AN eclectic mix of entrepreneurs, poets, scientists and social workers has been announced for this year’s TEDxCanberra conference in early September.

In its fourth year, the locally organised version of the world renowned non-profit conference brand TED (technology, entertainment, design) has taken on the theme of “Then. Now. Next”.

TEDxCanberra founder Stephen Collins says this year’s event “will give Canberrans a looking glass into our past and potential future, and we hope it will prompt them to shape that future into something amazing”.

“Canberra is at a key moment in its history,” says Collins. “We’ve already come a long way in just one hundred years, but we need to understand the community we are now, and the challenges and opportunities coming our way.”

TEDxCanberra 2013 will feature no less than three performance poets – Aaron Kirby, Amelia Filmer and 2012 Australian Poetry Slam winner CJ Bowerbird – among its diverse lineup, as well as a group of innovative young circus performers.

Presenters include ANU planetary scientist Charley Lineweaver, who is an expert on whether aliens exist, as well as museum curator and expert on the Forgotten Australians, Adele Chynoweth and Geoff Aigner, the director of Social Leadership Australia.

Musical performances will be provided by local acts – teenage vocal group The Faumuis, electronic artist Raus and Fun Machine, billed as a “sex-pop quartet” – while the Brass Knuckle Brass Band have been asked back as house band for the second year running.

Also on the bill is teacher Luke Pearson, who created a social media project called @IndigenousX, and two storytelling scientists, Mikaela Griffiths and Ruth Mirams, who are “making the world a better place for humanity” according to organisers.

Attendees will also hear from an engineer studying how flying foxes communicate and a police detective who volunteers to defuse bombs and pick up mines.