Trendwatcher Adjiedj Bakas is a much sought-after speaker at conferences, strategy sessions and other gatherings. Bakas is provocative and always positive, even in these times of economic decline. His motto is therefore: 'A kite rises highest when it flies against the wind'. In his book Beyond the Crisis he describes the opportunities created by the economic global crisis for real entrepreneurship and for a real transformation of the economy. “Difficulties are actually just opportunities with spikes", says Bakas. “For example, a lower exchange rate for the Euro means cheaper and expanding export opportunities for European exporters.”

Bakas is a born optimist. “When my grandma was young, housekeeping was a full-time job, without a refrigerator, freezer, vacuum cleaner, toilet, washing machine or supermarket. Now it’s possible to do the housekeeping in just a fraction of the time. That is a terrific advance isn’t it?” Bakas again hammers home the fact that the human race is continually making advancements and that every crisis again becomes an advancement, even if this throws some people off course. “Look at the facts: there is less hunger in the world than ever before, there are fewer wars. The human race is richer than ever and there is a better distribution of wealth. The human being is a fantastically inventive creature!”

Despite his infectious optimism, Bakas also hammers home 'the reverse side of advancement'. In his book The Future of Love he states that 1 in 4 Dutch people are lonely, that 30% of Americans have fewer friends than 20 years ago, that 20% of Americans even have absolutely no intimate friends. According to Bakas, loneliness will become one of the hottest topics of future years. “In a time with more means of communication than ever before, more people feel lonely than has ever been the case in the past.” According to Bakas, happiness can be created; it is a question of making sensible choices. “Unhappy people get just as many chances of happiness as happy people. But unhappy people often don’t see them”.

Something unique about Bakas is that, in an energetic manner, he is also able to link up economic and spiritual themes. In his book The Future of Faith he says that economic trends run parallel to spiritual trends. He predicts the emergence of the 'Personal God', an image of God created personally by every individual, which fits in with peoples’ growing awareness. He calls the environmental movement the 'Green Church' and predicts that in the 21st century this will become the largest church in the world.

Bakas has written various bestsellers about the future which have been published in the Netherlands, the US, China, Brazil, England and other countries. A few of his successful English language titles are: The Future of Faith, Beyond the Crisis, World Megatrends and Living without Oil (the latter book was co-authored with Rob Creemers). Successful Dutch language titles are: The Future of Work (co-author Martijn van der Woude), The Future of Love and Microtrends The Netherlands. He is currently working on the book The Future of Health.

Bakas was elected 'Trendwatcher of the Year 2009' and 'Black Businessman of the Year 2008'. Bakas is a captivating, stimulating, visionary, humorous and inspirational speaker. With around 200 lectures every year he inspires more than 200,000 people in different countries. He links research information about trends and the future to entertainment. His lectures are serious, non-specialist, stimulating, challenging and humorous.

The lectures touch on different topics. He can speak to entrepreneurs about future-oriented entrepreneurship, to bankers about banking of the future, to IT professionals about the role of IT in peoples’ lifestyles and he can speak to builders and developers about construction in the future. However, he can also speak about trends in the labour market, in the healthcare sector and about the future of public administration.

Bakas is in the top 10 list of most frequently booked speakers in the Netherlands. Trade journal Management Team recently voted him one of the 25 most creative Dutch people and innovation magazine Sprout voted him one of the 50 most influential Dutch people under 50 years of age. The Dutch Marketers Association elected him as the most influential trendwatcher amongst the marketers in the country. Unorthodox, optimistic, inspirational and animated. That is Adjiedj Bakas as a speaker at your conference, seminar or other gathering. He is one of the most appealing speakers currently available.

The press is full of praise about him. He is considered to be ‘eminent’ (Dutch TV show - De Wereld Draait Door – The World’s Going Crazy), ‘approachable’ (De Telegraaf newspaper), ‘unorthodox’ (Het Financieele Dagblad newspaper), ‘Europe’s best trendwatcher’ (Story), ‘prominent’ (De Volkskrant newspaper), ‘well-founded' (NRC Handelsblad newspaper), ‘the personification of advancement’ (Elsevier), ‘not commonplace’ (Intermediair magazine), ‘original’ (Elle magazine), ‘unusual’ (Linda magazine), ‘exciting’ (Esta magazine) ‘optimistic’ (CNN), ‘inspirational’ (BBC), ‘provocative’ (TV2 Newscast Denmark), ‘festive’ (Quote), ‘a real world citizen’ (Times of India), 'major trendwatcher' ( China Daily) and 'an oracle' (Zero Hora, Brazil).

Topics

    Demographic revolution

    The rising economy of the BRIC-landen

    Ethical and femine entrepreneurship

    The obsolescence

    Innovation

    Megatrends in Europe and the world

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