaking at 550 in 2017. He talks about sneaker collecting as an alternative investment, where ‘sneakerheads' of this world are happy to spend thousands on one pair. Steven also loves Japanese streetwear designers, specialising in  minimalist but thoughtful creations. Collector of sneakers since age 15 (peaking at 550 pairs in 2017) Completed a course in ‘Sneaker Essentials' with the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in 2020; covering everything from history and design to  manufacturing and retail Favoured fashion subject is Japanese designers and streetwear Advocate for pre-loved/owned clothing and the Japanese art of ‘Sa-shiko' (mending/repair) Please do subscribe via Apple and / or Spotify. It would be great if you could rate and review too — as it helps others find the podcast. Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon, and Tuesdays at 11am.

Thoughts of a massage with four hands (two people) and 8–9 litres of oil sounds like utter bliss to me. And more, from Ayurveda Parkschlösschen. Our roundup of the week's news, with Sasha Kehoe, covers: - Pope Francis's visit to Luxembourg on such a wet Thursday and the much-noted coffee-shop visit - Upcoming Austrian elections with a potential real far-right win - Former Prime Minister and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker addressing the ongoing rumours of his alleged alcoholism - Pirate Party Defections - Euthanasia in Switzerland - death in a Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia. - A bit of light relief with Pesto the Penguin at an Australian aquarium home Ayurveda Parkschlösschen and Nestwärme Ayurveda Parkschlösschen is not too far away at the Mosel river in Traben-Trarbach and is an oasis for the over-worked. Kathleen Landbeck is a naturopath and psychotherapist, who leads the Resilienz Retreat at Ayurveda Parkschlösschen. Maria Hebel is an Ayurvedic Practicioner at the centre. Dirk Hense represents Nestwärme - a family relief network across Germany, Luxembourg and Austria for families with physically or mentally handicapped children; families that need to become resilient to cope with the realities of their day-to-day existence. Ayurveda is an ancient holistic medical system which focusses on the human being as an individual, with individual problems and needs. Each person is viewed in terms of their ‘dosha' (body and personality type) to help us understand our personality type and traps. Whatever one's background or wealth, we face different challenges in life: burdens of work, relationships and health. We also face the burden of ourselves and the weight we put on ourselves through upbringing and culture around us. We've certainly come to realise that physical health impacts mental health and our microbiome. At Parkschlösschen they try to reset the digestive tract and calm the nervous system with a series of many of the things we know ourselves: good food habits, sleep, meditation, yoga, and a digital detox. We fall in to habits and traps, and in relationships: “Partners are our gurus, especially when it's difficult” Kathleen and Maria plus the team meet people as they arrive high on stress hormones. We are not always conscious of what's hurting us, or our unrealistic expectations. Why is it that we are so driven? Or can't meet the standards set by ourselves or others? Kathleen tries to develop the self love muscle. We learn about the Four Stages of Life: - Learning stage - when we are students or apprentices - Establishing stage through work and family; wealth creation - Doing to being - mentoring and giving back - Returning to our spiritual selves - retreating from the doing and rest in the being - We also learn about the importance of boundaries to maintain our emotional and physical health, and also learn about the five different levels of being: - Physical - Vital force - Mind - thoughts and emotions - Intellect - more subtle and stable than the mind - Bliss body - deep sleep, like in a meditation (or great sex!) Nestwärme Nestwärme helps families in a holistic way, fostering the feeling of community and diversity. It's so easy to feel alone with not much ‘extra' energy when faced with an on-going stressful family situation. And this is not an insignificant number - about 2-5% of families are touched by this in western European countries. The work is focused on health and wellbeing where the body follows the mind, plus the intrinsic need for belonging. The motto is ‘me, then you, then we'. We cannot sacrifice too much of ourselves or we burnout. Nestwärme have added 7 elements of building resilience: - Self awareness - Self regulation - realistic optimism - solution orientated - orientation to future - orientation to network - Ability of acceptance And they added the importance of humour Resilience is a muscle that must be trained. They have built and e-learning platform which is available in English, German and French. If you wish to contact any of these organisations you can fine Ayurveda Parkschloesschen here, https://www.ayurveda-parkschloesschen.de/en/homepage-english/ with a blog here https://gb.parkschloesschenblog.de/ They are also available on instagram. https://www.instagram.com/ayurvedaparkschloesschen/ Kathleen is about to become a digital nomad, travelling the world with her work and has a website here. https://www.kathleenlandbeck.de/de Nestwärme is available here https://www.nestwaerme.org/lu/ with their CareYoo programme here http://www.careyoo.org The news stories can be found here: https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/2234922.html https://apnews.com/article/austria-election-far-right-kickl-nehammer-9db1d6bebfd67d3225be787e34e0b13d https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/2233867.html https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/2232874.html https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/2234508.html https://today.rtl.lu/news/science-and-environment/a/2234566.html

Career planning, as a student or an adult; plus the upcoming Science Slam in Luxembourg. Arnit Dey has two more years of High School left before he and his cohort  of global students have to decide what to study, where to go and what to do with the first part of the rest of their adult lives. Arnit himself was born in the UAE to an Indian family and now lives in Luxembourg. He feels that the upcoming decisions need to be spoken about more at this important juncture in life, which conflates education, peer and parental pressure and the simple heaviness of figuring out what to do in the future. Anneke Hudson is the in-house careers advisor at St. George's International School. Anneke is half-English, half-Dutch, born in Kenya, raised there, in Zambia, South Africa, Oman, North America and England and is raising her own family here in Luxembourg.  And so, she knows what it feels like to be a ‘3rd culture kid', a married mother abroad and an expat parent. Anneke first studied law and became an in-house banking solicitor in a City of London international corporate law firm. Quite quickly she realised this was not a career she enjoyed. After a gap to raise her children, Anneke took a Masters degree in Career Development and Coaching from the University of Warwick in the UK and became a registered Career Development Professional with the Career Development Institute in the UK. At St. George's International School she helps students think about the word ‘career' to encompass the lifelong journey through life, learning and work. “Your 'career' is the paid and unpaid roles which you undertake throughout a lifetime, including life roles, leisure activities, learning and work.” There are six core career development skills, relevant for any age: - Trying new things - Understanding yourself - Being open - Reflecting - Learning how to research - Networking These complement the six learning areas from the Career Development Institute Framework: - Grow throughout life - Explore possibilities - Manage career - Create opportunities - Balance life and work - See the big picture Dr Ann Kiefer is a mathematician by training, working as a STEM Expert at the Luxembourg Centre for Educational Testing (LUCET) at the University of Luxembourg. She leads a project called PITT (Programme for innovative teaching and training), where she develops science and maths lessons for secondary schools tailored to Luxembourg. Ann is also highly involved with science communication, from designing a maths costume for the Manneken Pis in Brussels https://www.lalibre.be/dernieres-depeches/belga/2020/07/20/des-chercheurs-de-la-vub-concoivent-un-costume-pour-manneken-pis-HJCWWYVOUNHLBIPMU6A2XDVM7Q/ to winning a number of science slams herself in Germany and Luxembourg. She also participates in Science Stand-Up Comedy https ://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=HpcEsVI8ccc Juan Aguilar is a digital archaeologist doing his PhD on the virtual recovery of a destroyed millennia-old cultural heritage site in Mosul, Iraq. Juan also won the Science Slam here in Luxembourg by explaining how he 3D-scanned and 3D reconstructed the presumed tomb of the Prophet Jonah which, until 2014, sat on an Assyrian palace (IG: #nebiyunusdigitalarchaeologicalproject ). He communicates his archaeological project work with short films. https://vimeo.com/829695470?share=copy https://history.uni.lu/team-juan-aguilar/ Ann and Jan are part of the Luxembourg Science Slam organisation team which is open to all on Friday, 4th October at 7pm in Cercle Cité. You can find the tickets here and videos of previous science slams here.  https://scienceslam.uni.lu/ Tickets : https://www.echo.lu/en/experiences/luxembourg-s-science-slam-5fQsxu Videos of previous slams : https://www.youtube.com/@luxdoc472/videos

Lisa, Sarah, and Vanessa gather in the Today Radio studio for Book Club's third instalment, sharing their very favourite summer reads - and they'd love to know yours! This week's show is a deep chat on the books we've loved this summer. I'm joined by my colleagues Sarah Tapp and Vanessa Phelan.  Here are some of the books we talk about: When the Coffee gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi Ann Patchett - all of her books! It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover Do let us know what books you enjoy and if there are any in particular from this list that stand out to you.

British Ambassador Thomas opens up about her life - describing an unusual path towards a successful career in diplomacy, from early struggles with sexual harassment to her recent battle with thyroid cancer. Fleur Thomas was appointed Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on 21 April 2021. Fleur Thomas's journey is a testament to resilience, determination, and the power of diversity. Starting her career as a chartered surveyor, she faced sexual harassment from senior colleagues, forcing her to leave that path. This early experience, though traumatic, shaped her character and fueled her resolve. Instead of being defeated, Ambassador Thomas redirected her energy into academia, earning two master's degrees while working as British Airways cabin crew. The drive to succeed, rooted in a sense of not quite measuring up due to her less privileged background, propelled Fleur forward. This determination is a trait she shares with her grandmother, who, after being widowed with five children, fought for her family's survival by securing a council house after she lost the family tied house upon her husband's untimely death. “I think Diversity of thought is super important." Fleur's career in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) saw her rise to the role of Head of Exports, a position that underscored her ability to thrive in challenging, male-dominated environments. Her dedication to promoting gender balance and social mobility within the MoD, as well as her recognition of the importance of intersectional diversity, highlights her commitment to creating inclusive spaces. “The modern UK is very diverse and we represent the modern UK” Her role as Ambassador in Luxembourg brought unexpected challenges, including a cancer diagnosis. Ambassador Thomas experienced unusual fatigue for an extended period of time. After several rounds of tests, she was finally diagnosed with T2N0M0 papillary thyroid cancer. Despite the diagnosis, her diary was incredibly full in the weeks surrounding the biopsy, diagnosis and first surgery. Fleur organised and attended His Majesty the King's Coronation Event and His Majesty The Kings' official birthday party, hosted a ministerial visit from the UK and attended several receptions before her second surgery in mid-July and eventual return to work in August. Aside from such a heavy and constant workload, which Fleur seems to thrive on, she also finds time for many creative pursuits. Ambassador Thomas arrived in Luxembourg with about 200 cookbooks, enjoys foraging for recipes and also has needlepoint skills passed down by her mother. Alongside this, the residence contains models of fighter jets and a meteor air to air missile. Fleur Thomas's life example shows how a diverse background, one of thought and experience, can help create new communities within a changing face of civil servants.

From one News Director to another – after 32 years of news journalism, Guy Weber hands over to Luc Marteling, the new News Director of RTL. Guy Weber started his career in radio. After a brief stint in PR for the steel works, he returned to RTL Television in June 1994 as a journalist. In 2017, he became Editor-In-Chief of the television division and then News Director. He retired in June of this year. Luc Marteling has returned to RTL where he worked from 2008 to 2019. He left to become Director of the Center for the Luxembourgish Language and has now returned to RTL as its News Director. Guy Weber talks about his many years as a ‘lone wolf' and cautions the need to keep a distance from the deciders. He believes that journalists can have a positive impact on society. He has worked across 20 elections and notable interviews include those with Yasser Arafat, Václav Havel and Lech Wałęsa. Guy talks about the journalist as an observer who must check their facts and always be a trusted source. They both talk about the way in which RTL needs to use different languages to connect with the population of Luxembourg. Naturally, with the changing nature of how news media is consumed, we talk about the various platforms that need to be fed in an every quicker manner. Guy will continue his journalism privately with a passion for cold case crime. This plus cycling and his beloved Liverpool football team. Luc starts his role with a clear view to working on all that Guy has built and adapting to change in our media landscape using the variety of languages that Luxembourg lives and breathes.

The ‘Harmony Across Borders' international choral competition is now open for entry, a tremendous opportunity for amateur choirs to perform female composers' work in Cambridge and Ely in July 2026. Anyone who knows me knows that I love music, and that I've been singing in choirs most of my life. When I move country, one of the first things I research are choirs. They're an instant ‘in' to a community, who share a universal passion for music making and making of music as a shared experience beyond oneself. Music, singing, deep breathing and the social context of a choir makes choral music a great healer. Harmony Across Borders is an international choral competition and the first in the world to celebrate the works of female composers and arrangers. Its founder, Hilary Nicholls, is a life-long chorister, who has sung under the directorships of Sir David Willcocks, John Scott and Neil Ferris. In this conversation, I'm also joined by Joanna Gill, who is an award-winning composer of choral, film, and TV music. Her music has been performed by a variety of prestigious ensembles including the BBC Singers, the London Symphony Chorus and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, Gill was awarded the Cappella Nova Award for her piece commemorating 100 years since women received the vote. Recently, Joanna was commissioned by His Royal Highness, King Charles III, to write a Scottish folksong for Queen Camilla which was sung at the Honours of Scotland Service in July 2023 following the King's Coronation. Harmony Across Borders  This competition welcomes amateur choirs of all ages and nationalities. Choir size: 16 to 40 people. Age categories: Under 18; 18 - 25 years; 25 years plus.  The event will take place in Cambridge University with a variety of workshops, talks and concert performances over the first weekend in July 2026. The final gala concert taking place in Ely Cathedral on Sunday 5 July 2026. Celebrating the works of female composers Due to known historic social constraints, a dominantly male voice permeated the cultural sphere. Currently about 7% of repertoire selected is written by female composers and yet there's a wealth of music out there, both historic and contemporary, which is worthy of attention and revival. Cambridge and Ely - the location  Cambridge will provide both a prestigious location and one with a strong choral tradition, giving a lifetime's experience to choirs who wouldn't ordinarily have that opportunity. Fundraising If you would like to donate to this event please get in touch with Hilary. https://www.harmonyacrossborders.com/ Instagram @harmony_across_borders FB @harmnyacrossborders X @hab2026 https://www.joannagill.com/

Facing the end of life, often away from family if we are ex-pats, means we lean on others for support. Omega 90 is one such place, and through this conversation we discuss end of life preparation for ourselves and our loved ones. My guests this week are:  - Claire Jordan, who cared for a friend to the end, with the support of Omega house - Nancy Burg, a volunteer at Omega 90 - Maurizio Cortesi, psychologist and volunteer - Fabian Weiser, Finance and Administrative Director at Omega 90 Palliative care is often considered a taboo topic, typically only discussed when these life events hit us. Preparing for the end of life is not something we commonly talk about with family or friends, although the very need for preparation can, in fact, help hugely at a time when people are emotionally drained. This stigma can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, whether due to a lack of awareness about options or an unwillingness of others to face death with us. Claire Jordan intimately shares her journey with Omega 90, recounting her friend Denise Clark's battle with cancer. Through Denise's diagnosis and eventual transition, Omega 90 provided not just medical care but a sanctuary of peace and dignity. Claire reflects on the transformative experience of moving from the clinical setting of a hospital to the warm, supportive environment of Omega 90, likening it to “walking into a 5-star hotel”. Nancy Burg and Maurizio Cortesi speak about the importance of confronting mortality openly and early, both when working within palliative care and for one's own well-being. Maurizio, drawing from his experience in grief counselling, discusses the unpredictable nature of grief, emphasising the need for environments where individuals can mourn without judgement.   Fabian highlights the importance of a will, not simply about where one's possessions but also about how we would like to pass in case we are unable to consciously make and/or communicate decisions. Examples of this range from euthanasia to power of attorney.  Death inevitably affects everyone on this planet. The stigma surrounding this stage of life does not have to be so burdensome. By starting a larger conversation about it, the aim is to raise awareness of its importance and normalise the discussion.  Palliative care is a very important last step of life for many.  Find the link to the will from the omega website here and to donations and fundraising here. https://www.omega90.lu/db/2/1432585784850/1

Rotary Hearts fundraise for childhood cancer and youth mental health issues.  Rotary Hearts fundraise for childhood cancer and youth mental health issues. My guests this week are: Anne Goeres, Director Luxembourg Foundation for Children with cancer, Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner Vinciane Grevesse – Governor-Elect of Rotary Club's District 2160 for 2024-2025 Anastasia Vanden Berghe - President of Rotary Club Luxembourg Hearts for 2024-2025 Pol Bertems - Project Manager at Arcus asbl. Rotary Club Ambitions The vision of the Rotary Club was born in 1905 with Paul Harris, an attorney in Chicago, to bring together professionals from diverse backgrounds in order to exchange ideas and form lifelong friendships. Over time, Rotary expanded its scope to engage in humanitarian service, locally and globally. Rotary members volunteer their time and skills across various focus areas, and with a global network of 1.4 million, the leverage potential to undertake impactful projects is substantial. For instance, Rotary is a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership led by national governments and consisting of six core partners: the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Rotary Clubs in Luxembourg Vinciane Grevesse has been a member of a Rotary Club since 2012 and is now Governor-Elect of Rotary Club's District 2160 for 2024-2025. Rotary District 2160, covers both Belgium and Luxembourg, comprising 68 Rotary Clubs and 5 Rotaract clubs (for young adults aged 18 to 30). Luxembourg has 14 Rotary Clubs and 1 Rotaract Club. Vinciane tells us about the Zesummen Ennerwee (travelling together) project which takes place on the last Sunday of September. The idea is to offer people with disabilities a day filled with joyful experiences of movement. From boat and horseback rides to journeys in vintage cars, tractors, and even airplanes, the day is dedicated to sharing moments across land, air and sea. English Speaking Rotary Hearts Club Anastasia Vanden Berghe is President of Rotary Club Luxembourg-Hearts 2024-2025. Luxembourg-Hearts is the only English-speaking club in Luxembourg. With the priority this year on children's well-being and mental health related to children, Rotary Hearts are working with Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner for their Masquerade Charity Gala, on October 19th at Hotel Le Royale. Website: https://luxembourg-hearts.rotary2160.org/en/ Event Website : https://rotary-hearts-2160.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/98062402/admin/feed/posts/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rotaryhearts Anne GOERES, Managing Director at the Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner, talks about their three core missions: To help improve the physical and psychological condition of the child and their family Raise awareness of childhood cancer and defend the children's rights Support actively onco-paediatric research by funding specific projects with one main goal: cure more children and cure them better. One of Anne's significant achievements is developing FIGHT KIDS CANCER, an annual European call for projects dedicated to accelerating paediatric oncology research. In 4 years, Fight Kids Cancer funded 30 research projects for more than 18 million euros and in 11 different childhood cancer types. Childhood cancer is an umbrella term for more than 60 types of cancer that affect children and adolescents. Unlike adult cancers, which are often linked to lifestyle or environmental factors, the causes of childhood cancers are largely unknown. The most common types of childhood cancer include leukemia, brain tumours, and lymphomas. Children with cancer face unique challenges due to their developing bodies and minds. Treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery can significantly impact their growth and development. Additionally, the psychological and emotional toll on both the children and their families can be profound. The Foundation supports the daily life of families in need : every child with cancer living in Luxembourg or of which at least one parent works in Luxembourg can benefit from their services, from the very first day of diagnosis on. This includes information and help for financial and social matters, therapeutic support and also educational and recreational programmes. Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner is fully financed by donations. You can help by participating in the charity run Letz Go Gold at the end of September and / or join the Rotary Club Luxembourg Hearts 10th Anniversary Masquerade Gala This year, all funds raised from the gala will be dedicated to selected research programs on children's brain tumours. www.fondatioun.lu www.letzgogold.lu  Rotary Hearts Club also works with Arcus, as one of their aims is to help children's mental health. Pol Bertems, Arcus Project Manager, tells us more about the association. Arcus is a non-profit organisation in social, educational, and therapeutic work, primarily focusing on children, youth and their families. The "Kannerhaiser," operated by Arcus, are Children's Reception Centres that offer care and support to children and youth from challenging family backgrounds, often needing temporary separation from their parents. These centres create a safe, nurturing environment that focuses on health, academic growth, social and family bonds, autonomy, and structured daily routines. They also support children recovering from traumatic events and involve biological parents actively to strengthen family ties and provide educational guidance. Arcus also provides specialized accommodation for children and youth with psychological and physical issues stemming from abuse or neglect, collaborating with child psychiatry experts for personalised therapies. A primary objective is to foster independence, particularly for youth aged 12 and older. The centres, spread across 18 living groups with over 136 spots, are located in various areas like Grevenmacher, Olingen, and Echternach, catering to children and teenagers aged 3 to 20 years. The Animal Assisted Pedagogy and Therapy project at Kannerhaiser allows children to be surrounded by a range of animals, including horses, donkeys, sheep, alpacas, dogs, cats, chickens, and rabbits. These animals do not judge or hold prejudices, offering a unique, unbiased interaction for the youngsters, who often face judgment and bias in human interactions. Working with animals can significantly boost children's self-confidence and trust in themselves and others. It also aids in their integration into group settings. www.fondatioun.lu www.letzgogold.lu https://www.facebook.com/Arcus.asbl https://www.instagram.com/Arcus_asbl/ https://www.Arcus.lu/ Website: https://luxembourg-hearts.rotary2160.org/en/ Event Website : https://rotary-hearts-2160.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/98062402/admin/feed/posts/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rotaryhearts

Tom Weber was diagnosed as an adult with autism. We discuss his story, the resources available for people with autism in Luxembourg — along with information for the caregivers who support loved ones with autism. My guests this week are:  - Tom Weber, English - German translator, and published author - Sabine Angelsen, Director CTSA, Centre pour enfants et jeunes présentant un trouble du spectre de l'autisme - Anne Wagner, CTSA - psychologist - Nathalie Oberweis, Head of Learning & Development - Autism Luxembourg - Aleks Panzone, co-founder of T'ees Iced Tea Tom Weber, a colleague at RTL Today, catalysed the topic of autism for this show by writing about it himself when diagnosed as an adult aged 27. Through Tom's awareness-raising of neurodiversity we explore what autism is, how it can present, and what help is available to caregivers and autistic people themselves in Luxembourg. Tom eloquently describes his own personal story, the constant effort of masking, the dark periods and the changes to one's self-perception when diagnosed late. Tom Weber is an English-German translator and this lifestyle fits his requirements for a professional life very well, whilst also giving him time to pursue his own writing of prose and poetry. Tom is a published author and won first prize at the National Literary Competition in 2020. Autism is a very broad spectrum of neurodiverse traits and is more common than we may think, says Anne Wagner, CTSA - psychologist. And yet, over diagnosis can be an issue since there are frequent co-morbidities that accompany autistic people (aggression, ADHD, anxiety, depression, psychosis, for instance). There is a heightened rate of suicide amongst autistic people and a higher rate of divorce for the care-givers. Tom describes the pain of not being able to connect with people and how that can lead to deep depression, which could result in suicide if one doesn't have a strong support network. Sabine Angelsen and Anne Wagner work with children and their families at the Centre pour enfants et jeunes présentant un trouble du spectre de l'autisme (CTSA).  They see children at the point at which some form of issue has presented, but many children find ways to mask their difficulties in social settings. Nathalie Oberweis, Head of Learning & Development at Autism Luxembourg, helps people to develop skills in a safe environment through their various workshops. They provide vocational training, education, and even a day-centre in Sandweiler. They also have some home-help services and a limited number of accommodation facilities. The workplace can be quite traumatic for an autistic person. We discuss what measures an employer could put in place to help this type of mind.  It is often hard to ‘see' neurodiverse issues; they can be thought of as ‘invisible handicaps'. Aleks Panzone is just 23 years old and is the co-founder of T'ees Iced Tea. This (delicious) iced tea is produced by people with Autism in Luxembourg, aiming to raise awareness and supporting them by offering a safe working environment and decent wage. It is only made with local and natural ingredients; no added sugar and no artificial flavours. Aleks is helping people with autism live as fully integrated members of society. https://just-thoughts.net/about/#:~:text=Tom%20Weber%20was%20born%20in,publishes%20books%2C%20mostly%20poetry%20collections. www.autisme.lu https://cc-ctsa.lu/ https://plantatea.com/ https://just-thoughts.net/2023/12/07/the-stranger-behind-my-eyes-27-years-undiagnosed-autistic/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teesicetea/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/t-ees/?viewAsMember=true

In part II of our Olympics special, we meet more of the Olympic entourage supporting Luxembourg's athletes in Paris this summer, plus more sport experts. - Raymond Conzemius - Chef de mission of Team Lëtzebuerg for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, Technical Sports Director at COSL - Christophe Ley - Associate Professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Luxembourg - Aude Aguilaniu - Physiotherapist, ex elite athlete (Ski Cross) - Max Englaro - Strength & Conditioning, & Rehab Coach U23 FC Augsburg - Frank Muller - Sport Psychologist - Nina Goedert - Physiotherapist Raymond Conzemius, Chef de Mission of Team Lëtzebuerg for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 joins me with some of the Olympic Team's entourage including sport psychologist Frank Müller and physiotherapist Nina Goedert. Christophe Ley discusses the increasing use of statistics in sport science and many accompanied sports ventures. Strength & Conditioning, & Rehab Coach for U23 FC Augsburg, Max Englaro, uses such metrics to work with his footballers. And Aude Aguilaniu, now a physiotherapist, previously an Olympic level athlete for Ski Cross talks about the absolute need to build resilience after career-shattering injuries. Raymond is a former international athlete in high jump, and still holds the national record with 2.22m. Unfortunately he didn't have the chance to participate in the Olympic Games or World Championships but has happily found a career supporting others to attain that dream.   Conzemius is the Founder and Former director of Sportlycée, the sport secondary school in Luxembourg, and highlights the importance of an integrated approach to sports development in Luxembourg. Max Englaro is a Strength & Conditioning, and Rehab Coach for FC Augsburg U23. Prior to this, he was Head of Performance in the Vienna Football Academy. Max observes how young children or adolescents are talent spotted and then developed into sports stars with the help of targeted training, nutrition, medication and sleep, to name but a few of the metrics. With increasing emphasis on sport sciences the measurements and data around elite performance can enhance results. Christophe Ley, Associate Professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Luxembourg, President of the Luxembourg Statistical Society, President of ECAS (European Center for Advanced Statistics Courses) and leader of the international network S-TRAINING (bridging sports science and data science) is, in fact, the catalyst of these two week's of Olympic conversations. Christophe and Yves Dominicy (from last week's show) have written books on statistics in sport. Through chosen measurements it is possible to use maths to predict outcomes of matches. The accuracy of such predictions naturally depends on many factors. For instance, handball will give you about 81% accuracy compared to football where, apparently, more luck is involved in scoring and there are generally fewer scores. So with football the outcome of positive prediction stands at about 65%. Sport medicine and metrics is a fast growing industry, even for non-professional athletes, with the possibility of wearables and nutrition information available to us all. However, data science and AI is also vital to help prevent injury. Christophe will be organising the international MathSport Conference next year in Luxembourg, June 2025. https://math.uni.lu/midas/events/mathsports2025/ Aude Aguilaniu is now a physiotherapist and researcher, having previously been a world-class skier. Aude actually qualified for the Sotchi Winter Olympics in 2014 but was seriously injured just a few months before and so couldn't participate. She talks about resilience building, injury prevention and her latest research project on injury prevention: Healthy Active. Frank Müller is a former competitive basketball player and now a sport psychologist at the Sportlycée in Luxembourg. He is also an external expert for the LIHPS (Luxembourg Institute for High Performance in Sports) and the COSL (National Olympic Committee), providing psychological support to elite athletes and coaches. Frank talks about his different responsibilities and how he coaches the minds of elite athletes for all possible eventualities. He also works with the group around that athlete which includes coaches, physios and parents. As with so many things, being an elite athlete means that you sit in the centre of a team of experts. Nina Goedert, a sports physiotherapist, reiterates the absolute importance of communication in a cross-disciplinary collaboration. Nina Goedert works with athletes of all ages and levels, those dealing with injury and those working on prevention strategies. She has participated in multiple national and international sports events in her role as a sports physio, including the Tokyo Olympic Games 2021, World Games 2022, European Games 2019 & 2023, Games of the Small States of Europe 2019 & 2023, and several European Championships in Karate, etc.). Nina will be part of the team supporting the athletes in Paris this summer. We wish all of the athletes the very best of luck this summer in the Olympic Games, and the supporting entourage too! https://teamletzebuerg.lu/ https://www.fcaugsburg.de/games/?team=u23 www.sportlycee.lu https://math.uni.lu/midas/events/mathsports2025/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-conzemius-328a9147/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophe-ley-b71607166/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/aude-aguilaniu-24a05343/

"Working Hard is a Talent in itself" says Laurent Carol, Deputy Technical Director of the Luxembourg Olympic and Sport Committee, and former Olympic swimmer. In the first of two shows on the Olympics, my guests this week are: - Laurent Carnol - Deputy Technical Director, Luxembourg Olympic and Sport Committee; Comité Olympique et Sportif Luxembourgeois (COSL), former Olympic swimmer - Dr Yves Dominicy - Sport Statistician - Loïc Hoscheit - ALAD Director - anti-doping agency Luxembour - Marie Muller - former Olympic athlete - Judo Laurent Carnol is the Deputy Technical Director of the Luxembourg Olympic and Sport Committee; Comité Olympique et Sportif Luxembourgeois (COSL), and a former Olympian swimmer himself. Laurent took part in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016. In London, Laurent got to the semi finals in 200m breaststroke and was a finalist several times in the European Championships for the same event. Aside from his own successful career as an elite athlete, Laurent was a teacher at the Sport Lycée in Luxembourg, a lecturer at Lunex University and Dual Career Coordinator at the Luxembourg Institute for High Performance in Sport. Laurent talks to us about the selection process which decides what delegation will eventually be going to the Olympics in Paris this summer. The qualification pathways and athlete preparation requires enormous effort not just from the athlete themselves, but also from the team around that athlete.   Yves Dominicy is a sport statistician and has written two books with Christophe Ley:   Science meets Sports: when statistics are more than numbers Statistics Meets Sports: What We Can Learn from Sports Data Sport analytics collects data to try to understand patterns therein. For instance, it is used for ranking and prediction, talent identification, scheduling and injury prevention. Machine learning is now being used in tennis to profile the emotional expressions of tennis players and link that to performance. Yves also mentions that tennis rankings may become more accurate if based on serve / return etc. rather than points. During Covid-19 in 2020, the International Swimming League organised a whole month of races providing an intense, short period to analyse the effect of multiple races on the performance of different profiles. The use of data analytics is extremely valuable to prevent injury. It is now possible to run risk profiles to plan around potential injury points for a person. Loïc Hoscheit is the Director of ALAD, Agence Luxembourgeoise antidopage. Luxembourg's independent anti-doping agency tasked with supervising the country's most high-level athletes and competitions; they are tasked with ensuring Luxembourg sends out clean athletes. ALAD also offers guidance to all athletes with the potential to qualify for the Olympics and ensures a solid testing programme is carried out prior to the Games within this group. The rules are complex, and keep changing. Naturally there is often a cloud of uncertainty around medication, but also supplements. Marie Müller, a judoka (judo player), received a wild card from the IOC in 2008 where she finished 9th in the Beijing Games. Between 2009 and 2012, Marie entered the world top 16 for judo in her category and qualified for the London Games in 2012. There she lost in a dramatic fight for bronze and finished 5th.Marie's entire career was overshadowed by injury, which ultimately made the decision to retire from judo for her in 2016. Marie and Laurent both talk about not being able to do their sport since they retired, but have turned to other sport.  Marie also talks about the pressure of weight in her sport. https://teamletzebuerg.lu/ https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-5856-4 https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-9273-5 https://www.alad.lu/

Steve Killelea, founder of the Institute of Economics and Peace, talks about this year's Global Peace Index. On this week's episode is the Australian entrepreneur Steve Killelea, founder of the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), and the first recipient of Luxembourg's Outstanding Technology for Peace award in 2016. Steve gave the keynote speech on this year's Global Peace Index at the Luxembourg Peace Prize in MUDAM in June. Steve created the software company IR in 1988 which went on to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2000. He also set up a Venture Capital fund. After making a substantial amount of money, his family moved into philanthropy, setting up The Charitable Foundation in 2000, the Global Peace Index in 2007, and the Institute for Economics and Peace in 2013. The Charitable Foundation helps vulnerable people with Developmental Aid, with over 280 successful projects directly benefiting 3.7m people. Steve's wife, Deborah, runs this and has expanded the charity to focus on working with thousands of traumatised children through play therapy. The Institute for Economics and Peace came about through Steve's observations of War related poverty, and a lack of research behind a ranking for the world's most peaceful nations. “What I realised as a businessman, when I think ‘What are the most peaceful nations in the world?' and it hasn't been done, [was] then how much do we know about peace? If you can't measure something, can you truly understand it? If you can't measure it, how do you know if your actions are helping you, or hindering you?” Steve's keynote at MUDAM presented the most recent Global Peace Index (GPI), which is the most comprehensive data analysis on peace, economic value, and trends. This work covers 99.7% of the world's population and is supported by 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources. The most peaceful country in the world is currently Iceland, followed by Ireland, Austria, New Zealand and Singapore, with the bottom half composed of Israel, Mali, Syria, Russia, the Congo, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. When looking at the most and least peaceful nations, Steve mentions a widening gap known as ‘the global inequality of peace', with the higher and lower ranking nations respectively continuing to improve or worsen. The most improved countries are El Salvador, the UAE, Greece, Myanmar, and Nicaragua, while the most deteriorated are Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine. How is peace itself measured? Through ‘the absence of violence' or ‘fear of violence'. Steve explains how the three domains of internal safety and security, levels of ongoing conflict, and levels of militarisation, join together to create the GPI, itself holding 23 different measures of peace. Conflicts are also classified, with a conflict being a dispute involving more than 25 deaths but under 1000, as that then becomes a war. Terrorism occurs within conflicts, with 92% of terrorism based deaths occurring in that manner last year, but as an attack on civilians unengaged in the dispute and with the aim to send a greater message outside of those involved. Although the current European climate feels unsettled, it still sits on top as the most peaceful continent, although two-thirds of the countries have fallen in terms of their own sense of peace, partly due to the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war including neighbouring tensions and increased military expenditures. With a global economy, local conflicts can have ripple effects worldwide, with refugees, industry, shipping and travel delays as just some of the reasons. Moving to his entrepreneurial background, Steve advises companies to assess the risk factors for establishing expansions in foreign countries, such as GPI ranking or underlying peace factors to combat the instability of the global economy. This year's report is described as “the most sobering report we've put out”, with a peak since WWII of 56 conflicts, 92 countries engaged in beyond-border conflicts and the most since the GPI's inception, with the majority of these remaining unsolved. In the 1970s, 49% of all conflicts ended in a victory from either the Government or a rebel group, dropping to 9% in the 2010s. Peace agreements were a result of 23% of conflicts in the 1970s, dropping to 4% in the 2010s. The trends of ending conflicts are typically through the lack of resolution or becoming a ‘frozen conflict', which accounts for 87% of modern conflicts. The most peaceful resolution may not always maintain the greatest longevity. Looking at the economic effects on counties with a lack of resolution or remaining in the frozen state, Steve recalls his own experience working in Laos, and the difficulty transporting goods or farmers being unsafe to plant crops due to militarisation. The manufacturing sector is placed on hold due to the transition to a war economy. “The defence industry is not in itself bad, because obviously we do not live in a peaceful world.” The defence industry creates peace in protecting from outside aggressors, as do alliances, but spending an extra $10bn in Steve's example of a battleship, is useful if used, while remaining unused creates extra spending in labour and additional maintenance where the money could be diverted to business stimulus, education, and health, which would be more productive economic outcomes. The question is not in the necessary defence spending, but on the right balance with other sectors. The cost of violence for the global economy in 2023 was $19.1tn and the equivalent of 13.5% of global GDP, which when reduced by 10% equals $1.9tn or the same as adding 3 new economies into the world. Another way to look at that would be the 1% or $190bn is roughly the same cost as overseas developmental spending last year, yet the most striking statistic, 0.1% of that, is the peace keeping expenditure of 2023. “The message I have” says Steve, “is how can we put more money into preventative measures, particularly in the areas of conflicts which are easy to solve, or conflicts which haven't erupted yet but where the conditions are fragile. If we could spend more money in those areas I think that would be excellent.” Countries at risk of conflict expansion including Egypt, Israel, Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon are likely to create ripple effects of recession, refugees, and terrorism, into local and global economies. Concerning refugees, the flow based on conflicts is increasing, from 75m at the start of GPI calculations to 120m currently. As conflicts develop over time and territories, refugees are unlikely to return soon after their departure, unlike natural disaster based immigration. When assessing common patterns of violence in different areas, Steve comments on the differences between the example of Middle Eastern countries locked into war based violence compared to Latin America under cartel or gang related violence. However, it is not all negative news. Homicide is improving yearly with 112 countries scoring significantly better than previous years. The civilian perception of crime is also improving, with 96 countries noticing a positive trend last year. Steve notes that “How you fight the war shapes how it goes after that.”What is the reconstruction program? When looking at Iraq or Afghanistan the large amount of money invested into reconstruction was not done correctly, and in a high tension environment this can lead to a rehashing of conflict. The ideal way of solving conflicts is not only through the military, but also a humanitarian approach. Assessing the grievances of the civilians and other involved groups; seeing how they can be satisfied is more likely to lead to sustained peace. Another talk point was in the nature of having allies, determining where your natural allies are, specifically looking at China. China, like every country has allies with which it works well with, but its natural allies lie more with advanced Western democracies due to their similarities in terms of philosophy and approaches, rather than Authoritarian regimes. Over a lifetime of philanthropic work, Steve credits watching the transformation of people's lives behind his hope and drive to continue carrying out his missions. A small act such as increasing water supply can massively increase the wealth of an impoverished population in a remote area and make a huge difference into people's lives. Other highlights for him include the rehabilitation of child soldiers in Uganda or water projects in Laos dropping death rate and disease levels. When living in the West, we see the images of these conflicts, but Steve says “we don't really understand how horrific the impact actually is.” For an average of less than $20 a head, a life can be saved, making the results “staggering”. Despite language and culture barriers, Steve describes the logistics and ground work as “pretty simple”. His foundations will partner with other groups already working on the ground in the affected areas, as well as always having a trusted translator. Throughout all his travels, Uganda and Kenya are the countries he finds most fascinating, but still sees an issue in Africa's governance, specifically corruption. Steve says that after a certain amount of money, there isn't much more that one needs. As his legacy, Steve says his work is “not about me, it's a ripple effect. We do things in our lives that have ripples that carry on. Your legacy is really the result of your actions. Thinking too much about your personal legacy isn't even smart. https://www.economicsandpeace.org/about/ https://luxembourgpeaceprize.org/ https://thecharitablefoundation.org/ https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf

Three phenomenal women in space share their stories with us this weekend, in honour of Asteroid Day — a UN-recognised initiative raising awareness about the potential impacts, and opportunities, of these marvels of astronomy. Asteroid Day takes place on 30 June, the anniversary of the Tunguska event in 1908 where a meteor destroyed a landmass of about 2,150 km2 (a little smaller than the landmass of Luxembourg) of forest in Siberia, Russia. Asteroid Day was co-founded in 2014 by physicist Stephen Hawking, B612 Foundation president Danica Remy, astronaut Rusty Schweickart, film-maker Grigorij Richters and astrophysicist (and Queen guitarist) Brian May. Now recognised by the UN, Asteroid Day is celebrated globally to raise awareness about asteroids and their potential impact on Earth. It also raises awareness of the potential to mine asteroids as we move towards a space economy. My guests this week are: - Julie Payette - a Canadian engineer, scientist and astronaut who also served as Governor General of Canada from 2017 to 2021 - Wanda Díaz-Merced - astronomer using using sonification - Hoor Abdelraman Al Maazmi - space science researcher at the UAE Space Agency - Maher Kalaji - Board Director of the Asteroid Foundation and founder of the newly to be announced Luxembourg Rocket Society. Julie Payette joined the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 1992 as a member of the Canadian Astronaut Corps. She completed two spaceflights, logging more than 25 days in space. Dr. Payette also served as capsule communicator (CapCom) at NASA Mission Control Center in Houston and from 2000 to 2007 as CSA's chief astronaut. Julie was named COO for the Montreal Science Centre in July 2013. In 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Queen Elizabeth II had approved the appointment of Payette as the next governor general of Canada which she started that October until January 2021. Wanda Díaz-Merced was born in Puerto Rico and lost her eyesight gradually through her teenage years into early adulthood. She talks about this experience and her long journey to become an astronomer who uses sonification to turn large data sets into audible sound. Currently, Wanda works at the European Gravitational Observatory Cascina, Italy, where she is the Director of the Arecibo Observatory. Dr Díaz-Merced received an internship with Robert Candey, an incredible mentor to her, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA, and went on to complete a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Glasgow. Wanda was then accepted as a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town. Wanda's work has also included collaborations with the European Gravitational Observatory proposal REINFORCE and the National Astronomical Observatory Japan (NAOJ).  Dr Díaz-Merced creates sonification software to perceive space in a different sensory way. Hoor Abdelraman AlMaazmi is a space science researcher at the UAE Space Agency and a member of the Emirates Mars Mission science team since 2017. The Mars mission, named ‘Amal' or ‘Hope,' launched in 2020. The UAE is going to send a spaceship to explore the solar system's main asteroid belt due to launch in 2028. For this mission, they will look at six asteroids with the target to land on the seventh- Justitia. This asteroid is thought to be one of only two known red asteroids and potentially laden with organic substances. The aim for this MBR Explorer is to deploy a landing craft to study the surface of Justitia fully developed by private UAE start-up companies. https://asteroidfoundation.org/ https://royalsociety.org/about-us/who-we-are/diversity-inclusion/case-studies/scientists-with-disabilities/wanda-diaz-merced/ https://space.gov.ae/en/initiatives-and-projects/uae-mission-to-asteroid-belt-ema https://www.instagram.com/uaespaceagency?igsh=ZXgwcnR3dTNqOHFs https://x.com/uaespaceagency?s=21

Anyone living in Luxembourg will have seen the Nation Branding ‘Letz Make it Happen', but where did this come from, and what does it stand for? My guests this week are Béryl Koltz - Head of Luxembourg Image Brand Sarah Pitt - Luxembourg for Tourism Lena Mårtensson - Luxinnovation Hélène Jacuszin - Research Luxembourg Catherine Decker - Ministry of Culture, KulturLX & UNESCO Kamel Amroune - CEO of The Dots Cécilia Zunt Radot - Director of LËT'Z Arles - Luxembourg photography award   “LuXembourg - Let's Make It Happen” came to life in 2013 as a cross-sectorial facilitator and to aid the global promotion of Luxembourg. The LMIH team work with many different stakeholders including LuxInnovation, Visit Luxembourg, Research Luxembourg and the Ministry of Culture / KulturLX to name but a few. Their role is to streamline the messaging of Luxembourg within the country, within industry, culture and abroad. After plenty of working groups and citizen participation, the values which they believe define Luxembourg are: dynamic, open and reliable. "Bound by Creativity, Sustained by Diversity” This motto emphasises the priorities that Luxembourg has defined in a cross-sectorial manner to invest in: Creativity, Diversity and Sustainability. These 3 priorities guid all partnerships and projects for www.LMIH.lu If you want to see if your idea or company can be supported by the LMIH team, alongside their website you can find out more details on www.luxembourg.lu Sarah Pitt talks about the work of Luxembourg for Tourism, also known as Visit Luxembourg, whose mission it is to promote Luxembourg as a tourist destination internationally. The latest collection of Visit Luxembourg publications including maps, guides and magazines can be ordered for free in four languages on https://www.visitluxembourg.com/plan-your-stay/publications More details are available on www.luxembourgtravel.lu and www.visitluxembourg.com Cather Decker, from the Ministry of Culture of Luxembourg, has extensive international experience working with the UN and in Foreign Affairs also. As Secretary General of the Luxembourg Commission for UNESCO, she develops and promotes cultural and natural heritage beyond Luxembourg's borders. She was the founding president of the Luxembourg Arts Council, Kultur lx. Lena Mårtensson's talks about Luxinnovation's role in promoting Luxembourg's economy abroad as an attractive business destination for international companies. This is also linked with the positioning of the country within its national branding initiative. Naturally they also support companies within Luxembourg and helping them move abroad if that is their wish. Hélène Jacuszin tells us about the work of Research Luxembourg and how their remit handles all of the research institutes of Luxembourg. She explains the advantages of a small ecosystem and how that can help close collaboration. Kamel Amroune, CEO of The Dots, is organising Nexus 2050 which is about to start next week, with the aim of attracting people from the international tech field to Luxembourg. This event is being supported by LMIH. Cécilia Zunt Radot is the Director of LetzArles, the Luxembourg Photography Award. She talks about taking great photographers from Luxembourg to this global photography award in Arles and placing Luxembourg on the map there. https://lmih.lu/en/home/ https://www.visitluxembourg.com/letzebuerg-dat-ass-vakanz?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm-ionOPuhgMVk6doCR2L7Q5LEAAYASAAEgLNCfD_BwE https://www.linkedin.com/in/beryl-koltz-7b40b3b5/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-pitt/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-m%C3%A5rtensson-89200911/ https://luxinnovation.lu/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenejacuszin/ https://www.researchluxembourg.org/en/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-decker-58b89424/ https://www.unesco.org/en https://www.kulturlx.lu/en/ https://www.thedots.lu/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamelamroune/ https://www.nexus2050.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceciliaradot/ https://www.luxembourgtravel.lu/news-and-perspectives/visit-luxembourg-publications-2024

Proactive wellbeing from school to adulthood – you're at your best when you work with your character strengths. Frederika Roberts, known as "The Happiness Speaker", brings the science of wellbeing to life through applied positive psychology. Her background as a teacher served to launch her work into whole school wellbeing, for both students and teachers. The idea is to work with character strengths for wellbeing. Her method helps children (and adults) learn the vocabulary necessary to discover one's own character strengths. Frederika Roberts ran an online challenge for International Day of Happiness in March, and Klárka Penzešová won the competition. Klárka Penzešová is a massage therapist based in Maison Paramédicale du Pafendall. Her studies include Ayurvedic massage, Breuss massage, the spine-focused Dorn method physiotherapy manipulation and Theta healing. Dana Moldoveanu Brandes is President of the Positive Psychology Association Luxembourg (PPL), a Psychologist and Coach who works as part of the European Commission's psycho-social team, and as an Occupational Clinician, Coaching Psychologist, EMDR Therapist and Trainer via her organisation, ProActive Mind.  In this conversation we talk about the increasing need to ensure our mental health is robust enough to buffer the challenges of an increasingly busy life, with little down-time. Further information on Frederika's work: BOOKS The Big Book of Whole School Wellbeing (2021), by Kimberley Evans, Thérèse Hoyle, Frederika Roberts & Bukky Yusuf (Editors) with Foreword by Andrew Cowley For Flourishing's Sake: Using Positive Education to Support Character Development and Well-being (2020), by Frederika Roberts with Foreword by Andrew Cowley Character Toolkit for Teachers: 100+ Classroom and Whole School Character Education Activities for 5-11 Year Olds (2018), by Frederika Roberts and Elizabeth Wright, with Foreword by Kristján Kristjánsson Recipe for Happiness: 9 Essential Ingredients for a Happy Life (2013) by Frederika Roberts STRENGTH CARDS Character Toolkit Strength Cards (2020) by Frederika Roberts and Elizabeth Wright. PODCAST Check out the For Flourishing's Sake podcast - a weekly Monday-morning wellbeing boost for teachers and school leaders, available on all the major podcasting platforms and from the podcast website www.forflourishingssake.com. https://www.linkedin.com/in/danamoldoveanu/ https://www.ppl.lu/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Whole-School-Wellbeing-Corwin/dp/1529764254 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flourishings-Sake-Education-Development-Well-being/dp/1787750248 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Character-Toolkit-Teachers-Activities-11-Year-Olds/dp/1785924907 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Recipe-Happiness-Essential-Ingredients-Happy/dp/0957438370 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Character-Toolkit-Strength-Elizabeth-Wright/dp/1787752739 https://forflourishingssake.com/ Subscribe to the Podcast and get in touch! Please do subscribe via Apple and / or Spotify. It would be great if you could rate and review too — as it helps others find the podcast. Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon and Tuesdays at 10am.

Still slightly taboo in the workplace, and still often unrecognised by medical professionals, perimenopause is a long and difficult stage of life for many women. Lisa and Sasha are joined in the Today Radio studio by a dream team of guests to discuss this long-overdue topic — including a menopause coach, a preventative health entrepreneur, a medical and health management specialist in menopause, as well as a sexologist and perimenopause specialist. Perimenopause and menopause are stages of a woman's life that are becoming more present in conversations socially and even in the workplace. But still, so many women go through perimenopause, suffering a multitude of symptoms, without realising it. It's difficult to untangle symptoms from the heavy stressors of life sometimes, as perimenopause hits us during particularly intense periods of our lives, and continues for years. During this time, we many be raising children, managing a household with a career, caring for parents or other family members, living away from ‘home',  and so there is very little time for ‘us', to listen and feel what is going on inside our own bodies. The irony is that when life demands all of us, perimenopause can significantly diminish our natural capacity for work and resilience. After a weekly news round-up with Sasha, my guests this week are Guy Brandenbourger, Diane Elsen, Annabelle Parkhouse and Victoria Honey. Guy Brandenbourger was a Partner at PwC Luxembourg from 2011, led their healthcare sector including the government and public sector practice in Luxembourg.  Guy is now the founder and Partner of his own company called Health A Gesondheet, Luxembourg Blue Zone (HAG) dedicated to developing a preventative health care structure in Luxembourg, aiming to become the 6th blue zone in the world. Diane Elsen is a certified menopause coaching specialist. After 26 years working within a European institution, raising 2 children, helping her partner manage a successful restaurant she was hit by post traumatic depression at 48, at the peak of her career. With no answers from her GP, Diane threw herself into researching peri-menopause. Annabelle Parkhouse has just completed Medical School at Imperial College London. She also completed an MBBS diploma and an Intercalated bachelor's in health management at Imperial Business School. Her thesis was on “Making Menopause Manageable, barriers regarding the safe discussions of menopausal symptom experience and management." Victoria Honey, a sexologist and perimenopause specialist, supports female executives, who want to manage the emotional changes that come with peri/menopause so that they can flourish in their careers and live unshakeable lives. Menopause is still rather a taboo topic in Luxembourg, and the symptoms of perimenopause are still catching women by surprise. It is frequently only after a woman hits menopause that they realise they have lived with many of the symptoms. 86% of women aged 50 to 65 experience at least one symptom (of a list of at least 34), and almost half have not discussed the subject with their doctor, 60% talk to their gynaecologist and only 39% talk to their partner. As Annabelle says, going through the period of perimenopause to post-menopause is actually a privilege, but it's not always easy for women. Medication alters depending on where you live and who your doctors are. There is so much more to learn about the effects of menopause on the body and we are a long way from personalised hormonal treatment. Although, we have moved on from the WHI study to disband the link between HRT and breast cancer. Moreover, HRT used at the right time can reduce cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Diane Elsen talks about her own very difficult experience of perimenopause, not knowing what she was going through at the time, and nor did any of her healthcare professionals spot it. During her many years of research, Diane has found number of sources she would recommend to others, including Dr Louise Newson, the Balance app or Balance-menopause.com with the list of symptoms, Dr Lisa Mosconi (The Menopause Brain),  Dr Avrum Bluming & Carol Tavris (Oestrogen Matters), Dr Mary Claire Haver (The New Menopause) and guideline sources from  EMAS (European Menopause and Andropause Society), the BMS (British Menopause Society) and the IMS (International Menopause society). You can follow Diane on instagram (Womanhood Luxembourg). Menopause can significantly affect women at work: those with symptoms have a 60% drop in productivity versus women without symptoms (FORBES 2019), 1 in 2 women say that menopause has negative effects on their work, and 21% have to stop working for several days It turns out there are many risks too that so many women don't realise are associated with menopause such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and sleep disorders. Heat flashes, one of the more commonly known symptoms of menopause (70-80% of women), can lead to cardiovascular disease, night sweats may lead to silent nocturnal hypoglycaemia (type 2 diabetes), insomnia can lead to depression, muscular and joint pain to osteoporosis and fractures and brain fog can lead to dementia or Alzheimer's disease. In Luxembourg we only have one bone density scanner, with a waiting list of 1.5 years. We really need to have about 7 such devises for this population. Guy Brandenbourger is working hard to put forward a manifesto of very actionable steps in order to help everyone in society together. An easy one is for GPs to conduct annual medical menopause check-ups. Guy also suggests that from the age of 40 women should have a complete cardiac checkup. From 50 (I would personally say younger, being personally affected by this) he suggests having a mandatory bone mineral density scan. Of course, part of the issue is that medical practitioners are not very knowledgeable about menopause as the information and research unfolds.  There are personal issues we as women must take care of too: our own nutrition (with enough protein) to stave off sarcopenia, plus exercise for bone density and sarcopenia.    Victoria works with women in leadership roles and also highlights the need for diversity and equality in all its forms. When women are suffering from perimenopause symptoms and lower self-confidence, she encourages them to put their own needs first, and then other things can fall into places in a pyramid behind this.  Victoria explains that there are so many different factors which affect the way we experience menopause. These obviously include genetics, nutrition, race and ethnicity, but there are other factors such as our socio-economic situation and how we arrange our lifestyle (smoking, alcohol, sleep etc).  As part of her work with corporates, Victoria engages with the women and leaders to create menopause policies, workshops and to make small adjustments to the workplace to reduce a woman's uncomfortableness. Do let us know about your own perimenopause journeys.

For next week's World Environment Day, Lisa's guests discuss the state of the climate today, myriad climate policy boards, and the inclusion of the youth voice. There is an incredible array of resources and opportunities for young people in Luxembourg on the subject and countless organisations working together on the issue — but is it enough? We have all noticed how wet this spring has been. Conversation in my circles have noted the long-term predictions of climate change on our weather patterns and seasons: more humidity, increased storms and rainfall in this geographical zone. The mention of climate change in the media is at risk of becoming jaded as it's on-going, requiring swift action but that action is sloth-like due to the need for global buy-in. People tune out if they feel they cannot make a difference. Not everyone can be an activist. And so, we rely on the scientific research to influence policy makers from around the world to act. Even if they agree to act, that policy then needs to be implemented in each country. And so the ultimate trickle down is that we, as citizens, need to be nudged into behavioural change that is the decision without requiring thought. My guests this week range from those who have spent many years researching climate related topics and climate policy-making, to the youth voice who were given the opportunity to be present at a COP event. Dr Andrew Ferrone is a physical climatologist, Andrew works at the interface of climate science and policy. He is Head of the Meteorological Service of the Administration of Technical Agricultural Services (ASTA) in Luxembourg, President of Luxembourg's Climate Policy Observatory (OPC) and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Spuerkeess. He is also the Permanent Representative to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Head of the Luxembourg delegation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and coordinates the European Union's team of negotiators for scientific issues under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Andrew talks about his vast experience at these conferences and how to try to get consensus between countries with very different objectives, whether that be due to the stage of industrial development they are in, oil-rich countries or if they're islands at risk of disappearing. Claudia Hitaj is an advisor on climate change and sustainable finance at the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Biodiversity. Her work straddles economics, environmental policy and making the youth voice heard. The Ministry's Climate Youth Delegate Programme will bring two climate youth delegates, Frida Thorsteinsdottir and Natasha Lepage, to COP 29 to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan this November. They'll both have a chance to participate in a training program at COP29 and the UNFCCC for youth delegates from countries all over the world. Bartłomiej Nowak, 18 years old, took part in the National Junk Fuerscher Contest in 2022 and 2023, Luxembourg Informatics Olympiad in 2023, was awarded participation in COP28 in Dubai, where he met the Luxembourgish delegation and presented his project in the BENELUX-EIB pavilion in the blue zone. Arnfridur (Frida) Thorsteinsdottir, 17 years old student at ISL, was a finalist in the Jonk Fuerscher Contest 2024 due to her project on fish migration in Iceland. She will be travelling to COP29 in Baku with Natasha. Federica Maestri work with the Fondation Jeunes Scientifiques Luxembourg and talks about their commitment to sending young scientists to incredible science fairs and science events all around the world. https://www.un.org/en/observances/environment-day https://www.jugendrot.lu/cyd-2/ https://fjsl.lu/ https://unfccc.int/cop29

Prof. Marginson from Oxford University visited Luxembourg this week and spoke with Lisa at length on a variety of topics around education and geopolitics. Sasha Kehoe kicks off the show with the weekly reflection of global news stories. Prof. Marginson joins us with his own perspectives having lived in the U.K. for the last decade, but also having visited New Caledonia, French territory, which is relatively close to his homeland of Australia (closer than France anyhow). Simon Marginson is Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford, Director of the ESRC/RE Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), Joint Editor-in-Chief of Higher Education, and a Professorial Associate of the Melbourne Centre for Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne. Simon's research is focused primarily on global and international higher education, higher education in East Asia, global science, and the contributions of higher education. In this conversation we start with his own personal experience of potentially being drafted into the Vietnam war as a student in Australia. Simon spent his first degree deeply embedded in student politics and journalism. His route to becoming a Professor at Oxford was nonsequitous. Prof. Marginson's academic career was sparked by a highly acclaimed Ph.D. which he completed, part-time, over 8 years. And nowadays, Prof. Marginson is as deeply motivated to connecting global dots to observe the changing face of higher education across the world as he ever was. On how one gets to Oxford, the answer is sheer hard work. There are no short-cuts to brilliance. The students he looks for will be self-driven, extremely well-read and come with their own ideas. We discuss a range of topics including the open-source intrinsic nature of science research, and how that has been reshaped and blocked by political decisions; the rise of south-east Asian universities in global rankings. Indeed what even are global university rankings and do they matter? Where does the superpower Russia sit in today's university picture? For those of us based in Luxembourg, what is his view on European universities who don't seem to sit that high up on the university league tables - why is this? How do universities serve the common good? Is the cost worth the effort? As always, I would love to have your feedback on the good and bad of your university experience. Please do subscribe to the podcast too, via Apple and / or Spotify. It would be great if you could rate and review too — as it helps others find the podcast. Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon and Tuesdays at 10am.

The Echternach Hopping Procession, on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list, celebrates the life of St. Willibrord. On today's show, Lisa is joined by guests from Ireland, the UK and Luxembourg — to discuss the life of St. Willibrord via his links with these three countries. The Echternach Hopping Procession, on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list, celebrates the life of St. Willibrord. On today's show, Lisa is joined by guests from Ireland, the UK and Luxembourg — to discuss the life of St. Willibrord via his links with these three countries. Despite the 'high humidity', as Raoul Scholtes put it, there was another exceptional turnout for this year's Sprangpressessioun (or 'Hopping Procession') in Echternach, which pays homage to Saint Willibrord. This Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk is revered as the founder of Echternach Abbey and every year is honoured for his gift of curing illness. Ambassador Jean McDonald, Ambassador of Ireland to Luxembourg, hosted a delegation from County Carlow, celebrating the links between Saint Willibrord and Carlow. Councillor Andrea Dalton and Dermot Mulligan, Curator of the Carlow Museum, also joined in studio to discuss the deepening re-connections between Luxembourg and Carlow through their shared history with Saint Willibrord. HE Fleur Thomas, British Ambassador to Luxembourg, hosted HE Ambassador Christopher Trott, Britain's Ambassador to the Holy See, for their very first Sprangpressessioun experience. Providing a bit of background into St. Willibrord's ancestry — Ambassador Trott detailed the saint's Northumbrian origins, before his travels brought him to Ireland, the Netherlands and then Luxembourg. Ambassador Trott also talks about his work as a diplomat in the Vatican, and the immense 'intelligence network' the Vatican has globally through priests on the ground, often in places where diplomats cannot visit or live. Patrick Dondelinger, Head of Studies for Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, talks about the importance of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage label for the Hopping Procession, and what this means for one who experiences the 'rite'. Raoul Scholtes — a member of the procession's organisational committee and Vice-president of the Willibrodusbauveräin (Willibrod building society) organisation responsible for the procession — ends with a call for more volunteers! Help is always welcome, and indeed it would also be valuable to make a couple of positions professional (i.e. paid). Read here for even more details on the history of Luxembourg's Echternach Hopping Procession.

Join us as we jump into another discussion about books and culture, with Vanessa Phelan, Sarah Tapp and Sasha Kehoe. Hello and welcome to book show #2 with Vanessa Phelan and Sarah Tapp. This week Sasha Kehoe also joins us and we begin with a reflection of some of the news stories of the week. As we move to books, I start with a little quiz of words relating to books and book lovers. Are you a ‘librocubicularist' for instance? (Someone who loves to read in bed). Now onto books with my ‘book bosomed' friends (carrying a book at all times) and, as with our first episode, we manage to talk about a lot of books, but we also move onto art in places, and podcast recommendations. Here are some of the books we talk about: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller On Earth we're briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong The Wife's Tale by Aida Edemariam This is what is Sounds Like - What the music you love says about you by Susan Rogers Yellowface by R. F. Kuang Oh my God what a complete Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne The Women by Kristin Hannah You are Here by David Nicholls Funny Story by Emily Henry One Day by David Nicholls Book Lovers Emily Henry Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout Do let us know what books you enjoy and if there are any in particular from this list that stand out to you. Additionally, we will throw in some podcasts and other cultural references from time to time. [attachment id="99201934" __caption="The Lisa Burke Show"] Subscribe to the Podcast and get in touch! Please do subscribe to the podcast on Apple and / or Spotify. It would be great if you could rate and review too – helps others find us. Tune in on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon and Tuesdays at 10am.

Europe is aging, sagging in its efficiency, falling behind. How can we fix this? Philippe-Emmanuel Partsch comes from a long line of Law Professors, who were forced to move country due to the changing political climate of Europe through the last century. He was raised knowing the fragility of Europe, alongside its potential. Philippe-Emmanuel is a lawyer who has served at the European Court of Justice, private practice now at Arendt, university teaching and research. With over thirty years of working knowledge, he is well placed to consider how the European Union is functioning right now and its place in the context of global competition. Brexit and increasing populism encouraged Philippe-Emmanuel to write a book due to his growing concern for the evolution of European society as it has steadily declined: ‘The Five Labours of Europe - a Europe that will make us Grow'. Anne Calteux, Head of the European Commission Representation in Luxembourg, talks through a sizeable piece of commissioned work culminating in the paper by Enrico Letta, 'Much more than a market, SPEED, SECURITY, SOLIDARITY Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU Citizens' There are large swathes of overlap in the conclusions reached by Philippe-Emmanuel and Enrico Letta. Notably, that the internal market is no longer fit for purpose and Europe is in danger of regression. Europe, if taken as a whole, has a population of about 450 million people, compared to 330 million in the USA. Our landmass is about half that of the USA. This could provide opportunity if handled more dynamically. In his book, Philippe-Emmanuel talks about Europe's sluggish productivity and wealth per hour creation compared to other parts of the world and how we can break down barriers to trade with member states more efficiently. He reminds us that 99.2% of businesses in Europe are SMEs with 5-6 people employed. Philippe-Emmanuel sets out clear potential and reachable goals to increase income and GDP, reduce unemployment and poverty in the coming years. Deficiencies in research and development and innovation (R&D&I) is another clear beacon in both the book and paper. Currently, not enough money is being put into R&D&I in Europe and this needs to change now if we are to hope to keep pace with other nations. The cost of patent registration is much greater in the EU compared to the US. Philippe-Emmanuel is a fan of the Nordic approach to have lower taxation on Intellectual Property income. We talk about the need to change financial structures to reinvigorate seed investment and private funding. Philippe-Emmanuel believes Euorpe does set the gold standard for some regulations. Energy and Defence are two major areas where Europe needs to become more self-sufficient - we all learned this is recent year. And we have needed stronger trans-European transport links for decades. Did you know that the train between Luxembourg and Brussels got slower over the last 30 years?! And all of this conversation is capped with a round-up of the week's global news with Sasha Kehoe.