TEDxYouth Toronto @ MaRS

Are you watching TED?

TED brings together some of the smartest adults in the world—adults like Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck and Bono. Speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in innovative and engaging ways. But TED talks aren’t just for grown-ups anymore.

On November 20, communities around the world will celebrate Universal Children’s Day with TEDxYouthDay events—a chance to inspire curiosity, ignite new ideas and empower young leaders.

Over 35 cities, from Abuja to Vancouver, have planned events to bring youth together to hear from live speakers and watch some of the best pre-recorded talks from TED.com.  Is your city on the list? (If not, you can host a TEDxYouthDay event, as a viewing party, organized by educators, or for kids, by kids).

TEDxYouthDay@Toronto will be held at the MaRS Centre. The specific theme of our event is Finding Your Passion – exposing youth to the world of possibilities by showcasing remarkable individuals and ideas and creating a space where everyone can learn and interact. Our goal is for youth to come out of the event feeling passionate and inspired that they can do something extraordinary in any field they’re interested in.

The format will be based upon the traditional TED-talk format with a combination of diverse speakers, including entrepreneurs, youth leaders and entertainers. In addition, TED videos from other conferences will be shown and we will host interactive demonstrations and activities. There will also be time before, during and after the event for participants, organizers and presenters to interact and share experiences – a vital component of the TED experience. The audience will be made up of high-school students from across the city. Our audience is limited to one hundred but we will be streaming the event live, organizing alternate viewing locations and recording the talks so that we can reach thousands more.

One of our key partners is Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) which is an advanced technology, “ultra fast”, fibre optic network. ORION connects all of Ontario’s universities, most colleges, several teaching hospitals, other public research facilities, and a growing number of school boards to one another and to the global grid of research and education (R&E) networks.

About TEDx: TEDx is a new program that enables local communities such as schools, businesses, libraries, to organize and host their own independent, TED-like events. The program is designed to give communities and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.

Related Blogs

 

The kids are alright
I’m standing in front of a poster paper entitled “Photoautotrophic composite based nanocrystalline solar cells.”  I’m completely baffled.  Luckily, the lead scientist on the project

“Got Gas?” gets award
Most teens would hold their breath and walk by quickly if they passed a sewage lagoon. Not Kimberly Gulevich, of Fort St. John, BC. Instead, she took a closer look and investigated whether smaller ho

MaRS opens its doors
In 2000, Toronto was the first North American city to launch a program designed to expose people to buildings in the city they didn’t normally see. Now in its eleventh year, Doors Open Toronto has

Great minds don't think alike
Charles Darwin, despite his momentous effect on the world of biology, was not a trained biologist. His knowledge of geology was what allowed him to think deeply about how things change over time. His

Teens can innovate too
Innovation can happen at any age—that’s why the Ontario Science Centre (OSC), supported by The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, created the Weston Youth Innovation Award, an annual award program th

Where the women are
Last week, MaRS and Nightwood Theatre hosted Women Piloting Innovation, a panel discussion about how women innovate, why women innovate differently than men and the ways young women can become innova

Tags: events, innovation, youth