Culture, Connection, and Collective Courage

Dear Friends,

As we reach the halfway point of 2025, the world feels both increasingly fractured and immensely interconnected. Geopolitical tensions are rising and mistrust is spreading. The climate crisis is escalating. Inequality grows. And yet — amid all this — so is something else: growing recognition that culture, creativity, communications and human connection are essential tools for change. We cannot build a better future with policy, economy and technology alone. We need culture, imagination, and shared meaning.

Across movements, summits, and cultural spaces, a powerful shift is showing. At London Climate Action Week, this shift was impossible to ignore. From main stages to informal conversations, one message was repeated — facts alone don’t move people, stories do. Music, gaming, fashion, and film are no longer just “nice-to-have” additions — they are increasingly being recognised as powerful vehicles for shaping mindsets, shifting narratives, influencing behaviour, building empathy, and sparking collective imagination and action.

More than ever, culture must be treated as infrastructure — with long-term investment, creative ownership, and inclusive platforms that reach people where they are. And we must build and nurture human connections that transcend borders, generations, and ideologies.

At UN Live – the Museum for the United Nations – this is the work we’re committed to. It’s been a busy first half of 2025: We’ve driven conversations at some of the world’s biggest stages and engaged with change makers in local communities. Our Sounds Right initiative has won awards, released over 40 NATURE tracks, and established  nature in the heart of global music culture. And we have had Global We dialogues across hierarchies, geographies, opinions and ages on issues such as empathy, social justice, play, human and planetary health - and of course the power of culture.

Now, we’re proud to launch our latest initiative: SameSun — a space for people to meet as equals, share passions, and build relationships across continents. Because if we want to tackle the biggest challenges of our time, we have to start by seeing each other — not as strangers or statistics, but as fellow humans under the same sun.

Sharing Passions and Interests Across Continents - under the Same Sun

The UN Live team has been hard at work getting ready to launch a new undertaking to spark curiosity, promote understanding, and create a sense of belonging across continents. SameSun.

In a world shaped by growing divides and global challenges, human connection matters more than ever. That’s why UN Live, together with Democracy X and funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has developed SameSun - a cultural initiative that brings people together across continents through shared passions, interests, and creativity.

SameSun creates real, human encounters — online and in person — between people initially in Denmark and across countries including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa. It’s not about aid or agendas. It’s about meeting as equals to explore what we love: music, fashion, food, coffee, yoga, arts, storytelling — or anything else that makes life joyful and meaningful.

Too often, media and political narratives reinforce stereotypes and shape limited or one-sided views of entire regions. SameSun offers something different: a place for mutual connection, shared stories, and building new relationships -  a space to listen, laugh, create, collaborate and explore what we have in common, across cultures and borders.

This August  UN Live kicks off SameSun with a high-tech portal at Smukfest, one of Denmark’s largest music festivals. Festival goers will be able to step into a space that connects directly to communities thousands of kilometers away — and have face-to-face conversations with people they might never otherwise meet.

There won’t be panels or a lecture – but eye-level, person-to-person dialogue about things people are passionate about.. There will also be cross continent encounters and collaborations between artists and designers.

SameSun is fueled by UN Live’s broader cultural work, including the Global We initiative, which fosters global empathy and connectedness across divisions through dialogue on hot-topic issues  connecting often unheard voices via physical portals to spark shared understanding, collective purpose and belonging.

Come join us August 4th - 10th at Smukfest and follow @samesun.global on Instagram and Tiktok.

We’re just getting started — and we hope you’ll be part of it.

Sounds Right at Glastonbury: Where NATURE took Centre Stage

Sounds Right’s lead music partner EarthPercent were proud to co-create Sonic Bloom at Glastonbury’s Shangri-La — a hidden garden of living plants and reclaimed speakers with NATURE as the headliner. Renowned globally, Glastonbury Festival blends world-class music with a deep-rooted commitment to social justice and environmental sustainability.

Conceived as part of Shangri-La’s ‘Wilding’ theme, Sonic Bloom offered a calm, immersive space where festival-goers could connect with the natural world. Through silent disco headphones, visitors listened to powerful soundscapes from ecosystems around the world and music–nature collaborations, all designed to foster a deeper sense of connection to NATURE and promote mental wellbeing. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with many people returning multiple times and describing Sonic Bloom as a rare moment of peace and reflection within the festival.

Meanwhile, NATURE’s soundscapes were also featured between performances on the Tree Stage at Woodsies, giving tens of thousands more festival-goers the chance to pause and experience immersive soundscapes from some of the wildest places on earth.

Featured by The Guardian, Wallpaper Magazine, and the Royal Horticultural Society, Sonic Bloom was brought to life by Shangri-La, The Edible Bus Stop, Spotify, AKQA and UN Live. It was a true collective effort — made possible by many generous green fingers and attentive ears.

What we are reading

“My Legal Work Sows the Seeds of My Stories” – Banu Mushtaq, The Guardian
International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq reflects on how her experience as a human rights lawyer shapes her fiction. This powerful interview explores how personal justice work and cultural storytelling can intertwine to challenge systems and give voice to the unheard.

How To Ruin A Sustainability Story – Solitaire Townsend
A sharp and witty essay on why so much sustainability storytelling fails to land — and how we can do better. Townsend offers a refreshingly honest take on narrative pitfalls, greenwashing traps, and how to make climate communications resonate emotionally and truthfully.

The Villain in the Mirror – Solitaire Townsend
In this compelling reflection, Townsend explores what fictional villains can teach us about the real ones — and how recognising our own complicity can help shift behaviour. It’s a mirror held up to culture, psychology, and power.

What we are watching and listening to

“Is it Shakespeare, or is it hip-hop?” - Akala
British rapper, author, and educator Akala unpacks the intersections between Shakespeare and hip-hop, proving that culture across centuries can be both radical and revolutionary. It’s a masterclass in how rhythm, language, and identity shape the stories we tell — and those we inherit.

No Condition is Permanent – Marijata
This Afro-funk classic from 1970s Ghana is a rhythmic anthem of resistance, rooted in social commentary and sonic power. With its title as a timeless reminder of impermanence and hope, it continues to echo across generations and movements.

Making a Movement: How Movements Begin – Spark, Belief + Generosity
This episode from the Making a Movement podcast unpacks the essential ingredients behind powerful social movements — from the initial spark to the sustaining force of belief and generosity. It’s a compelling listen for anyone interested in how change spreads, and how culture, community, and conviction ignite collective action.

What we are looking forward to

The Global Artivism Convening – Salvador, Brazil | 3–5 November
Bringing together artists, activists, scholars, and cultural leaders from across the globe, the Global Artivism Convening is an exploration of how creative expression can drive social and environmental change. Set in the vibrant city of Salvador, Brazil, the three-day gathering will feature performances, panels, and collaborative spaces that centre justice, imagination, and action through culture.