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Understand WED theme: Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.
Published：29/04/2015
About WED
World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations’ campaign for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Over the years it has grown to be a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated by stakeholders in over 100 countries. It also serves as the people’s day for doing something positive for the environment, inspiring individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable consumption can be described as "the use of goods and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimising the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life-cycle, so as not to jeopardise the needs of future generations" (Oslo Symposium, 1994).
The main drive for this year’s WED communications, not excluding other sectors in society, will largely address the choices and actions by households related to consumption.
The WED 2015 campaign captures sustainable consumption in the context of the planet's regenerative capacity. Supported by the slogan – Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care – WED this year therefore aims to raise awareness on the unsustainable rate at which we are consuming the planet’s resources, and shift individual and collective behaviour towards sustainable lifestyles.
Italy will be the global host for WED 2015. The celebrations will be organized in Milan at the world famous Expo Milano, a universal exhibition that attracts over 20 million visitors. Expo Milano 2015 will run from May 1 to October 31 and is expected to include over 140 countries plus a significant number of international organisations.
Activities
#7BillionDreams (share your dream) social media campaign
Based on this year’s theme – Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care – WED will initiate a social media campaign that will crowd source people’s hopes and dreams within the context of limited planetary resources. These will be open to expressions is various multimedia (images, video, GIFs, text, etc.). All sourced media will be prefaced with “I dream of…” For example, “I dream of swimming with dolphins, not plastics #7BillionDreams”, “I dream of driving a fancy car so I am cycling to work to offset my future carbon footprint #7BillionDreams”, etc. [see Share Your Dream concept note].
Blog competition
UNEP will invite bloggers across the world to submit articles on sustainable lifestyles, based on the four strategic areas of this document, and stand a chance to win a free trip to Milan to blog at WED in June. The competition runs for two weeks and then subsequent live blogging over the WED week. [see blog competition concept note].
Dream Team activity pledges and registration
Spinning off the WED theme – Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care – our goodwill ambassadors will transform into a Dream Team! Based on the four strategic areas of this plan, each of the selected four GWAs will champion a respective cause and challenge people to make a pledge and/or register an activity for WED this year.