D&AD

Grow awareness of and engagement with, Peace Day, establishing September 21 as a global, self-sustaining, annual day of peace, when everyone can take action to end conflict in their own lives and in the lives of others.

Read on or download the full brief to the right of this page.

The Cause/Client

Peace One Day
http://www.peaceoneday.org

The Background

In 1999, British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley launched the non-profit organisation Peace One Day to document his efforts to establish an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed date. In 2001 his efforts were rewarded when the day was unanimously adopted by member states of the United Nations as 21 September – Peace Day. With the day in place, Peace One Day is now working to institutionalise Peace Day around the world.

The Communications Task

We want to make it impossible for anyone to ignore Peace Day. We want to make it a day that everyone around the world engages with, so that governments and leaders in conflict zones have no other choice but to implement it. The task is to grow grassroots awareness and active personal engagement with Peace Day, to make this day ubiquitous and as part of our social fabric as Valentines’ Day or Mother’s Day, in fact more so. To be truly effective Peace Day needs to be observed by a huge proportion of the earth’s population on an ongoing yearly basis.

Peace One Day have been advised by leading social statisticians that the tipping point of awareness that will allow a day to become ‘institutionalised’ in the calendar is roughly 20% of the world’s population. If POD can generate that level of engagement around the day, it will become self-sustaining. But POD are aiming high: they want to reach 3 billion people with the message of Peace Day by September 2012.  Your challenge is to help them get as far along that path as you can.

Simultaneously, as a major contributing factor towards reaching that tipping point, POD is working towards a day of ceasefire and non–violence specifically on Peace Day 21 September 2012 – a Global Truce. POD hopes that this will be the largest reduction in global violence in recorded history, both domestically and internationally.

Peace One Day is a non-profit organisation, impartial and independent of any government, political persuasion, corporation or religious creed. The longevity and ongoing effectiveness of Peace Day is dependent on such impartiality and all-inclusiveness. Entrants should align their campaigns accordingly. 

Essential food for thought

• Think beyond and across your discipline to solve this problem. Be a creative polymath, a creative collaborator, a creative activist. Use everything you have to solve this, after all, this problem is everybody’s.
• Jeremy Gilley’s lobbying mission has resulted in dramatic positive change in the world. In 2007, Jeremy and POD ambassador Jude Law travelled to Afghanistan where they led a process that has resulted in 4.5 million children being vaccinated against polio following Peace Day agreements by all parties in the region in 2007/8/9. But in order for these achievements to be sustained and replicated, we believe that the level of grassroots awareness and engagement on Peace Day needs to be increased considerably. Peace is fragile and only global mobilization can help protect it.
• This is not a one off. We are looking for ideas that focus people’s attention on 21 September 2012, but the real objective is to make this day one that is recognised and observed year after year, that exists in the annual calendar regardless of Peace One Day’s involvement or repeated marketing. We are looking for global institutionalisation.
• Peace Day will be different from any other day in the calendar. It must be cross-cultural, apolitical and non denominational. Anyone must be able to engage with it and any communication about Peace Day must adhere to these values.
• There is a role for everyone in solving this problem. Peace One Day aim to galvanise individuals to make change or campaign for it in their own home, school, workplace or community. They aim to galvanise corporates and commercial organisations to not only take action on 21 September, but to help to make it self-sustaining. And finally they aim to influence governments, international organisations and groups involved in conflict already.
• Collaboration is key to Peace Day and could be more than key to your solution. We want to see ideas that happen and the ability to making them happen may not rest entirely in your hands. Be as creative in your collaborations as you are in your thinking, who else can you leverage to get this done, students, suppliers, other creatives.
• Consider carefully how you present your ideas for the judges, the execution of them, and the way that they were realised.

Your Toolkit

Visit www.whitepencil.org to download additional information and resources before you start work on the brief. Become part of The White Pencil community by visiting www.facebook.com/thewhitepencil

Mandatories

• The 'In Support of' Peace One Day logo
• The date: “21 September – Peace Day”
• www.peaceoneday.org

Schedule

• Execute/run your idea anytime up to and including Peace Day - 21 September 2012
• 3 September - 24 October 2012 D&AD site open for submissions
• November 2012 Judging and Winners announced 

• Please give us a heads up at whitepencil@dandad.org at least one month before your idea runs.