Urban Strandberg

Nationality: Swedish, Present residency: Gothenburg, Sweden, Year of birth: 1966, IYTT Manager and Co-founder

Born in 1966, the most transformative events for me as a young person were the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the fall of the dictatorships in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Chile, and Argentina, as well as the fall of the Soviet Union and the autocratic regimes of Eastern Europe. Now, decades after these foundational regime changes, that stirred the hope for democracy, openness, peace, and popular well-being, I am scared and worried that corruption and autocratic values gain traction, and that too many governments fail to provide a decent life for people. My hope for the conference is that all the amazing 24 African conference participants will contribute novel arguments and ideas on how to realize a democratic, peaceful, and equitable future. I will bring my enthusiastic personality, my curiosity of other people and their ideas, and my ability to bring the very best out of other people.