TEDxExeter 2015 – Taking the Long View

TEDxExeter 2015 happened in the Exeter Northcott Theatre on 24 April 2015, with the theme “Taking the Long View”. We also had a concurrent livestream in Exeter Library’s Rougemont Room.

We aimed to take the long view back into the past, and explored how it has shaped the world we now live in. We wanted to ask about what responsibilities the past places on us in the way we live now and how we innovate. Much current political, economic and personal decision-making is rife with short-termism. So we also took the long view into the future, and asked how it can reveal and help us to understand the challenges that face us now, and shape the way we live and the decisions we make.

TEDTalks video and live speakers combined to spark deep discussion and connection. There was also music, a locally sourced lunch and wonderful opportunities in the breaks to meet and mix with speakers, performers and fellow TEDx-ers, and continue the conversation.

Download an A4 version of the programme (pdf) handed out at the event.

Morning Session: Open Communities

Welcome and Introduction to TEDx and TEDxExeter

Matthew Owen Cool Earth: saving rainforest a village at a time

TED Talk Will Marshall Tiny satellites show us the Earth as it changes in near-real-time

Rachel McKendry Going viral: the digital future of public health

TED Talk Candy Chang Before I die I want to…

Carmel McConnell Can we end child hunger in the 6th richest economy?

Morning Session: Global Connections

Clive Stafford Smith My father, mental illness and the death penalty

TED Talk Eric Whitacre A choir as big as the Internet

Chetan Bhatt Visions of a future without origin stories and identity myths

Karima Bennoune A video update

Celia McKeon Reimagining security

Afternoon Session: Renewed Visions

Dick Moore Dancing or drowning in the rain?

Beth Barnes Effective altruism

Kieron Kirkland Performance

Jenny Sealey Sidelined

Sara Hyde We need to talk about prisons

Afternoon Session: Changing Perceptions

Michelle Ryan Work-life balance: balancing time or balancing identity?

Kieron Kirkland Make magic and influence people

Peter Randall-Page Theme and variation in nature and culture

TED Talk Andrew Solomon How the worst moments in our lives make us who we are

Harry Baker Performance