Experience a world wonder
The Great Green Wall is one of the world’s most ambitious humanitarian projects. An 8,000 mile wall of vegetation and farmland, engineered to fight climate change and restore biodiversity to the 11 nations bordering the Sahara desert.
Without it, these lands become uninhabitable, triggering a mass food and migration crisis that is impacting the whole world.
It’s a huge ambition, but a hidden one. So we imagined a campaign platform with the power to drive ongoing awareness and fundraising. Our idea – Growing A World Wonder – was a simple but powerful vision of hope – to make The Great Green Wall famous and let the rest of the world experience a true world wonder. It unites all of Great Green Wall’s benefits and stories to bring people closer to the effects of climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa.
To bring the ‘Growing A World Wonder’ platform to life, we created an immersive experience, powered by the latest 360º VR technology and the best of human storytelling. Our team visited Koyli Alpha in Senegal to meet and film the communities growing The Great Green Wall.
Using the immersive power of VR, we told the true story of Binta, our protagonist, growing up on the front line. Our VR film aired at Paris COP21 to praise from the Economist and New York Times.
‘Growing A World Wonder’ lives beyond a single iteration. The platform has sparked highlights including a Great Green Wall documentary, produced with Oscar-nominated Fernando Meirelles, as well as events, media outreach, partnerships and campaigns. ‘Growing A World Wonder’ has the stretch and power to impact millions of lives across Africa and the world with it’s simplicity and unifying drive, and $4bn has been raised so far to help fund the next wave of The Great Green Wall.
The virtual reality film helped us bring the wall closer to millions of people around the world.
— United Nations