RTL Today - The Lisa Burke Show RTL Today

Proactive wellbeing from school to adulthood – you're at your best when you work with your character strengths.



Frederika Roberts, known as "The Happiness Speaker", brings the science of wellbeing to life through applied positive psychology. Her background as a teacher served to launch her work into whole school wellbeing, for both students and teachers. The idea is to work with character strengths for wellbeing. Her method helps children (and adults) learn the vocabulary necessary to discover one’s own character strengths.

Frederika Roberts ran an online challenge for International Day of Happiness in March, and Klárka Penzešová won the competition.



Klárka Penzešová is a massage therapist based in Maison Paramédicale du Pafendall. Her studies include Ayurvedic massage, Breuss massage, the spine-focused Dorn method physiotherapy manipulation and Theta healing.

Dana Moldoveanu Brandes is President of the Positive Psychology Association Luxembourg (PPL), a Psychologist and Coach who works as part of the European Commission's psycho-social team, and as an Occupational Clinician, Coaching Psychologist, EMDR Therapist and Trainer via her organisation, ProActive Mind. 



In this conversation we talk about the increasing need to ensure our mental health is robust enough to buffer the challenges of an increasingly busy life, with little down-time.



Further information on Frederika's work:



BOOKS

The Big Book of Whole School Wellbeing (2021), by Kimberley Evans, Thérèse Hoyle, Frederika Roberts & Bukky Yusuf (Editors) with Foreword by Andrew Cowley

For Flourishing's Sake: Using Positive Education to Support Character Development and Well-being (2020), by Frederika Roberts with Foreword by Andrew Cowley



Character Toolkit for Teachers: 100+ Classroom and Whole School Character Education Activities for 5-11 Year Olds (2018), by Frederika Roberts and Elizabeth Wright, with Foreword by Kristján Kristjánsson

Recipe for Happiness: 9 Essential Ingredients for a Happy Life (2013) by Frederika Roberts



STRENGTH CARDS

Character Toolkit Strength Cards (2020) by Frederika Roberts and Elizabeth Wright.



PODCAST

Check out the For Flourishing's Sake podcast - a weekly Monday-morning wellbeing boost for teachers and school leaders, available on all the major podcasting platforms and from the podcast website www.forflourishingssake.com.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danamoldoveanu/

https://www.ppl.lu/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Whole-School-Wellbeing-Corwin/dp/1529764254

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flourishings-Sake-Education-Development-Well-being/dp/1787750248

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Character-Toolkit-Teachers-Activities-11-Year-Olds/dp/1785924907

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Recipe-Happiness-Essential-Ingredients-Happy/dp/0957438370

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Character-Toolkit-Strength-Elizabeth-Wright/dp/1787752739

https://forflourishingssake.com/



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Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon and Tuesdays at 10am.

Still slightly taboo in the workplace, and still often unrecognised by medical professionals, perimenopause is a long and difficult stage of life for many women. Lisa and Sasha are joined in the Today Radio studio by a dream team of guests to discuss this long-overdue topic — including a menopause coach, a preventative health entrepreneur, a medical and health management specialist in menopause, as well as a sexologist and perimenopause specialist.



Perimenopause and menopause are stages of a woman's life that are becoming more present in conversations socially and even in the workplace. But still, so many women go through perimenopause, suffering a multitude of symptoms, without realising it. It’s difficult to untangle symptoms from the heavy stressors of life sometimes, as perimenopause hits us during particularly intense periods of our lives, and continues for years. During this time, we many be raising children, managing a household with a career, caring for parents or other family members, living away from ‘home’,  and so there is very little time for ‘us’, to listen and feel what is going on inside our own bodies. The irony is that when life demands all of us, perimenopause can significantly diminish our natural capacity for work and resilience.

After a weekly news round-up with Sasha, my guests this week are Guy Brandenbourger, Diane Elsen, Annabelle Parkhouse and Victoria Honey.



Guy Brandenbourger was a Partner at PwC Luxembourg from 2011, led their healthcare sector including the government and public sector practice in Luxembourg.  Guy is now the founder and Partner of his own company called Health A Gesondheet, Luxembourg Blue Zone (HAG) dedicated to developing a preventative health care structure in Luxembourg, aiming to become the 6th blue zone in the world.

Diane Elsen is a certified menopause coaching specialist. After 26 years working within a European institution, raising 2 children, helping her partner manage a successful restaurant she was hit by post traumatic depression at 48, at the peak of her career. With no answers from her GP, Diane threw herself into researching peri-menopause.

Annabelle Parkhouse has just completed Medical School at Imperial College London. She also completed an MBBS diploma and an Intercalated bachelor’s in health management at Imperial Business School. Her thesis was on “Making Menopause Manageable, barriers regarding the safe discussions of menopausal symptom experience and management."

Victoria Honey, a sexologist and perimenopause specialist, supports female executives, who want to manage the emotional changes that come with peri/menopause so that they can flourish in their careers and live unshakeable lives.



Menopause is still rather a taboo topic in Luxembourg, and the symptoms of perimenopause are still catching women by surprise. It is frequently only after a woman hits menopause that they realise they have lived with many of the symptoms. 86% of women aged 50 to 65 experience at least one symptom (of a list of at least 34), and almost half have not discussed the subject with their doctor, 60% talk to their gynaecologist and only 39% talk to their partner.

As Annabelle says, going through the period of perimenopause to post-menopause is actually a privilege, but it’s not always easy for women.



Medication alters depending on where you live and who your doctors are. There is so much more to learn about the effects of menopause on the body and we are a long way from personalised hormonal treatment.

Although, we have moved on from the WHI study to disband the link between HRT and breast cancer. Moreover, HRT used at the right time can reduce cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Diane Elsen talks about her own very difficult experience of perimenopause, not knowing what she was going through at the time, and nor did any of her healthcare professionals spot it. During her many years of research, Diane has found number of sources she wo

For next week's World Environment Day, Lisa's guests discuss the state of the climate today, myriad climate policy boards, and the inclusion of the youth voice. There is an incredible array of resources and opportunities for young people in Luxembourg on the subject and countless organisations working together on the issue — but is it enough?



We have all noticed how wet this spring has been. Conversation in my circles have noted the long-term predictions of climate change on our weather patterns and seasons: more humidity, increased storms and rainfall in this geographical zone.



The mention of climate change in the media is at risk of becoming jaded as it’s on-going, requiring swift action but that action is sloth-like due to the need for global buy-in. People tune out if they feel they cannot make a difference. Not everyone can be an activist.



And so, we rely on the scientific research to influence policy makers from around the world to act. Even if they agree to act, that policy then needs to be implemented in each country. And so the ultimate trickle down is that we, as citizens, need to be nudged into behavioural change that is the decision without requiring thought.



My guests this week range from those who have spent many years researching climate related topics and climate policy-making, to the youth voice who were given the opportunity to be present at a COP event.



Dr Andrew Ferrone is a physical climatologist, Andrew works at the interface of climate science and policy. He is Head of the Meteorological Service of the Administration of Technical Agricultural Services (ASTA) in Luxembourg, President of Luxembourg's Climate Policy Observatory (OPC) and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Spuerkeess. He is also the Permanent Representative to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Head of the Luxembourg delegation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and coordinates the European Union’s team of negotiators for scientific issues under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).



Andrew talks about his vast experience at these conferences and how to try to get consensus between countries with very different objectives, whether that be due to the stage of industrial development they are in, oil-rich countries or if they’re islands at risk of disappearing.



Claudia Hitaj is an advisor on climate change and sustainable finance at the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Biodiversity. Her work straddles economics, environmental policy and making the youth voice heard. The Ministry’s Climate Youth Delegate Programme will bring two climate youth delegates, Frida Thorsteinsdottir and Natasha Lepage, to COP 29 to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan this November. They’ll both have a chance to participate in a training program at COP29 and the UNFCCC for youth delegates from countries all over the world.



Bartłomiej Nowak, 18 years old, took part in the National Junk Fuerscher Contest in 2022 and 2023, Luxembourg Informatics Olympiad in 2023, was awarded participation in COP28 in Dubai, where he met the Luxembourgish delegation and presented his project in the BENELUX-EIB pavilion in the blue zone.



Arnfridur (Frida) Thorsteinsdottir, 17 years old student at ISL, was a finalist in the Jonk Fuerscher Contest 2024 due to her project on fish migration in Iceland. She will be travelling to COP29 in Baku with Natasha.



Federica Maestri work with the Fondation Jeunes Scientifiques Luxembourg and talks about their commitment to sending young scientists to incredible science fairs and science events all around the world.



https://www.un.org/en/observances/environment-day

https://www.jugendrot.lu/cyd-2/

https://fjsl.lu/

https://unfccc.int/cop29

Prof. Marginson from Oxford University visited Luxembourg this week and spoke with Lisa at length on a variety of topics around education and geopolitics.



Sasha Kehoe kicks off the show with the weekly reflection of global news stories. Prof. Marginson joins us with his own perspectives having lived in the U.K. for the last decade, but also having visited New Caledonia, French territory, which is relatively close to his homeland of Australia (closer than France anyhow).



Simon Marginson is Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford, Director of the ESRC/RE Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), Joint Editor-in-Chief of Higher Education, and a Professorial Associate of the Melbourne Centre for Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne. Simon’s research is focused primarily on global and international higher education, higher education in East Asia, global science, and the contributions of higher education.



In this conversation we start with his own personal experience of potentially being drafted into the Vietnam war as a student in Australia. Simon spent his first degree deeply embedded in student politics and journalism. His route to becoming a Professor at Oxford was nonsequitous. Prof. Marginson's academic career was sparked by a highly acclaimed Ph.D. which he completed, part-time, over 8 years.



And nowadays, Prof. Marginson is as deeply motivated to connecting global dots to observe the changing face of higher education across the world as he ever was.



On how one gets to Oxford, the answer is sheer hard work. There are no short-cuts to brilliance. The students he looks for will be self-driven, extremely well-read and come with their own ideas.



We discuss a range of topics including the open-source intrinsic nature of science research, and how that has been reshaped and blocked by political decisions; the rise of south-east Asian universities in global rankings. Indeed what even are global university rankings and do they matter? Where does the superpower Russia sit in today's university picture?



For those of us based in Luxembourg, what is his view on European universities who don't seem to sit that high up on the university league tables - why is this?



How do universities serve the common good? Is the cost worth the effort?



As always, I would love to have your feedback on the good and bad of your university experience.



Please do subscribe to the podcast too, via Apple and / or Spotify. It would be great if you could rate and review too — as it helps others find the podcast.



Tune in to The Lisa Burke Show on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon and Tuesdays at 10am.

The Echternach Hopping Procession, on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list, celebrates the life of St. Willibrord. On today's show, Lisa is joined by guests from Ireland, the UK and Luxembourg — to discuss the life of St. Willibrord via his links with these three countries.



The Echternach Hopping Procession, on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list, celebrates the life of St. Willibrord. On today's show, Lisa is joined by guests from Ireland, the UK and Luxembourg — to discuss the life of St. Willibrord via his links with these three countries.



Despite the 'high humidity', as Raoul Scholtes put it, there was another exceptional turnout for this year's Sprangpressessioun (or 'Hopping Procession') in Echternach, which pays homage to Saint Willibrord. This Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk is revered as the founder of Echternach Abbey and every year is honoured for his gift of curing illness.



Ambassador Jean McDonald, Ambassador of Ireland to Luxembourg, hosted a delegation from County Carlow, celebrating the links between Saint Willibrord and Carlow. Councillor Andrea Dalton and Dermot Mulligan, Curator of the Carlow Museum, also joined in studio to discuss the deepening re-connections between Luxembourg and Carlow through their shared history with Saint Willibrord.



HE Fleur Thomas, British Ambassador to Luxembourg, hosted HE Ambassador Christopher Trott, Britain's Ambassador to the Holy See, for their very first Sprangpressessioun experience. Providing a bit of background into St. Willibrord's ancestry — Ambassador Trott detailed the saint's Northumbrian origins, before his travels brought him to Ireland, the Netherlands and then Luxembourg.



Ambassador Trott also talks about his work as a diplomat in the Vatican, and the immense 'intelligence network' the Vatican has globally through priests on the ground, often in places where diplomats cannot visit or live.



Patrick Dondelinger, Head of Studies for Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, talks about the importance of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage label for the Hopping Procession, and what this means for one who experiences the 'rite'.



Raoul Scholtes — a member of the procession's organisational committee and Vice-president of the Willibrodusbauveräin (Willibrod building society) organisation responsible for the procession — ends with a call for more volunteers! Help is always welcome, and indeed it would also be valuable to make a couple of positions professional (i.e. paid).



Read here for even more details on the history of Luxembourg's Echternach Hopping Procession.

Join us as we jump into another discussion about books and culture, with Vanessa Phelan, Sarah Tapp and Sasha Kehoe.



Hello and welcome to book show #2 with Vanessa Phelan and Sarah Tapp. This week Sasha Kehoe also joins us and we begin with a reflection of some of the news stories of the week.



As we move to books, I start with a little quiz of words relating to books and book lovers. Are you a ‘librocubicularist’ for instance? (Someone who loves to read in bed).



Now onto books with my ‘book bosomed’ friends (carrying a book at all times) and, as with our first episode, we manage to talk about a lot of books, but we also move onto art in places, and podcast recommendations.



Here are some of the books we talk about:





Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner



The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah



The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini



The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller



On Earth we’re briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong



The Wife’s Tale by Aida Edemariam



This is what is Sounds Like - What the music you love says about you by Susan Rogers



Yellowface by R. F. Kuang



Oh my God what a complete Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen



A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne



The Women by Kristin Hannah



You are Here by David Nicholls



Funny Story by Emily Henry



One Day by David Nicholls



Book Lovers Emily Henry



Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman



Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz



Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout





Do let us know what books you enjoy and if there are any in particular from this list that stand out to you.



Additionally, we will throw in some podcasts and other cultural references from time to time.





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Subscribe to the Podcast and get in touch!



Please do subscribe to the podcast on Apple and / or Spotify. It would be great if you could rate and review too – helps others find us.



Tune in on Today Radio Saturdays at 11am, Sundays at noon and Tuesdays at 10am.