The TEDxStockhom event was small, just 13 people, but highly energetic. Our mixed set of very talented and passionate people created a powerful discussion. As Nicholas Negroponte says: “Creativity comes from difference”!

The event was organized by Ulla-Britt Fräjdin-Hellqvist and me, we had an ambitious theme: Rebuilding Society

The designer Anders Rinman demonstrated his “Future Scenario machine” Urbavista

We started by watching this TED Talk, 17 mins: Tim Brown urges designers to think big

Tim Brown is the CEO of the US “innovation and design” firm IDEO

Our discussions covered a large spectrum:

We live in disruptive times that need change: Financial crisis. Environment crisis. Social crisis.

What are our needs for mobility, really? Cars, are they they problem or the solution? Do we really need our own 2 ton cars that are idle 20 hours per day?

Energy consumption in houses vs cars. The potential of garbage.

Is central planning in countries like China better for solving city planning problems, compared to the slow “democratic” process we have here? Or can market forces be more efficient?

The need for a market place for ideas.

Catch 22: Our politicians and general public often do not understand complex plans for renewal of cities etc. But if we creative physical models or use 3D graphics to visualize the projects, they understand more but tend to focus on irrelevant details, not seeing the whole perspective.

How can we organize productive long-term discussions about complex issues, discussions with many participants, visualization and that evolves over long timer periods; months, years? Online tools, physical meeting forms etc?

TED Talk: Cathering Mohr builds green, 6 mins:

Catherine Mohr walks through all the geeky decisions she made when building a green new house, looking at real energy numbers, not hype. What choices matter most? Not the ones you think.

TED Talk 18 mins: Bjarke Ingels: 3 warp-speed architecture tales

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels rockets through photo/video-mingled stories of his eco-flashy designs. His buildings not only look like nature,  they act like nature: blocking the wind, collecting solar energy,  and creating stunning views.

To all of you who are reading this: you are very welcome with your input and ideas, or if you want to be invited to future TEDx events.

By commenting here in this blog, or by emailing me at henrik.ahlen@alfabravo.com