Monika Bielskyte – Keynote Speaker

Monika Bielskyte is working to develop hopeful future visions. As a futures researcher, she has been on a decade-long nomadic journey exploring futures in 90+ countries.

As a futurist and futures designer, Monika consults on and prototypes culturally expansive, socially and environmentally engaged future world designs for the media industry, technology companies, and cities/countries. With expertise in the immersive media space (XR/AI/UX) and edutainment, her work consists in connecting bleeding edge technological innovation with some of the world’s most original creative visions that explores the relationship between speculative science fiction narratives (Dystopias, Utopias, &, most specifically, Protopias) & the unfolding Global Futures.

Monika’s past clients include Universal, Google, Nike, DreamWorks, BBC, Microsoft, Mexico City, McKinsey, Anonymous Content, Ridley Scott Associates, Reliance JIO, Telefonica, Intel, Aston Martin, MTN, TATA, Xerox PARC & Rick Owens, among others.

Monika is also an internationally renowned public speaker in the field of innovation represented by London Speaker Bureau. Her talks cover the range of subject matter at the intersection of science and technology and its feedback loop with social, cultural and political realities across the world. She has spoken on panels and presented keynotes at The Royal Society, CERN, Unesco, C2, CPH:DOX, Future Of Storytelling, Sonar, among others.

Most recently, Monika has been working on @ProtopiaFutures – a platform for collaborative research & creations challenging & offering alternatives to dystopian/utopian stereotypes. Protopia explores visions of radically hopeful & inclusive futures centering Queerness, Indigeneity, Disability & previously marginalized cultural perspectives. The framework of Protopia has been anchored in and shaped by the urgent need for mainstream articulation and awareness in how ‘(Y)OUR’ future is shaped, and to combat the rise of misinformation exploit pertaining to future science, technology, politics, and culture.