City Talks Amsterdam: Toybox Wisdom

As a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher Vainergill Thurnim uses her unique movement style to connect people, foster empathy and create spaces where individuals from all walks of life feel seen and heard. At the age of 16, Vainergill discovered her passion for teaching, which led her to the Academy of Theater and Dance, where she specialized as a Dance Teacher. With a dual educational background in both MBO and HBO, she developed a broad expertise across various dance styles with the main focus on West African dance aesthetics and (urban) contemporary.

Noura Soussi was born and raised in Brabant but has always worked and lived until recently in Amsterdam and the surrounding area. Noura is the owner of the practice: Noor de Spiegeloog. No accidental pun: "how beautiful it is that children allowed me to take a look into their inner world of thoughts and feelings through (eye) contact." Noura offers a world that provides an explanation for complaints that often concern those around them. When working with children, she is challenged to be creative, because children are not always able to self-reflect. With her rich cultural background, she has been fortunate to gather a wealth of knowledge and experience in different workplaces and with different types of families and individuals. She is very aware of the responsibility for the mental health of others and the care this requires in order to gain confidence in this. Her vision: healing starts when you can let go of disappointments and focus on the possibilities.

Lior Steinberg is an urban planner and co-founder of Humankind, a multidisciplinary agency focused on transforming cities into more people-friendly environments. Passionate about creating urban spaces that inspire joy, Lior involves local communities and residents in his design thinking process. That includes engaging children as active designers, encouraging them to shape the cities they live in. In 2022, he published The Car That Wanted to be a Bike, a children's book that highlights the joy of cycling and advocates for rethinking public space and the future of cities.

Nadia Shah has been fascinated by stories since she was a little girl. After building a successful career as a researcher and director in TV and online content creation, she turned her passion toward documentary filmmaking, bringing to life the stories closest to her heart. Her short documentary Noï & Roco captures the vibrant, imaginary world of two 8-year-old friends, celebrating their creativity, agency, and the strength of their bond. The film recently won the Best Documentary Award at IFF Young Horizons, with the jury praising it for its heartfelt portrayal of childhood friendship and the beauty of seeing the world through a child's eyes.