Week 3: Environments of Tomorrow
A closer look at week 3 programming across urban design, agtech, education, and neurotech
Weeklong passes are still available: Apply here to join, and once accepted, you’ll be able to purchase your ticket. Prices rise every Monday.
Day and weekend passes are now available: get yours here.
Week 3 of Edge Esmeralda, Environments of Tomorrow, explores how we design the systems and spaces that shape everyday life, from cities and food systems to schools and neural interfaces. Across five tracks, we’ll look at the infrastructure, technologies, and cultural frameworks that enable new ways of living, learning, and building.
This week spans:
Cities of Tomorrow
Neurotech Summit
AgTech Week
Edgeucation
Ignite Talks
Below is an overview of each track: what to expect, who’s involved, and who it’s for. For the full schedule - including coworking, community dinners, and evening events - check out the social layer calendar.
Cities of Tomorrow
June 9–15 · Urban ecosystems for health, sustainability, and long-term impact
From regenerative housing to local rail, experimental governance to global new towns, this week brings together city-makers and civic visionaries rethinking how we shape place, policy, and belonging.
Through daily talks, panels, and on-the-ground tours, we’ll explore how our built environments influence everything from health to identity, and how to design for long-term flourishing.
Schedule:
Talks, panels, and tours from June 9–15
Grand opening of the Windsor SMART train station: June 11
Esmeralda site tour with Devon Zuegel: June 13
Who’s involved:
Devon Zuegel (Esmeralda), Jonny Bates, Timour Kosters & Janine Leger (Edge City), Austin Tunnell (Building Culture), and more!
Who this is for:
Anyone curious about building better cities, rural hubs, intentional communities, or civic systems.
Neurotech Summit
June 8–10 · Brain interfaces, neural AI, and frontier neuroscience
A 2.5-day program hosted with Protocol Labs Neuro, focused on emerging tools for interfacing with the brain and modeling neural data. The summit brings together researchers, founders, and technologists working on brain–computer interfaces, neural augmentation, and biologically inspired AI.
The centerpiece of the week is the Neural Foundation Model Grant Pitch Day on June 9, where participants can pitch high-impact projects for grants ranging from $10k to $500k. See the proposal form for details.
Schedule:
June 8 - Social event
June 9 - Grant Pitch Day (9am–1pm), hosted by Protocol Labs
June 9/10 - One-on-one follow-up meeting with the PL Neuro team
(Some sessions will be invite-only due to the nature of the research and partnerships involved)
Who’s involved:
PL Neuro (organizers), plus a mix of researchers, neurotech founders, and grant-making teams working at the intersection of neuroscience and AI.
Who this is for:
Researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs building Neurotech tools that read, write, or model the brain, or anyone tracking the future of Neuro x AI interactions.
AgTech Week
June 9–13 · Land, food, and the future of agriculture
AgTech Week brings together farmers, technologists, researchers, and organizers to explore the future of food systems. Sessions will focus on scalable regenerative practices, emerging technologies, agricultural finance, and food sovereignty.
The week includes hands-on workshops, afternoon discussions, and a field trip to a nearby permaculture farm and Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. Participants will leave with new tools, ideas, and connections across sectors.
Schedule:
Daily programming from June 9–13, based in The Loft
Taste the Future dinner on June 11
Field trip to OAEC with Dave Henso on June 12
Permaculture intro, regenerative economics, and more
Who’s involved:
Dawn Musil (McKinsey), Ariel Patton, Dave Muriki, Elliot Roth, Kris Millar (5th World), Robbie Vitrano (MAD Capital), Natalie Steinemann, Stella Delp (Farmlink), and more!
Who this is for:
People working in food, agriculture, biotech, or sustainability, or anyone interested in building more resilient and integrated systems.
Edgeucation Week
June 9–13 · Alternative models for learning, parenting, and school design
This week is an open invitation to reimagine how we learn. We’re bringing parents, educators, technologists, and young people into a shared experiment: what does it look like to co-create a hands-on, challenge-based learning environment from the ground up? In partnership with Stand Together Trust and All One Thing, Edgeucation Week will be a playground for building new models of learning in real time.
We’re looking for people who want to help shape the week - by sharing ideas, proposing projects, leading sessions, supporting kids programming, or exploring new ways of learning together.
If you’re interested in contributing or co-creating, fill out this form to get involved.
Who this is for:
Anyone building or supporting new models of education, including teachers, parents, founders, and youth organizers.
Also happening throughout the month: Edgeucation Camp, a nature-based learning program for kids ages 2–12. Run in partnership with All One Thing, the camp includes ecosystem exploration, artistic expression, and project-based learning led by Edge residents and families.
Ignite Talks
June 14 · Fast-paced talks from the Edge Esmeralda community
Ignite is a rapid-fire storytelling format where speakers share something they care about in exactly 5 minutes - using 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. Talks can be technical, personal, funny, serious, or somewhere in between.
This is a chance to hear from fellow participants about the projects, questions, and obsessions shaping their work and life. Expect a mix of ideas, experiments, and perspectives you won’t hear anywhere else.
Submit your talk here!
Schedule:
Evening session on Friday, June 14
Open to all Esmeralda participants; submissions are reviewed by the Ignite team
Who’s involved:
Hosted by Brady Forrest (Ignite Talks), featuring a curated lineup of participants from across the village
Who this is for:
Anyone excited to share an idea or hear what others are thinking about. No prior speaking experience needed.
Join us
If you’re reimagining how we live, learn, grow food, govern cities, or interface with the brain, this is your week.
Have questions? Reach out to info@edgeesmeralda.com, we’re happy to help.
— The Edge Esmeralda Team ☀️