The application form to attend this year’s TEDxGeneva event is now available:

Click here: http://➪.ws/TEDxGeneva10

Of course, you’re welcome to share the link around with your friends and colleagues.
(Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, Buzz.)

Please note that invitations are not sent on a first-come first-served basis, and this form does not guarantee you will receive one.

Just like the original TED conference, we try to create the best experience possible for TEDxGeneva’s speakers and attendees. Speakers at TEDxGeneva aren’t paid, and they come because of the audience. To attract amazing speakers, we need to create an amazing audience, within the limited size of the venue.

We understand this can be frustrating for some, but remember that all talks will be recorded on video and available for free online after the conference, so you will be able to see talks even if you don’t attend.

“Learning practitioner, proselytic blogger, sustainability advocate, and student of productivity” is Gillian’s Twitter profile, which also describes her 17 years of work across the various social platforms she uses to help the sustainability community engage with more considered learning processes.

Since 2006, Gillian has blogged (www.welearnsomething.org) actively about her work in informal and formal learning within different environment and development organizations. From her previous position as Head of Learning at the International Union of Conservation of Nature (the oldest and largest global conservation network) to her current one as founder of the social enterprise Bright Green Learning, she helps NGOs leverage their impact through learning.

Gillian also serves as Co-President of the Balaton Group, a cross-disciplinary, multi-cultural and inter-generational network of researchers and practitioners in fields related to systems and sustainability which was founded in 1982 by Dennis and Donella Meadows—co-authors of the ground-breaking book “The Limits to Growth”. This is an important community for her, and one to which she has actively contributed for over 14 years. Previous work affiliations include: Director of Capacity Development at LEAD International (Leadership for Environment and Development – London), Programme Manager at the International Academy of the Environment (Geneva), and Environment Specialist, International Labour Office (United Nations Geneva).

Have a question for Gillian Martin Mehers? Ask it in the comments below.

The TEDxChange event in Geneva was open to pre-registered participants only.  The following people were pre-registered and agreed to the inclusion of their names in our online participants list:

This list was last updated on Sunday 19 September at 23.00.

Seeing the potential for the net to change the world Patrick became a programmer. Learning that technology needs persuasion and beauty, he became a designer. Disappointed in the relegation of design to solving marketing problems, he co-founded a design agency dedicated to changing the world for the better. Through the years of technical, design, and business experience, Patrick is optimistic as ever in the potential for business to be an active force in improving human life.

Patrick has worked with clients in the betterment sector including Acumen Fund (acumenfund.org), Mozilla (mozilla.org) the Centre for Social Innovation (socialinnovation.ca), Corporate Knights (corporateknights.ca), Environmental groups, local co-ops, arts organizations, and start-up from sustainable travel, and local journalism. He helps people with highly beneficial ideas spread them. Usually this involves a good conversation then a webpage of some kind.

While working in a studio setting, he devoted much of his personal and business resources to prototyping platforms for local food information (youarewhereyoueat.appspot.com), unbiased electoral comparison (theundecided.ca), social idea dissemination, and design for social change. He also formed a habit of writing in third person singular.

In October, Patrick will be heading back to school at Oxford for an MBA focused on social entrepreneurship. He sees shrinking distance between economic development and positive social benefit. Though, the only financial instrument he currently plays is the line-of-credit, he’ll be looking for ways to making betterment a profitable and prosperous pursuit.

Have a question for Patrick Keenan? Ask it in the comments below.

Cheryl believes strongly that to achieve a sustainable future we need to focus on a clear vision of the future we want vs. incremental, low impact changes to the problems we currently have.

To transition to a sustainable economy we need to support and incentivize social, technological and systemic innovation at all levels of business, government, and society – - including our own individual lifestyles.

This will be the challenge and opportunity of the next decade.

Cheryl Hicks is an independent special advisor on sustainability focused on making sustainability easy for people, businesses, governments and markets.

Cheryl is an experienced business and sustainability professional with 15 years of cross-sector business experience and most recently working with leading multi-national companies on collaborative action projects for sustainable development with The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). From 2004-2010 Cheryl was the focal point for the WBCSD’s work on sustainable consumption and sustainable finance. Cheryl led the WBCSD’s work exploring the relationship between business activities, consumer behavior, individual lifestyles and environmental and social challenges. Cheryl also led the WBCSD-UNEP FI initiative which brought business together directly with financial institutions to accelerate the valuation of sustainability in the capital markets.

In 2001-2004 Cheryl was focused on the health agenda, and a process for dialogue between company executives, medical professionals and hospital administration aimed at the social responsibility of companies related to impacts on health.

Cheryl is Canadian and throughout her career and studies has worked and lived in Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Mexico, and South Korea, and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Cheryl is the co-founder of two networks of professionals focused on CSR, sustainability and sustainable finance in Geneva: CSR Geneva (founded in 2005) and Sustainable Finance Geneva (founded in 2007).

Have a question for Cheryl Hicks? Ask it in the comments below.

What are you doing that evening?