Imperialism and colonization. World Wars. Tragedy. Who's responsible? Adults.

What have kids done? Think Ann Frank; Ruby Bridges, who helped end segregation; and Charlie Simpson, who raised money for Haiti on his compact bicycle in the wake of the January 2010 earthquake.

Young author, sassy blogger and now 14-year-old literacy advocate Adora Svitak's TED Talk from February 2010 is unforgettably witty, pointing out these riotous incongruencies with fluency.

Learning between adults and students should be reciprocal, she says. The reality is that such reciprocal learning is rare. Whether that's the result of a lack of trust, a dearth of opportunity or restrictive attitudes, it's sadly by chance that this mutually beneficial exchange happens, if at all.

That's exactly what the first TEDxYouth@TheWoodlands, set for Jan. 7 at Lone Star College-Montgomery Campus, is aiming to nurture: Cross-generational dialogue.

The day-long info-sharing bacchanal takes its cue from the national TED "Ideas Worth Spreading" movement — meaning Technology, Entertainment and Design — which lends its signature 18-minute lecture presentation format to local curators who map out a conference topped with speakers addressing issues relevant to the region.

A wunderkind curator

At the helm of TEDxYouth@TheWoodlands is 17-year-old Javier Fernandez-Han.

At age 7, he invented a floor-cleaning robot, earning the First Lego League award for design a year later. At 15, he lead a team of teenagers to create a human-powered refrigerator as part of an Inventors Without Borders (IWB) Demonstration project, an initiative he incorporated to solve global issues related to poverty and which earned seed funding from Ashoka Youth Venture.

His invention for creating potable water from humid air using wind, solar and geothermal sources won the Spirit of Innovation Award in Renewable Energy at age 16. Fernandez-Han has authored education curriculum, delivered professional presentations, is a Global Youth Fund Fellow and is featured in the Legacy Gallery for Science and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.

There's a spotlight about his invention efforts in the September issue of Popular Science magazine.

As curator and founder, the brainiac is no stranger to TED affairs.

Fernandez-Han was exposed to the talks two years ago, watching them together with his family, attending TEDxHouston events and being a featured speaker at TEDxYouth@Taipei in November 2010 alongside his father, Peter Han. (Peter Han also curated the first TEDxTheWoodlands with his 13-year-old son Fabian, another whiz wunderkind, in September.)

In Taipei, Javier Fernandez-Han was charged with the question: "What the world needs me to do is . . ." Yet if you saw him meandering the halls of Lone Star College, he's humble, quiet and unassuming. He's home-schooled and he takes dual-credit classes at Lone Star.

"I want to build a community of open-minded, curious, creative thinkers and doers in my community," Fernandez-Han explains. "I want to break boundaries between youth and adults. Youth like me yearn to matter, to connect, to have purpose."

Opening up dialogue

Titled "Imaginate," the event brings together 15 youngsters from Greater Houston and Austin pontificating on topics like clean water, algae in the Space Station, autism, Indian arts, religious stereotypes, education, patriotism, travel, transformation and chess.

Adding to the discourse, seven adults will highlight issues related to imagination, possibility, compassion, language, opportunity and inventiveness.

If the event sounds intellectually charged, it's because it is. TEDxYouth@TheWoodlands is interspersed with art performances to bridge the academic-art connection, and allows plenty of time for guests to mix and mingle with the speakers. Everyone needs time to synthesize information.

Expect to feel cognitively zonked, yet charged with intel that incites a change in paradigm.

"The TED brand cuts across political, social and demographic boundaries to bring together people from very different backgrounds to learn, dream and serve together," says Fernandez-Han.

It is with a belief in youth's untainted view of the world that he embarks on this journey. Adults have honed the skill of making instantaneous judgments after years of practice as a survival skill, he says. This particular survival skill can be detrimental to creative thinking because of preconceived notions and reasoning. It's more difficult to recognize patterns and see the world without fresh eyes.

"Youth have not been alive long enough to develop habitual ways of categorizing what they sense — see, hear, touch, etc. — into well-defined domains," he notes. "So youth can more easily cross different domains of knowledge and play with interesting combinations and transformations of that knowledge.

"A chair is just a chair, no longer an assembly of interesting textures, shapes, densities, colors, sounds, temperatures, and even tastes. Babies taste everything around them. When is the last time you saw an adult taste a chair?"

Nurturing youth action

"Youth remind me of the best qualities I used to have," Peter Han says. "They inspire me through their naiveté and innocence to live a life of boldness, optimism and intensity."

Peter Han is charged with coaching the young presenters. Polished speaking skills are good, yet authenticity trumps technique, he says.

Preparing to deliver a TEDx-style lecture begins with inspiring lectors to visualize a talk that's beyond their current ability. After listening to their inner passions, Peter Han helps unlock specific opinions that will serve as anchors to create strong memory points. A story-telling arc — beginning with an intro hook followed by build-up, climax and resolution — is fused with quotes, ideas, photos and artifacts.

"I urge them to not memorize their talk, but rather describe or re-live their story on stage," Peter Han says.

Then comes practice and feedback.

At TEDxYouth@TheWoodlands, speakers will be summoned to complete this phrase: "I imagine a world where ______ and here is how I am creating that world ____."

Care to fill in the blanks? We challenge you to do so.

TEDxYouth@TheWoodlands is set for Jan. 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lone Star College-Montgomery and is open to both youth and adults. Participation is open to 100 guests. Individual tickets can be purchased online and are $35 for adults and $20 for youth (18 years and younger or full-time students at Lone Star). Those purchasing three-person group tickets will receive a 50 percent discount per ticket.