Ideas worth spreading

How refugees could be architects of their own homes -- and futures

17,211 views | HY William Chan • TEDxYouth@Sydney

Refugee camps across the world are often regarded as temporary environments -- but these spaces often become long-term homes for the people who live there. Designer and urbanist HY William Chan believes that we can empower displaced people to transform their environments from being overcrowded and mismanaged to safe and sustainable, using technology like 3D printing. In this talk, he challenges us to form a new perspective on refugee camps as future cities and incubators of innovation.

Refugee camps across the world are often regarded as temporary environments -- but these spaces often become long-term homes for the people who live there. Designer and urbanist HY William Chan believes that we can empower displaced people to transform their environments from being overcrowded and mismanaged to safe and sustainable, using technology like 3D printing. In this talk, he challenges us to form a new perspective on refugee camps as future cities and incubators of innovation.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxYouth@Sydney, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.

About the speaker

HY William Chan

HY William Chan is an urbanist and designer dedicated to creating resilient and inclusive places for people. A UNICEF Young Ambassador during the 25th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, William has led community-building projects for the homeless, slum dwellers and refugee youth. He is named in the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list as a game-changing business and industry leader in the Asia-Pacific region. William’s award-winning architecture and design solutions have been showcased across 40 cities. He co-authored the UN-Habitat World Urban Youth Declaration and represented global leaders in launching the UN Youth 2030 Strategy at the 2018 General Assembly in New York, where he addressed the High Level Meeting on Social Business, Youth and Technology. William is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, Fellow with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Research Affiliate with the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbia University’s Earth Institute

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxYouth@Sydney, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.