Population 7 Billion: It's Time to Talk
This global advocacy campaign uses communication tools and strategies to bring the population crisis back into the conversation and to inspire people to get involved in the effort to find the balance on the planet. It was inspired by the fact that the world's population has recently hit 7 billion, "but few people stop to think about what that really means."
The 7 Billion: It's Time to Talk website engages people to sign a pledge that reads: "I pledge to show I care about people and planet by taking part in the global discussion about population growth. I am joining the Population 7 Billion: It’s Time to Talk campaign. With world population set to surpass the 7 billion mark in October 2011, it’s time for a broader public discussion, especially about the importance of family planning and the role that educating girls and empowering women can play in creating a healthier and more sustainable world. As part of my pledge, I will start conversations with others and help spread the word. It’s time to talk." Those who sign it are then asked to: "Talk to family, friends, classmates and colleagues. Post a video in our contest. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Write a blog post, a letter to the editor. Distribute Endangered Species Condoms." See Related Summaries, below. The campaign website also features a list and map of all those who have pledged to speak out about 7 billion; by clicking on any icon, people can get to know community members around the world who share a passion for controlling population growth.
One section of the website features resources, intended to help students, organisations, the media, and all others organise a campus, start conversations, and/or reach out to new audiences.
Also shared on the website are the video outputs of one of the campaign's partners, Population Media Center (PMC), which created a 2-minute, text-based video dealing with the problems of resource use, global inequity, and population growth, concluding with the idea that supporting family planning and reproductive health organisations around the world is one solution to this task. See below to view this video. Aligned with this effort, PMC is helping organise community screenings of the film Mother: Caring for 7 Billion, on college campuses all across the United States (US). The film explores the role that empowering women and girls and strengthening reproductive rights plays in the effort to improve human rights around the world, also showing the audience how to move humanity toward a more sustainable relationship with the Earth. PMC's work in Ethiopia is featured in the film through the real-life story of a young woman named Zinet, whose life was reportedly changed after listening to PMC's radio programmes - and how she then goes on to become a role model for her family and her community.
Population.
Global Population Speak Out (GPSO), the Population Institute, and other partnering organisations, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Post-Carbon Institute, and the Population Media Center (PMC).
PMC Newsletter, February 2012; 7 Billion: It's Time to Talk website, February 13 2012; and email from Joseph Bish to The Communication Initiative on February 21 2012. Image credit: Emmanual Dunand, AFP/Getty Images
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