Shining Light on Changing Communities
Friday June 21, 2013 1pm-6pm
Lebovic Centre for Performing Arts - Nineteen on the Park, Stouffville
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TEDxStouffville 2013
Shining Light on Changing Communities
June 21, 2013 from 1pm - 6pmFrom the days when our ancestors gathered to tell stories around a fire, it's been our nature to bring light into our lives. Light fosters progress in all aspects of our existence - from heat, to food, to conversation. At the height of summer solstice, TEDxStouffville will shine a light on where we are now and let us see into the future. On June 21, we will explore the challenges facing communities adapting to rapid growth, urbanization and changing demographics. How can communities become more healthy and resilient places to live, work and play? The stories from our speakers will show innovative solutions to this complex task.
About TEDxStouffville
Long before the thought of organizing TEDxStouffville occurred to them, co-organizers Dr. Jane Philpott and Dr. Eileen Nicolle knew they were onto ideas worth spreading.
As family doctors passionate about global health at Health for All Family Health Team at Markham Stouffville Hospital, Jane and Eileen were in charge of developing a curriculum to teach global health and cultural competence to a group of University of Toronto family medicine residents, one of the first educational curricula of its kind. Thus, Global Health Lunches were born, a weekly series of expert guest speakers who spoke passionately and eloquently on topics of deep personal interest to them.
The talks educated and inspired not only the family medicine residents but other health professionals, the medical clinic staff and others at the hospital who attended. What's more, Jane and Eileen found that though the topics almost always related to global health, the recurring themes of social justice, international development, human rights and care for the environment resonated with people across many diverse disciplines.
Jane and Eileen were hard at work trying to come up with a way to record these talks to share with a wider audience when it was suggested to them that they host a TEDx event. They were thrilled with the idea of becoming part of such an energizing movement. The TEDxStouffville committee, a collaboration between Health for All Family Health Team, Markham Stouffville Hospital, the University of Toronto and residents of the town of Whitchurch Stouffville, is excited and looking forward to sharing ideas with the world.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.