Theme: Creative Perspectives: Human Nature

As it has and will forever, Table Mountain defines the city of Cape Town. This astounding landform is a monument to both towering boundlessness and bizarre rarity; persistent cohesion and chasmic divides; complex geology and planar simplicity. A similar irony pervades the paradoxical relationship between modern human society and its natural surroundings: we are entirely dependent on Earth yet cause more damage to its crust and atmosphere than any other living creature. Our relationship with the planet, while imperfect, is one of complex beauty.

TEDxTableMountain 2012 was a one-time event to appreciate just who we are and consider exactly how we fit in on Earth.

We asked the questions:
• What separates the human from wilderness? How are we connected? To what extent are we dependent on nature for inspiration and for resources?
• What role does modern human society play on Earth? In what ways would we like this to remain and how would we like it to change?
• When we speak of sustainability, what do we hope to sustain?
• How can we create sustainable relationships with other humans and within ourselves? How can these relationships affect our engagement with nature?
• How do we foster mutualistic relationships with our environment? How can technology positively shape human existence?

Table Mountain is a biodiversity hotspot and constitutes one of a handful of remaining afromontane landscapes in the Southern Hemisphere. Its vegetation consists predominantly of Cape Fynbos found only here and an estimated 2,200 plant species grow on its shoulders. The Cape Floral Region is one of our country's few prestigious World Heritage Sites.

Table Mountain even lives on in the stars: Mensa, meaning table, is the only constellation ever to be named after a terrestrial feature. The Mountain is a symbol of the power of our great country and a premonition of its delicacy.

TEDx Table Mountain springs from a handful of individuals curious to discover what it means to live harmoniously on Earth.

The Fugard Theatre
Cnr Caledon and Buitenkant Street
District Six
Cape Town, Western Cape, 8001
South Africa