We are greatly honoured to announce that TEDxChristchurch 2019: Tūrangawaewae is a finalist for the Best Community Event Award at the NZEA New Zealand Event Awards!
TEDxChristchurch is the longest running TEDx event in New Zealand. It is led by a dedicated community of volunteers and operated on a non-money-making basis under a free license from TED. Our primary goal in delivering TEDxChristchurch has always been to highlight ideas worth spreading whilst serving as a bridge between Ōtautahi Christchurch and the rest of the world—not only to bring new ideas to the community, but also to showcase the innovative and future-thinking individuals that call Ōtautahi Christchurch / Aotearoa New Zealand home.
Last year’s event was made particularly special thanks to our partnership with Ngāi Tūāhuriri, delivered through their subsidiary Matapopore Charitable Trust. This relationship was integral to the theme of the event—”tūrangawaewae” means “place to stand” or “place of belonging” in te reo Māori—and was also reflected in the event’s design, curation, and catering.
Other bi-cultural aspects of the event included the karanga (welcome) into the venue by Aunty Aroha from mana whenua Ngāi Tūāhuriri, speakers from Ngāi Tahu, an opening mihi whakatau for the Youth event, an innovative hāngī lunch, a self-guided walking tour, and design direction from Ngāi Tahu artist Morgan Mathews-Hale.
With almost 2000 attendees, TEDxChristchurch 2019: Tūrangawaewae was our largest event ever (our previous record was 1255), and included 532 youth and 465 people from outside of Christchurch. We also provided tickets to members of the Muslim, Māori, and Pasifika communities, and worked with Ngāi Tahu, Wayne Francis Charitable Trust, and the University of Canterbury to offer scholarships and outreach to people who wouldn’t otherwise be likely to attend.
We filled both theatres in the Christchurch Town Hall; the foyer and adjoining rooms offered live music, live stream, breakout activities and catering for attendees. Nine activation partners offered experiential touch points to keep guests exploring and entertained during breaks, and we also offered walking tours and in-app information of local areas of interest.
TEDxYouth@Christchurch featured 14 speakers and performers—the youngest was 13—covering topics including identity, tech, business, genetics, climate change and mental health. TEDxChristchurch featured 20 speakers and performers, with talks that addressed feminist economics, education, censorship, activism, resilience, innovation in health care, and more.
A live viewing party at Tūranga (Christchurch’s central library) was hosted and supported by librarians who organised relevant book displays and provided a trained youth worker during some of the more confronting talks. This space came alive during the Southern Cross Irish Dancing segment where friends and family gathered to watch their live performance of 50 dancers aging from 5-60.
More information on the NZEA Event Awards and a full list of finalists can be found at https://nzea.co/awards/
