Making our bold moves with tedxteen

Tuesday, July 4th, 2017

When you are called in to work on a Saturday, it’s lovely when it doesn’t actually feel like work – luckily, TEDxTEEN can be depended upon for fun, excitement, and inspiration. So, Saturday June 24^th, our scribes happily travelled down to the 02 – coffees in hand – to capture the rich, diverse and always impressive stories of TEDxTEEN London 2017 as an Infomural.

This year, the theme was “bold moves” and showcased the bold endeavours of a diverse group of teenagers. Promotion for the event read:

“We have never been more connected, more innovative, or more resourceful. We have also never felt the weight of the present and future more than right now.”

Accordingly, there was a serious but hopeful tone to the talks. We heard from youth grappling with prejudice, mental illness, isolation and death – sharing stories of what it means to be a teen, maturing and learning to cope with realities from which we are sheltered as children.

Each one of the speakers had a positive strategy for dealing with personal and global pain. We heard from a young Syrian refugee who, despite odds and parental hair-tearing, managed to carry her school books across borders to ensure her education. We heard from a young girl, mercilessly bullied and abused, who had channelled her experience into the creation of an app that allowed other isolated youth to find peers to sit with at lunchtime. We heard from a self-taught computer-scientist who’s personal experience in Afghanistan inspired him to create artificial intelligence for improved breast cancer detection.

The event opened with a reflection upon every participants place in a historical chain:

“We are here today, in this moment on this planet, as a result of decisions that humans have made every year, month, day, hour, minute and second that have come before.”

It was only fitting then the day should conclude with a voice from the past: Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremburg Tribunals, joined via skype to share his experiences, fears and hopes for the future. He addressed his audience directly and with respect, speaking to them not as children but as bourgeoning adults about to take on a world of responsibility. Ferencz metaphor of passing on the torch of humanity and progress to this new generation had a clear impact. From the speakers we had the pleasure of listening to that day, we can think of no better a group of young people to rise to the challenge Ferencz’s described.

Hope in Berlin: We join Save the Children for their 2017 Global Conference on Children on the Move

Monday, June 19th, 2017

Keeping positive can prove challenging when a scroll through your newsfeed submerges you in painful stories of suffering abroad and at home. At Innovation Arts we are given the unique opportunity to collaborate with organisations that refresh the narrative – writing empowering and hopeful stories through hard work. Save the Children is one such organisation, striving to improve the lives of children all over the world. Their 2017 Global Conference on Children on the Move was a chance to focus on the needs of children migrating between countries. We were honoured to join them on June 12 and 13^th in Berlin to capture the event’s output through graphic recording.

Participants congregated to share research, explain current initiatives and ideate new solutions for the needs of children on the move as well as means of prevention against the many risks these children face. Among participants were humanitarian organisations like UNICEF, government representatives, the United Nations, intergovernmental agencies, universities, private sector companies, Save the Children’s many international offices, and many more.

Photo: Participants congregate around our infomural and graphic recording to reflect upon output from the day.

It was inspiring to see the spirit of collaboration and collective action that permeated the event. There was incredible energy as attendees shared their work, ideas and passion for change.

We were asked to graphic record throughout the day, capturing output from talks and workshops. The graphic recording was galleried in the main hall so attendees reflect upon the content from the day, and discuss plans for future action.

Photo: One of our graphic recorders captures content from a talk in real time.

We created an infomural that wove together the output of the event into a visual story. There was a powerful narrative running through the event – the journey of young refugees, migrants and displaced persons from risk and turmoil to hope and opportunity, supported by the collective initiatives of all those represented by the event – and we wanted to bring it to life.

Photo: Participants take photos of our infomural as it progresses throughout the event.

As part of the event, Save the Children nominated 20 inspiring young people, all currently or in the past considered “children on the move”. These incredible young people were strong advocates for the rights of their peers, contributing music, legal aid, philanthropic support, and more to the cause. We shared their stories in visual form and were thrilled to see them respond effusively, laughing and taking photos of each other.

Photo: Youth participant and singer-songwriter Bahajt Alturjman poses in front of his portrait and personal story.

It was a pleasure to collaborate with Save the Children and we were inspired by the stories we captured during the event. The strength and positivity that was generated during the two days of talks and workshops is much needed. There is a lot of work to be done but huge hope for the future.