TED Announces TEDxCity2.0 Day

NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, announces TEDxCity2.0 day, a day of urban inspiration when TEDx communities around the world host an event to share the powerful narratives of urban innovators and organizers, stewards and artists, builders and tastemakers. TEDx events are independently organized local events that bring together communities to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

On Saturday, October 13, for one day only, 70 TEDx events across the globe – from Amsterdam to Amman, to Baghdad to Beijing – will feature speakers who focus on official "City 2.0" themes. This includes art, education, food, health, housing, play, public space, and safety – all elements whose presence will dictate the success of our future cities. The City 2.0, the theme uniting these events, is the recipient of the 2012 TED Prize, an award granted annually to a person or idea with a world-changing wish. The City 2.0 encourages ideas and action that will benefit our cities, and the future of the billions of people who live in them.

"TEDxCity2.0 day brings together the global TEDx community with local urban innovators who are inspiring the cities of our future," said Lara Stein, Director of TEDx and TED Prize. "As we think about the sustainability of our planet, these events offer an opportunity to spark dialogue around the important issues pertaining to the cities where we live, work and play. By showcasing these ideas, we can help make our cities safer, healthier and more efficient."

More than a dozen of the TEDxCity2.0 day events will host Action Pitch sessions. During these sessions, local innovators are given two minutes each to propose projects around the theme of "City 2.0." TEDx event attendees can then volunteer non-monetary support to one or more of these projects, or the crowd can vote to have the winning project adopted and realized by the local community. Proposed Action Pitches include testing new technology to improve the water quality in New York City's Gowanus Canal and imagining alternative uses for vacant city lots and stores. These City 2.0 Actions will then be documented on TheCity2.org website, a platform created to showcase the stories and collective actions being taken by citizens around the world.

Nearly 4,900 TEDx events have taken place in three years, in 1,500 cities, in 137 countries.

For information about TEDxCity2.0 day and which events will be offering free live streams, visit http://www.ted.com/pages/tedx_tedxcity.

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 Prize
The first TED Prize was awarded in 2005, born out of the TED Conference and a vision by the world's leading entrepreneurs, innovators, and entertainers to change the world – one wish at a time. The prize comes with $1 million, as well as the TED community's range of talent and expertise. What began as an unparalleled experiment to leverage the resources of the TED community has evolved into an ambitious effort to spur global-scale change. From Bono's the ONE Campaign ('05 recipient) to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution ('10 recipient), JR's Inside Out Project ('11 recipient) and the City 2.0 ('12 recipient), the TED Prize has helped to combat poverty, take on religious intolerance, improve global health, tackle child obesity, advance education, and inspire art around the world.

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 former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators, the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. 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 host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows 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 or on Facebook.

SOURCE TED

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