TEDxYouthDay 2012: TEDx’s tribute to youth-driven innovation, inspiration, and ideas
This year marks the third anniversary of TEDxYouthDay, a series of TEDx events designed to empower and inspire youth and kids worldwide, coinciding with Universal Children’s Day in late November.
TEDxYouthDay events vary widely in size, format, and theme, but share a common vision: inspiring curiosity, igniting new ideas, and empowering leaders in the youth of today. This year, TEDxYouthDay will take place on a weekend—from Saturday, November 17 to Sunday, November 18, 2012.
Nearly 100 TEDxYouthDay events will take place during the weekend, including events in Tokyo, Baghdad, London, Venice, Belgrade, and New York. This year’s theme is “Dream big…then do it!” and youth around the world will sure to be sharing their big ideas for a better world.
At TEDxYouth@SanDiego in California, organizer Sonia Rhodes looks forward to an event that will have an impact on local youth, an impact she hopes will echo worldwide. “The importance of lighting a spark of possibility for our youth resonated for me immediately,” she said. “I believe that through the power of ideas and the belief that anything is possible, the young people of San Diego and the world [can] create the future we’re hoping for.”
This year, the TEDxYouth@SanDiego team has opened up 50 spaces on the team for youth members, and these youth team members are doing everything from creating video invitations to potential speakers, to creating the event website.
In The Netherlands, TEDxYouthDay events have created a country-wide bond. “Some of our team members are young (between ages 17 and 23),” said organizer of TEDxYouth@Brabantlaan Marielle Hornstra, “and two of them have spoken at other TEDx events in The Netherlands.
“There is so much energy in our team,” she said. “It is exciting to be part of it.”
In Dubai, TEDxYouth@Dubai has evolved from 4 years of the city’s standard TEDx event. “We are inviting 10 students, representing 50 to 60 schools in Dubai,” organizers said, “hoping to [encourage] them to have their own Youth event next year.”
The unfolding story of TEDxYouthDay will be documented by designated Youth Day Event Reporters: volunteers from countries across the globe, committed to reporting on Youth Day stories, from behind-the-scenes action at events to impressions of the big day.
These stories will be spread across the web, with coverage on the TEDxYouthDay website, Facebook, Twitter, and on Tumblr— allowing youth in communities from all over to learn from one another, and leaders of the future to gain from this outpouring of new ideas and worldwide calls to action.
Coinciding with these events will be TEDYouth—a day-long event for high school students filled with live speakers, hands-on activities, demonstrations, and an opportunity for the youth attendees and speakers to connect. Held annually in New York City, TEDYouth will also be broadcasted live online for viewers worldwide.
With so many youth worldwide coming together to celebrate the passion, ideas, and drive of their generation and others soon to come, visions of the future they will create TEDxYouthDay is sure to be a day marked by visions of the future they will create
For more information on TEDxYouthDay and to see a complete list of TEDxYouthDay events, visit the TEDxYouthDay website here.
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We have children, all who are being exposed to a world [that] constantly glorifies its faults and issues…There is a general feeling of despair and uncertainty in the country…We are hoping that this event will bring the youth together to feel a part of a movement [that] is much larger than themselves.
We are all individually blessed to being exposed to TED and hence, felt this was a perfect platform for the children to get engaged in.
…They need to hear leaders and heroes, people they can emulate, people who can inspire them to be the change they wish to be in this world. We want the youth here to look at life and look at the beautiful layers it has. We want them to get engaged with, hopefully, all those layers.
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