HeartBeat – the summit for UN World Creativity and Innovation Day. This is a yearly across-silo celebration of creativity and innovation for hope towards the 17 Global Goals and beyond. 2023 event will take place on April 20th in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Tap into a creative community and network with young voices, inspiring speakers but also engaging art experiences. The lineup is impressive, including experts from various fields such as design, performance, philosophy, and social activism to share a common mindset.

On stage HeartBeat 2023
On stage: Henrik Fredborg Larsen, Director at UNDP Nordic – José Gonzáles, performing artist – Koen Thewissen Strategic communications consultant / Founder at weareDaniel – Anna Ryott, Founder of HEART 17 – Enter_black, performing artist – Lisa Lindström, Global Leader of Innovation and Experience Design / EY – Per Olsson, Associate Professor / Stockholm Resilience Centre – Iskias Araya, co-founder and creative director of Common Values United – Claudia Kvarnborg, activist Fridays For Future, Teodor Wolgers, artist – Reva Hagins, Manager of GAME Streetmekka Copenhagen and many more (we will post continuously).

PRACTICALITIES
The conference is a physical event, taking place at the venue Vega in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Conference: April 20th, 12:00-19:00
Afterparty: April 20th, 19:00-23:00
Read more about the venue here:
Apply to attend
To attend Heartbeat 2023 you need to apply. Stand behind our shared mindset, sign the HEART 17 manifesto and as a signee, we will happily add you to the waiting list.

The panels are based upon the Manifesto created by HEART 17. From listening in the network we balanced it all down to 5 sessions.
Optimism is rebellious
– What if the best world is yet ahead of us?
Moderator: Douglas Malm Rath – Climate Live Sweden
Panelists: Per Olsson, Associate Professor at Stockholm Resilience Center
Koen Thewissen – Strategic communications consultant, founder at weareDaniel
More to be announced.
A sense of hopelessness is felt by many. It risks draining our energy, our sense of belonging, our ability to act. The Heart 17 network consists of people and organisations that are determined to counteract despair and polarization in today’s world – and bring back hope. With a mindset of “what if?” we dare to tackle this challenge together. With stewards daring to focus on the need to bring back hope, we build a community of radical optimists with an infinite mindset on how humans always will be interlinked.
An infinite mindset means being an organisation or an individual leaving the world in a better place because we engaged in it. It means to be the kind of human being/leader to others that they will be better cause we were in their lives. This is hard, complicated and might not be the norm. So, how do we together empower each other and show the world we’re in the game, not for the short-term. But for the long-term?

The Global Goals Game
– Who is your best rival?
Moderator: Hadi Qasemi, artist, Human rights activist
Panelists: Eva Karlsson, Houdini Sportswear
More to be announced
The game of the Global Goals is set. But the rules for the game change and evolve while we’re in it. The game now turns from a game with a deadline into a game reaching further than year 2030, thus becoming a never-ending game, an infinite game. In an infinite, less defined game we risk struggling in the wish to make progress. The Global Goals are a perfect set of rules, but who is in the lead and who is behind? And yet, we are still players in the same team. We evolve the game constantly with new innovations and breakthrough studies. Does this lead to rivalry?
Rivalry is good for the sake of keeping the game in motion. Rivalry leads to disruptiveness, it speeds up the tempo, it makes us want to be a better competitor all the time. We become better versions of ourselves. All for the existence of this infinite game that will never end. And the rules will never be strict. Life on planet earth is disruptive and hopefully infinite. What are the opportunities with the SDGs as a possible infinite game? And who is your best rival?

COLLABORATE
- Partnership is the new leadership
Moderator: Oskar Molander – Youth adviser Future Minds
Panelists: Reva Hagins, Manager GAME streetmekka
Fernanda Drumond, Strategy Lead at H&M Foundation
Adam Lindholm, Nordic Corporate Responsible Lead at EY
Linna Gadde, activist Fridays For Future
Humans evolve, nature evolves, life evolves. The feeling you feel today has been felt by someone else previously. We evolve together as a specie. We are all unique, but we need to help each other. We need to stop the “what’s in it for me?” mindset and move back to more of a settler’s perspective of “What’s the best for us?”. To become something greater than a group of individuals. To rebuild trust with generosity. To do more of giving without asking for payback. To understand we are all parts of the link. We need to strengthen every link. Strengthen the sense of belonging, across silos, networks, friends, families can occur.
We are all experts on something. We need to start asking each other, across silos for help and stop the thinking of what do I gain of helping. Just help. Understand that in collaboration we have built (and torn down) civilisations. If the many says it’s time to bring back hope. The one will follow. It’s time to create a movement for hope and respect of all unique set of humans.
So, could we scale the settler-perspective and become something greater than a group of individuals trying to solve the same problems?

INCLUSION
– How to lead with empathy, for previous, current and coming generations?
Moderator: Iskias Araya – Co-founder & Creative Director/Common Values United
Panelists: Nicklas Larsen – Unesco Chair
Lovis Dahl – Tech Lead & Software Engineer at EY Doberman
more to be announced.
“Nothing is lost, everything is transformed” (Antoine Lavoisier). All generations have done the best to make the world a better place. We’ve all worked with the facts handed us. Sometimes we’ve been right, sometimes we’ve been wrong. Radically wrong. As science evolves, we get deeper and better understanding of “best practice” for us all and challenges we face. At the same time generations evolve, Gen Z doesn’t have the same mindset as millennials. This of course is the result of their parent generation. So, as every generation is standing on the shoulders of giants, we need to have empathy for the fact that nothing is lost, everything is transformed. While the younger generation are eager to do and change NOW! The elder have more experience of life. If we all lead with empathy and know when to refuse, when to act and respect that we’ve been wrong and change. We lead with empathy. Are we capable of making the hard decisions and balance the decision for the future, at the same time respect the elder? Things and thoughts need to die but die with dignity. To keep the Infinite game in play. Do we have the network of advisors in our life to understand and include all aspects of the hard decision we need to make for the infinite game to be in play?

CREATIVITY
– the key enabler for hope and change
Moderator: Claudia Kvarnborg, Climate Live Sweden & Fridays For Future
Panelists: Molly Fannon, CEO at Museum for the United Nation – UN Live
Diego Galafassi, Transdisciplinary artist & sustainability scientist,
Robert Lindgren, Creative director at EY Doberman
To practice all previous themes and mindsets is unbelievably difficult. This is where creativity and storytelling come in. As Gerhard Richter said: “Art is the highest form of hope”. With art we can contribute to the movement, the collective. Art can visualize feelings and emotions. Art can strengthen the mindset of an infinite game. Without the expertise of artists and designers we all carry different visions for the future. But if we can, by the campfire, listen to the same stories and imagine the same future. It’s more tangible to work for, or against.
The narrative of artists is that they are the leaders of creativity. We challenge this and believe all human are creative, but not all have the mindset of what we produce will echoes in eternity. This is a mindset we all can learn from artists. Heart 17 is determined that art and creativity will showcase a mindset. An infinite mindset of a movement that could live longer than itself, hopefully. This is just the idea of Heart 17. It’s the movement the network itself that needs to amplify this idea. For Heart 17 to visualize the mindset, we strongly believe in; if we create a common, generous art project on this year’s Creative Brief: HUMAN CHOICE – that could be the lead messenger for showcasing Hope. We strongly believe this is a a story for the coming campfires. A story of the collective mindset. A story that needs to echo from the network out to the world. A new story, A story of hope. If we could raise the level of creativity and connect different forms of generous creativity we can expand the movement, the feeling of connectivity. Is this a way to counteract despair and polarization? Is this a way to raise the level of creativity for all the player of the infinite game?
WORKSHOPS
Fun, interactive and intellectual challenging. Check out the workshops happening at Heartbeat, alongside with inspiring talks and performances
- EY Doberman: Exploring a preferable future
Together, we explore how a vision comes to life. We experience how mega trends and signals of change might help shape a future where business, planet, and people thrive – and what your role will be in that future. - Group-Think: Hybrid sports & educational programme
Implement training techniques that stimulates collective intelligence, patience, preparedness, good reflexes, violence prevention, urban resilience, verbal negotiation, responsibility, resistance, coping strategies, first aid and group safety in protest meetings. Created by the Danish artist Stine Marie Jacobsen. - Spotify 2072: Audio visualization about the future
Listen and talk about future scenarios 50 years into the future, based on analyzed data and future scenarios, with Dr. Andrew Merrie, PhD, Stockholm Resilience Centre. Spotify initiated 2072 project to highlight the powerful role that cultural platforms and artists can take in the transformation to a just and sustainable society. - The Great Escape: Unleash your creativity
Multimedia artist and creativity activist Jacob Felländer shares his artistic method and helps you unleash your creative potential in the celebrated workshop ”The Great Escape”. You will learn methods to escape from your inner demons and harsh critics and also how to be creative in the face of pressure and tight deadlines.
From last Heartbeat
Get inspired by our meetup at HEARTBEAT 2022. Read more about HEARTBEAT 2022 here.