Daan Roosegaarde

Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde is a creative thinker and designer known for social projects that explore the connection between people, technology, and nature. From an early age, Roosegaarde was inspired by nature’s wonders such as glowing fireflies and jellyfish. His fascination with both nature and technology is reflected in iconic works including the SMOG FREE PROJECT (the world’s largest outdoor air purifier that transforms smog into jewelry), the VAN GOGH PATH (a glowing bicycle path), and SPARK, a poetic celebration of sustainable light that floats like friendly fireworks through the sky.

Roosegaarde offers a unique perspective on how the future can be actively designed rather than feared.

Drawing on more than two decades of internationally acclaimed work, Roosegaarde and his team of designers and engineers at Studio Roosegaarde present real-world projects that operate at the scale of cities, infrastructures, and public imagination. His work has been experienced by millions worldwide and has influenced public policy, urban design, and environmental awareness across multiple continents. His projects transform abstract challenges such as energy transition, air quality, and urbanization into tangible experiences that shift perception and behavior.

Rather than speculating on distant futures, Roosegaarde focuses on what he calls protopia: a future that improves step by step through responsibility, creativity, and collective action. By bridging poetry and pragmatism, data and emotion, innovation and ethics, he demonstrates how imagination can function as a strategic tool for systemic change.

His keynotes are filled with photos and short films that resonate deeply with leaders and institutions seeking credible, hopeful, and actionable innovations to complex global challenges, offering to open up your mind and inspire you to see fresh perspectives.