Our cultural initiatives

We design and facilitate large-scale cultural initiatives that move people, from awareness to action. Working across music, film, art, design, sports, and gaming, we partner with corporations, cultural platforms, museums, entrepreneurs, grassroots organisations, and prominent institutions around the world to harness the power of popular culture for lasting impact. 

Defenders of Planet Earth (Coming)

Bringing together popular culture and everyday heroic climate change solutions to a light entertainment show.

  • By combining popular culture, behaviour-change insights and UN-backed data, Defenders of Planet Earth (DOPE) seeks to engage, educate, empower and inspire new and diverse audiences in India to take positive action and drive long-term behaviour change.

    DOPE brings together popular culture, climate, biodiversity and its wider impacts in a light entertainment show, combined with solution-focused impact campaigns embedded in local knowledge, grassroot organisations and active citizenship. With DOPE we want to shed light on everyday heroic climate change solutions and elevate valuable voices that usually remain invisible and unheard.

    DOPE is being developed with Fingerprint Content.

    Coming soon on screens near you!

Sounds Right

A global music movement to recognise the value of nature. 

  • Read about the initiative here.

    Sounds Right is a new music initiative to recognise the value of nature, prompt conversation, raise funds for conservation through an innovative mechanism, as well as inspire millions of fans to take action.

    It is an initiative by Museum for the United Nations – UN Live, developed and delivered in close partnership with musicians, creatives, nature sound recordists, as well as environmental, campaigning and global advocacy organisations.

Global We

A platform facilitating dialogues between people across borders to build global empathy and action.

Grita Tierra, 2021

An initiative uniting musicians for environmental advocacy.

  • The UN Live song “Grita Tierra” was an aggregation of different music styles from all corners of the world performed by a diverse group of musicians. Participants included Colombian Catalina Garcíais, lead singer of the Grammy Award winning band Monsieur Periné; Friar Sandesh Manuel, a Franciscan friar, philosopher, musician and YouTuber from India now living in Austria; Roco Pachukote, a Mexican icon of punk and alternative music and lead singer in the influential rock band Maldita Vecindad, and Mercy Nyambura, Swinton Nkatha, Fariji Napa, and John Oriwo, talented Kenyan musicians and choir singers, led by well-known Kenyan musician Udulele John.

    Grita Tierra resulted from an alliance with the Franciscans General Office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, ADNA, collaboration of the Humboldt Institute of Colombia, and musical direction of Héctor Buitrago, Daniel Roa, and composer Sister Nidia Raquel Macías.

  • Grita Tierra, founded on the power of music to change minds, resulted in a music track that amplified the unheard voice of nature and biodiversity who are impacted by the consequences of climate change and environmental hazards stemming from carbon emissions.

  • During the first five months after the track’s release, 400,000 people heard the message on YouTube and Spotify. SpotifyYou can listen to the song on Spotify or see the music video on YouTube.

My Body My Planet, 2021

A research and development initiative fusing popular culture and health, driving youth towards climate action.

  • My Body: My Planet was an R&D project on the power of popular culture and mobilization of young people which took place in Brazil, China, England, India, and Nigeria. It was delivered by UN Live in conjunction with The Natural History Museum in London and The Busara Center of Behavioural Economics in Nairobi, Kenya.

  • The primary objective of My Body: My Planet was to explore how to use popular culture to connect with young people and encourage them to take action for their own health and the health of the planet. UN Live conducted audience perception research, and behavioural science analysis to identify the most impactful actions, perceptions on climate and health, and the cultural genre for each location. Over the course of five months, the project partners convened over 60 country partners, content makers, experts, and young people to design and build a public engagement activity that was tested and evaluated with our target audience.

  • In Nigeria, our goal was to develop compelling, creative social media content to reach 18-24 year-olds in the intersections of climate and health. As the world’s most enthusiastic social media users, Nigerians spend an average of 3 hours 46 minutes on screens every day. Working alongside House 33 studios and cultural experts such as Tope Oshin, Olumide Idowu and Regan Alsup, the project partners produced a short film promoting environmental sustainability via social media, designed to empower young Nigerians to become climate change advocates and role models for their peers. Click here to see the outcome.

    In Brazil, “The Greatest Show on Earth” aka the Carnival of Brazil was used as the entry point to reach the 18-24 year-olds and increase their interest in climate and health. Present-day celebrations evolved to encompass a fusion of African, Portuguese, and Indigenous culture traditions. UN Live partnered with Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro and Amazonian artist Rafael Bqueer, to create a performance that utilised the national symbol of samba schools to raise awareness about the climate crisis. All the spectacular costumes were crafted from discarded and natural materials. Click here to watch clips from the Carnival.

    In India, comedy is growing in popularity with younger generations, particularly in cities with a population of 20,000-100,000). To engage 18-24 year-olds in the intersection between climate and health, UN Live partnered with Science Gallery Bengaluru and other expert thought leaders, youth representatives and a comedian to explore which approach would be the most effective. The collaboration resulted in the "The Lifecycle of Plastic" comic strip which was adapted for popular social media channels. The strip uses humour to highlight the connection between climate impacts and health, while encouraging readers to reduce their reliance on single-use plastic. Click here to see the comics.

    In the UK, UN Live and Planet Super League leveraged the energy and affiliation of football fan culture to encourage fans to educate themselves about the connection between health and climate. Football is a truly global, interconnected popular pastime, where people in all corners of the world play to the same rules and the same goal. The London Natural History Museum promoted the prototype to 11,827 subscribers through their sustainability and eco tips email list and X. Its interactive web page engaged users in playful penalty challenges, fostering an understanding of the food waste issue and highlighting connections between climate change and health. Participants were encouraged to take a food waste pledge and share their commitment on social media.

    In China, collaborating with organisations like Wildaid China, Dice, and Immersive, and climate and health expert Dr Wenjia Cai, we identified gamification as a key approach to changing opinions and behaviour amongst 18-24 year-olds. One third of the target group grew their interest in learning about climate change and personal health through gaming. Since 2022, we've been working with the Chinese International School (CIL), to develop online games with students, enhancing our experience in readiness for our upcoming gaming initiative.

FlipFlopi, 2021

An East African movement using the power of cultural heritage to tackle plastic pollution.

  • In partnership with the Purpose, UNEP and Clean Seas, UN Live supported the FlipFlopi project in East Africa, as FlipFlopi’s newly built dhow embarked on its virgin voyage from the Indian Ocean to Lake Victoria. The world’s first 100% recycled plastic dhow, it’s constructed from 30,000 reused plastic flipflops and a sail made from 1,500 plastic bottles.

  • Through the power of cultural heritage, FlipFlopi engaged East Africans to reduce and re-use existing waste plastic and demand legislative action to ban single-use plastics.

    During its more than two-year initial voyage, Flipflopi visited schools and local communities to educate and discuss plastic pollution solutions, change people’s mindsets, and collect signatures for a petition.

  • The Flipflopi initiative is ongoing and has expanded into a broader East African movement. In 2022 it was awarded The Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) grant to tackle marine ecosystem health challenges. This prestigious award led to the creation of an innovative community-centred programme. Combining indigenous knowledge of boatbuilding with modern innovation, the project is ‘closing the loop’ on waste plastic, including on Kenya’s Lamu island.

    The expedition has raised awareness about the more than 12 million tonnes of plastic dumped in the oceans every year. Since its initiation, the Flipflopi initiative has reached over 890 million people through traditional and social media, collected 15,000 signatures on a petition to push for an East African legislative bill now in progress, and created a community network of some 150 organisations working against plastic pollution in East Africa.

    Click here to read more about FlipFlopi.

Count Us In, 2020

A platform engaging individuals to identify and commit to practical climate actions in their daily lives.

  • In 2020, UN Live collaborated with a diverse group of organisations committed to incubating a global community to engage the many on climate action in the Count Us In community. Initially convened by Countdown (powered by TED and Future Stewards), the still active Count Us In initiative, was developed with partners, including UN High Level Climate Champions Team, TED, The Do, Brunswick, Do Nation, Accenture, Global Optimism, Leaders’ Quest, Rare, Something More Near, SYSTEMIQ, UN ActNow, UN Environment Programme, Kin + Carta, Wonderlab and more.

  • While drawing on experts from the UN Environment Programme, Project Drawdown, Engie Impact, Rare’s Center for Behavior & the Environment, and other partners, Count Us In developed a 16-step guide, representing the most meaningful actions people can take on climate change.

    To promote the tangible-16-step guide, Count Us In reached people through communication channels used by 80 UK football clubs and 2022 blockbusters, Don’t Look Up and Our Great National Parks, presented by Barack Obama.

    Click here to take a step and join the movement.

  • Every step taken by the Count Us In community is part of the Count Us In global aggregator, providing powerful evidence to understand, measure and promote effective action.

    The Count Us In community has grown 100+ organisations ranging from the EU, WWF and IKEA and Tottenham Hotspur FC to Extreme E and EKTARA. As of November 2023, 18,828,685 concrete steps have been taken, to avoid the emission of 186,630,308 kg CO2.

    Click here to browse the Count Us In website.

EarthSpeakr, 2021

Inviting children to speak up for the planet and ask adults to listen through an augmented reality app.

  • In 2021, together with Studio Olafur Eliasson, the Danish-Islandic artist and the global ideas and innovation company AKQA, UN Live took the innovative artwork EarthSpeakr to COP26 in Glasgow. The goal was to elevate children’s voices and ideas from all corners of the world.

  • We know that children will carry the greatest burden of climate change, yet their voices remain the most underrepresented in almost all decision-making arenas.

    EarthSpeakr is an artwork by artist Olafur Elliasson. Via an augmented reality app, children are invited to speak up for the planet and asks adults to listen. The app makes it possible for children to personify objects and leave messages using their facial expression. The app is free, available in 25 languages and accessible worldwide.

  • From more than 12,000 messages and over 2,000 minutes of video, a selection of children's messages was projected onto a huge screen right in the centre of Glasgow’s COP26 venue, during the high-level negotiations. Decision-makers – and the world – heard their messages loud and clear: “It’s our Earth and it’s our future”.

    Click here to browse the website.

Plastic Free China, 2021

  • Together with Wildaid China, and Purpose, UN Live researched and tested solutions to utilise popular culture and persuade people to reduce plastic usage in China. The campaign was an entry point for a broader conversation about marine biodiversity and ocean conservation, further implemented between WildAid China, China Green Carbon Foundation and China Association for NGO Cooperation.

  • Campaign goals were to drive awareness amongst young people and increase the understanding of links between plastic reduction, public health, ocean conservation and China’s prosperity. The ultimate goal was to alert the target audience to reduce their consumption of plastic by focusing particularly on food and product consumption.

  • Based on the research findings, WildAid launched the full public campaign in China to reduce single-use plastics, by encouraging consumers to bring their own reusable water bottles, cutlery, and shopping bags to work and to shops. It was amplified by the influencer, Wang Yibo, via his 38 million social media followers. In its first week, the campaign earned 14 feature articles and TV items on state and news media, and over 229 million views and 3.6 million discussions/mentions across social media platforms. According to surveys conducted by WildAid, their Bring Your Own (BYO) messages inspired about 40% of 200 million audience to bring their own reusable items to reduce plastic consumption.

    See more about the campaign here.

Inspiring change in China by reducing plastic usage through cultural influence.

Guardians of the Forest, 2020

A global campaign leveraging film and impact-driven storytelling to highlight the vital role of indigenous groups in preserving biodiversity.

  • Working in 23 cities across 18 countries, UN Live and partners brought a range of innovative organisations together to tackle local environmental problems and co-create solutions with the potential to scale and transform city life. Partners included Anchorage Museum, Alaska; Maloka Science Museum, Colombia; Sira Films, Maysalward, Studio X Amman, Turquoise Mountain, Manara Arts and Culture, and Urdon Shop, Jordan. They were joined by Purpose; Creative Spills, Nairobi County Government, Kenya; Hoperaisers, Loughborough University, UK; the Nepal Kathmandu School of Law, Help Delhi Breathe, Human Circle, Chennai Youth Café, Young India Challenge, The Climate Agenda, Amity University, India; Instituto Procomum, Pimp my Carroça and the Museum of Tomorrow, Brazil.

  • UN Live collaborated with key agencies across the United Nations and with a growing network of local changemakers and innovators to imagine and create solutions to the climate crisis that can transform and improve city life worldwide.

    Cities are home to most of the world’s more than eight billion people. Many of them experience the consequences of climate change first hand – dealing with the challenges and witnessing the impact. The motivations and drivers of change vary from place to place and from person to person, so UN Live partnered with some of the most energetic, innovative, and dynamic organisations in cities around the world. Together, we explored – from the ground up – what inspires people to take action.

  • Over five months, some 20,000 people came together for a variety of events. These included street art in Anchorage, USA; building community gardens in Amman, Jordan; creating and performing stories in Nairobi, Kenya; connecting to nature by producing a sound map of Bogota, Colombia, while thousands came together for public events and awareness marches for sustainable cities in India. Stories about these projects reached more than 2 million people online.

    Our goal was to understand more about what drives people to take action on sustainability, and how community-initiated ideas can connect people and be galvanised for global scaling. Through collaboration with a network of national and local organisations, we saw firsthand the effectiveness of creativity in mobilising people to act.

    You can read more about partners, projects, and people involved in My Mark: My City by visiting the campaign microsite.

Voz Terra, 2020

Unleashing nature sounds and music's power for global environmental advocacy.

  • In Colombia, a diverse group of some 40 creative minds gathered at the Maloka Museum in Bogotá, to come up with ideas on how people living in this massive city could reconnect emotionally to nature and environmental sustainability. The group knew that everybody is affected by climate change, but reflected on how they could turn it into an issue of everyday concern.

  • The central question posed was simple yet optimistic: How can we engage people and inspire action on sustainability in Colombia?

    After a day of intense discussions, the biologists, teachers, rock stars, priests, nuns, and chefs decided to produce a sound map of Bogotá. The combination of deep Colombian roots in the Amazonas with citizens’ love for music and rhythm was key and the result was the creation of an interactive digital sound platform. In the process the VozTerra collective was born, and over the past three years the group – supported by UN Live – has explored and built knowledge on the intersection of nature sounds and electronic music. The potential of using music in environmental stewardship and climate change advocacy is clear.

  • The initiative led to VozTerra releasing several albums, resulting in strong media coverage and solid new evidence of the power of music to engage people change activities. VozTerra is a prime example of the value generated by a real bottom-up project, where creative minds foster ideas, develop and refine them and eventually scale them worldwide. In partnership with UN Live, the VozTerra collective initiative has gone global and is being expanded in collaboration with global popular culture platforms, creatives, businesses and investors.

    We’ll have an exciting update on this soon. In spring 2024, we will launch a huge project, bringing the sounds of nature directly to you, through some of your favourite bands, on a massive music platform – to unleash the power of popular culture.

    Click here to browse the Voz Terra platform, or explore one of the projects here: “sounds from your window”.

My Mark My City, 2019

A campaign across 18 countries to create solutions to the climate crisis that can transform city life.

  • Through The Guardians of the Forest global campaign, which brought together key groups like The Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMBP), the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), and The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), Purpose highlighted the vital role of indigenous communities in preserving biodiversity and combating climate change. By amplifying their voices through film and storytelling with If Not Us Then Who, the initiative positioned these communities as integral to climate solutions.

  • The Guardians of the Forest campaign highlighted and leveraged culture to secure indigenous groups their land rights, halt violence and criminalisation, and ensure local community inclusion and consultations in development projects. Activities included awareness campaigns, inclusive impact driven storytelling, capacity building, and advocacy, aligning with scientific evidence emphasising the importance of respecting community rights when promoting forest preservation.

  • With a clear presence at key climate conferences like COP22 and COP23, the Guardians of the Forest campaign, in collaboration with participating indigenous organisations, highlighted how essential local communities are in sustainable development. Most often indigenous voices are marginalised voices at conferences, but Guardians of the Forest got over 120 indigenous communicators and leaders actively engaged in and added value at workshops, trainings, and exchanges at the important COPs.

    Click here to read more about the campaign, or see the film here.

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