Idea Starter Symposium

In an effort to engage members around the world and to further help the field of positive psychology to spark new ideas, form new collaborations, push new boundaries and challenge traditional thinking, the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) launched the first-ever IPPA Idea Starter Symposium in 2021 (in a virtual format).

The Idea Starter Symposium first took place on the 29th and 30th of October, 2021 and this inaugural event had nearly 400 virtual delegates from over 20 countries attend. It allowed attendees to be a fly on the wall of roundtable discussions and conversations amongst leaders, featuring speakers like Martin Seligman, Barbara Fredrickson, Stewart Donaldson, Meike Bartels, Judith Moskowitz, Roy Baumeister, Robert Biswas-Diener, Noof Aljneibi, Richard Davidson, Ozum Demirel, John Helliwell, Sunil Hasmukharay, Eric Kim, Abigail Marsh, James Pawelski, Ryan Niemiec, Meg Warren, Todd Kashdan, Matthew Iasiello, Kim Cameron, Isaac Prilleltensky, Tim Lomas, Robert Isler, and so many more – all innovators, thought leaders, and idea starters themselves, across the field.

The event played host to roundtable discussions and open-dialogue conversations, unlike traditional conference session settings. Speakers and discussion hosts held hot topic discussions and roundtable reviews in front of the (virtual) audience, on a range of topics of critical interest to the field. Delegates heard firsthand and were able to question speakers and leaders on how to overcome some criticisms of the field, how to encourage community wide wellbeing, how to make Positive Psychology less WEIRD, how to empower practitioners over influencers, and how to incorporate the cutting edge of character strengths, plus ways to create positive impact, unite communities, and to consider and explore the positive humanities, review health and meaning, understand the World Happiness Report, and amplify the impact of the science and practice of positive psychology, plus so much more.

This event is currently under review for being included in upcoming IPPA programming.