We are extremely excited to announce that YOU, our community, can participate in this great event.

Would you like to apply for a ticket? Here’s how it works:

Please send an email to tedxchange@gatesfoundation.org. Please put “TEDxBerlin” into the subject line of your email and give us an answer to the following question: “How do you fit into the Big Picture?”

Tickets are limited, so be quick. Applications are accepted until February 23, 2012.

TEDxChange
April 5, 2012, 5:30pm – 7pm
at Trafo Berlin
www.tedxchange.org

]]> http://tedxberlin.de/2012/02/join-the-bill-melinda-gates-foundation-and-tedx-at-tedxchange/feed/ 0 http://tedxberlin.de/2012/01/tedxchange-the-big-picture/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tedxchange-the-big-picture http://tedxberlin.de/2012/01/tedxchange-the-big-picture/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:24:10 +0000 BriJaNi http://tedxberlin.de/?p=1999 Read more »]]> TEDxChange is coming to town on April 5, 2012 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.

TEDxChange is an event co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and TED. The location in Berlin will be set soon. We’ll keep you posted!

In this TEDxChange, we’ll take a step back and apply new perspectives to big picture issues: Why, as a global society, should we continue to invest in overseas development? How can we work across borders and political boundaries to bring about positive change? And what returns can we expect on our investments?

We are in the midst of a difficult time for the world economy. With domestic challenges dominating the conversation, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. But it’s more important than ever that we recognize our part in an interdependent, global community. We have a shared history and a shared stake in our future.

Too many people still cannot meet their most basic needs: nutritious food, clean water, safe sanitation services, and life-saving medical care. We can’t proceed with business as usual.

TEDxChange on facebook

All photos are copyrighted material of © Sebastian Gabsch

This wasn’t my first TED. I’ve been to a few before. Yet, I was looking forward to this one because it was about energy, High Energy, a topic that is very near and dear to most people’s hearts these days. But this time, as I sat in my seat, listening to the speakers, waiting to be impressed, I was reminded that TED is more than just ‘ideas worth spreading’ or having the opportunity to hear inspiring stories.
It’s also about learning to think outside the box.
Though the theme of the event was high energy, it could have easily been translated into possibilities unlimited, less about innovation and new forms of renewables as changing the manner in which we live our everyday lives, taking that same effort we put into our daily existence and turning it into a greener process – more effective, more exciting, more sociable, and most of all, more fulfilling.
It’s all a matter of adding a little spark to one’s life, livening up that dull existence, and doing those things, however subtle, that you’ve always thought about – taking that step outside your comfort zone, changing your habits just that tiny bit, discovering how little effort it takes to leave less of a carbon footprint, even going so far as forgetting the idea that alternative energy is expensive and a thing of the future when the technology is within reach and exists right now.
In the breaks, there were lots of discussions and I had the opportunity to talk with a woman who had heard of TED but had not necessarily come for the main topic. In Berlin on a sabbatical, working on a project involving nursing and medical practices in the EU, she’d come to TED looking for fresh thinking. All fired up to change the system, she wanted to knock her colleagues out of their complacency, convincing them of the need to develop new practices in hospitals and care homes, helping her to create better environments for patients and healthcare professionals alike. Listening to the TED talks, she got caught up in that feeling that one person can make a difference, that good ideas can be infectious, and one person’s actions can serve as a model for others.
It’s all about changing the way we go about our lives, looking beyond the old adage of thinking globally and acting locally. Sometimes, it’s less about making the biggest impact as taking on a different mindset, bringing about change by simply adopting a heightened sense of living – more involved, more affirming, and more worthwhile. As Thimon von Berlepsch put it in his talk about magic, by consciously breaking the pattern of our everyday lives ever so slightly, we open ourselves up to a whole new world. Our perspective is altered and what we thought we already knew looks different, broadening our minds to other possibilities, allowing us to see the consequences of habits that perhaps we should rethink. Sooner or later during such an experience a point comes when we have the chance to make a choice. Do I carry on as I have before or do I take a new path, following those ideas I’ve just been awakened to and seeing them through?
When you decide to take that new direction, it’s not so much because you have to or even because you should. It’s because you want to. And you know that just by that simple act of living your life exactly as you choose – a little greener and a little more involved – the world that we all dream of comes that much closer to reality. Robert Barrett

An eclectic line-up of apparently unrelated topics came together beautifully (…) at TEDx Berlin, with themes curving in a topical arc through this thoughtfully curated event. The Horseshoe Nail (read the complete review)

Thanks TEDxBerlin for a day full of great talks, ideas sharing, lots of inspiration and also fun! K.lab Berlin

The TEDxBerlin conference has been such a blast. to meet so many fascinating people engaged in such a variety of pursuits… my only regret is having to concentrate on what i wanted to say, which prevented my really absorbing as much as i would like from the others. J. Henry Fair

TEDxBerlin was an amazing two days of inspiration and encouragement! It was such a delight to meet the other innovators and dreamers who are changing the world with their passion. Solar Sister

Rune is an architect with specialty in interaction design and has been involved in a series of research projects challenging spatial interaction; among them his PhD project New Use of Interactive Technologies in Spatial Design. His work is to be found in temporary as well as permanent installations and exhibitions; among them at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, The Architecture Biennale in Venice 2010, and large scale installations in HQs of companies and organizations. Rune is frequently giving talks about his work.

What are you best known for?

Making sure that women are included in technology solutions as active participants.

What are you working on now?

Solar Sister, a social enterprise that uses the power of women’s social networks to distribute clean energy technology to the Base of the Pyramid customers in rural Africa.

Why are you working on this?

1.6 billion people don’t have access to electricity. That is 1/4 of the world’s population. 70% of them are women and girls. They burn candles and kerosene for light that is dim, unsafe, unhealthy and incredibly expensive. Families at the Base of the Pyramid spend up to 30% of their income on kerosene just for light.  Clean energy technology such as micro-solar lamps have the potential to disrupt this entrenched pattern, but to do that we have to reach the customer and build awareness and demand. And in rural Africa, that customer is a woman. She is the one who is making the weekly purchase of kerosene. She needs to have access to the new technology. So a women-centered sales force that speaks directly to the woman consumer is the most effective method of building this awareness and providing access to life-changing technology.

What are the five words that best describe you?

Listener, Storyteller, Innovative, Problem-solver, Tenacious

What are your five favourite expressions?

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep need meet.– Frederick Buechner

Ubuntu.

Failure is just an opportunity to learn.

Women hold up half the sky.

Think different.

Who are your heroes?

Wangari Maathai, Steve Jobs, Mahatma Ghandi, and especially the brave and brilliant women who are the Solar Sister Entrepreneurs.

What products (music, film books) have your created?

The short stories and videos about the Solar Sister Entrepreneurs.

Why did you do so?

To share the stories of these incredible women.

Mommy, daddy, doggy and Ego apart what are you most proud of? 

I am most proud of stepping out beyond my comfort zone and building an organization that has the potential to solve a global problem with a simple and grassroots solution. Rather than sit back and accept the status quo, I am proud of the decision that even though I am just an ordinary Mom, a woman, a sister, a daughter…I have the ability to make a real change in this world.

What headline(s) would you like to read about yourself in 2020?

“Solar Sister brings light, hope and opportunity to millions in rural Africa”

Describe an idea that you´d like to see more widely.

An idea that I would like to see spread more widely is: To solve the truly big problems, global problems, you have to engage everyone – you can’t ignore the contributions of half your population. Women have creativity, strength and ingenuity, they hold the keys to a sustainable and prosperous future.

Politics and bad weather apart, what drives you crazy?

What drives me crazy? Willful selfishness. People who have been blessed with abundance and instead of being grateful and generous, choose material wealth, consumption and exclusivity as their values.

Thank you Katherine

Nik Nowak was born in Mainz in 1981. He studied Art at the Universität der Künste Berlin and continued his studies in New York and Shanghai. In 2007, Nik finished his university education in Prof. Lothar Baumgarten masterclass and was awarded the Georg-Meistermann-Scholarship in 2008.