This week, we distill insights around Earth Hour - a global movement that mobilizes people to show their support for the environment by switching off their lights for one hour every year. 100+ thinkers and planners within MSLGROUP share and discuss inspiring projects on social data, crowdsourcing, storytelling and citizenship on the MSLGROUP Insights Network. Every week, we pick up one project and do a deep dive into conversations around it -- on the MSLGROUP Insights Network itself but also on the broader social web -- to distill insights and foresights. We share these insights and foresights with you on our People’s Insights blog and compile the best insights from the network and the blog in the iPad-friendly People’s Lab Quarterly Magazine, as a showcase of our capabilities. For more, see: http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

1. crowdsourcing | storytelling | citizenship | social data
People’s Insights Volume 2, Issue 7
Earth Hour

2. People’s Insights
100+ thinkers and planners within MSL- In 2013, we continue to track inspiring
GROUP share and discuss inspiring proj- projects at the intersection of social data,
ects on social data, crowdsourcing, story- crowdsourcing and storytelling, with a fo-
telling and citizenship on the MSLGROUP cus on projects that are shaping the Future
Insights Network. Every week, we pick up of Citizenship.
one project and curate the conversations
Do subscribe to receive our weekly insights
around it — on the MSLGROUP Insights
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reports, and do share your tips and com-
social web — into a weekly insights report.
ments with us at @PeoplesLab on Twitter.
Every quarter, we compile these insights,
along with original research and insights
from the MSLGROUP global network, into
the People’s Insights Quarterly Magazine.
We have synthesized the insights from our
year-long endeavor throughout 2012 to
provide foresights for business leaders and
changemakers — in the ten-part People’s
Insights Annual Report titled Now & Next:
Ten Frontiers for the Future of Engage-
ment.
People’s Insights People’s Insights People’s Insights
weekly report quarterly magazines Annual Report
Volume 2, Issue 7, Future of Earth Hour
January - March, 2013 Citizenship

3. What is Earth Hour?
Earth Hour is a global movement that mobilizes “the world’s largest movement for the planet.”
people to show their support for the environment Now, Earth Hour strives to go beyond one hour
by switching off their lights for one hour every and drive meaningful change – both as a natural
year. Organized by WWF, the movement began evolution of the movement as well as a response
in Sydney in 2007 and has since spread to 7,000 to the rising cynicism and criticism it faces.
cities & towns in 150 countries & territories.
An editorial in the Philippines Daily Inquirier
Building Scale
mentions: Local chapters of WWF lead the efforts to
introduce Earth Hour into more cities and towns,
“First held in 2007, Earth Hour has grown from a
partner with local authorities and organize Earth
citywide activity in Sydney, Australia, to a worldwide
Hour events. The movement also carves out a
event held every March to cut power consumption
role for individuals and organizations. People
and highlight the need to raise awareness of
can volunteer as Earth Hour organizers, write to
climate change and the dangers everyone faces…
local authorities to support the cause, introduce
“Earth Hour has happily become a public-private Earth Hour within their schools work places
partnership, with individual and corporate entities and communities, and spread the world with
as well as government agencies taking part in the posters, online banners and email signatures.
collective action.” And, organizations are encouraged to participate,
share their story and partner or sponsor events.
People, celebrities and organizations have marked
their commitment for Earth Hour in diverse ways
and helped build the profile of the movement.
For instance, Google turned its homepage black
during Earth Hour 2008. National Geographic Asia
and Cartoon Network suspended programming
during Earth hour 2010. Celebrity activists and
ambassadors spread the word amongst their vast
following on social media. And in 2013, astronaut
Source: Earth Hour 2013 Official Video Chris Hadfield contributed to the buzz by tweeting
In its seven years, Earth Hour has achieved photos of cities before and after Earth Hour from
tremendous scale and is widely regarded as the outer space.
Source: twitter.com/aliciasilv
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4. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_hour
or Women’s Day, and participate to engage with
their audience.
Source: campaignbrief.com
In addition to grassroots efforts, local chapters of
WWF usually organize concerts and screenings
around the event, and local campaigns such as
encouraging Singaporean government agencies
to turn up thermostats by one degree, and giving
away a solar power system to an Australian
Source: twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield community that pledges to switch to renewable
energy. Blogger Anna Rudenko shares:
People, organizations and local leaders
participated to mark their solidarity for the “WWF Canada is doing its part by writing the first
environment and commitment to sustainable crowd-sourced anthem for Earth Hour—creative
living. As Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje minds are invited to create lyrics for the songs,
commented: which will express their deep love for the planet and
explain why we should take care of it.”
“Earth Hour is another way to highlight Ann
Arbor’s commitment to reduce our reliance on Globally, Earth Hour encourages participating
fossil fuels and raise awareness on how citizens cities to switch off lights at prominent landmarks,
and government play a part in addressing climate and has recently launched I Will if You Will and
change.” Earth Hour City Challenge to increase reach and
inspire commitments beyond one hour.
Organizations also seem to view Earth Hour as
other established days, such as Valentine’s Day
Volume 2, Issue 7, Future of Earth Hour
January - March, 2013 Citizenship

5. Source: How To Upload an ‘I Will If You Will’ challenge
Source: http://news.sky.com/story/1069000/earth-hour-world-landmarks-
switch-off-lights
Earth Hour City Challenge
I Will if You Will Launched in 2011, the annual Earth Hour City
Challenge invites cities to compete for the title
Launched in 2011, I Will if You Will is a platform
Earth Hour Capital. Cities submit development
that enables people, celebrities and brands to
plans that show their commitment to switching
rally their networks around the cause in a fun way.
to renewable energy and an international team
As Duncan Macleod, editor of The Inspiration
of judges selects a winner. Winning cities gain
Room, summarizes:
access to technical assistance and financial
“The IWIYW campaign uses the Earth Hour grants.
YouTube channel to encourage people to share
Linda Nowlan noted:
personal dares with the world, by asking “What are
you willing to do to save the planet?” The concept “With more than 70 per cent of the world’s CO2
of the campaign is based on a social contract for emissions generated by cities, the Earth Hour
two parties – connecting one person, business or City Challenge is designed to mobilize action and
organization to a promise and their friends, family, support from cities in the global transition toward a
or customers to a challenge.” climate-friendly future.”
Source: earthhour.org/citychallenge
Source: youtube.com/earthhour
Cities also compete for a People’s Choice Award,
Earth Hour encourages people to upload their based on public voting. People can vote by
own I Will challenges and lets them choose clicking on a button, sharing a photo of their city
from nine You Will challenges, thereby retaining on Instagram or by posting a suggestion on how
control and ensuring meaningful challenges are the city can become more sustainable.
proposed. The You Will challenges are also a fun
way to show people what they can do beyond
limiting their electricity usage.
Source: ehcitychallenge.org/peopleschoice
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6. Cynicism and controversy
While both I Will if You Will and the City right, then reassuring people that all they need to is
Challenge are designed to encourage cities, turn off a switch is deeply disorienting.”
organizations and people to go beyond the one
Bjørn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical
hour, the overall movement is still associated
Environmentalist, recently published the article
mainly with the one hour lights off. The Earth
Earth Hour Is a Colossal Waste of Time—and
Hour FAQ maintains this positioning:
Energy, in which he calls for more attention
“Earth Hour does not purport to be an energy/ on real solutions to global warming and less
carbon reduction exercise, it is a symbolic action.” trivialization of the issue:
Blogger Jeff Sparrow points out that this opens “[Earth Hour’s] vain symbolism reveals
the doors for criticism: exactly what is wrong with today’s feel-good
environmentalism. Advertisement Earth Hour
“The problem, then, with purely symbolic actions like
teaches us that tackling global warming is easy.”
Earth Hour is that they might actually foster cynicism
more than dispel it. Spratt, for instance, argues that The article has been shared 26,500 times, has
only a mobilization on the scale we saw during the rallied together Earth Hour skeptics and has
Second World War will make any difference. If that’s sparked a debate around the role of Earth Hour.
Source: slate.com
Criticism around the movement echoes the concerns people have raised around slacktivism and
movements such as Kony2012. Gordon Hinds commented:
“We have a habit of doing faddish things that we Indeed, Earth Hour seems to have entered
feel make a difference and make us emotionally what social activist Bill Moyer terms “Stage 5:
satisfied that we belong to some sort of like minded Movement Identity Crisis” in his “Eight Stages of
community, but the brutal reality is that nothing Successful Social Movements,” where activists
actually is achieved at all.” expect rapid success and often feel hopelessness
and burn out:
Several people argue otherwise, that large scale
acts of solidarity are crucial to bringing climate “The problem, however, is not that the movement
change back into the limelight. Rupp Carriveau, has failed to achieve its goals, but that expectations
a professor at University of Windsor who that its goal could possibly be achieved in such a
specializes in clean energy tech, commented: short time were unrealistic.”
“For the purists — yes, I can understand the
argument against [Earth Hour]. But I still think
that, in the big picture, it makes sense to unplug
people for a while and have them think about it.”
Volume 2, Issue 7, Future of Earth Hour
January - March, 2013 Citizenship

7. Movements need to stay authentic
– and relevant
Building awareness is a crucial step for a Jeremy Heimans, co-founder of Avaaz.org,
movement, but today’s audience demands GetUp.org and recently Purpose.com, believes
meaningful action and real change. that movements are for the long term, and must
build with time:
Marketer Adam Ferrier’s reflection on the
Kony2012 campaign holds true for Earth Hour as “It’s all about the simplest action rather than
well: creating some big, grand plan. Don’t make it too
hard for people to participate. Invite participation,
“Through social media and the wisdom of the but don’t require a huge commitment upfront. It’s
crowds everything that’s based on image, and also important to build people up over time, taking
lacking in substance gets torn apart.” bigger and bigger actions.”
In addition to more meaningful actions, more
accountability and measurement are also key for
a movement of this size. Nidhi Makhija, member
of the MSLGROUP Insights Network, believes
that data can play a larger role here:
“Earth Hour has launched several initiatives that
are driving real change – the Earth Hour Forest in
Uganda, and the I Will if You Will petition to pass
an environment protection law in Russia. Now,
Earth Hour needs to start measuring the impact
of these large scale actions and giving people ways
to measure the impact of their individual actions.
Companies like Opower and Green Bean Recycle
Source: forbes.com are already using data to drive behavioral change.”
(Earth Hour took place from 8:30pm to 9:30pm
on March 23, 2013.)
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8. People’s Lab:
Crowdsourcing Innovation & Insights
People’s Lab is MSLGROUP’s proprietary comment on other people’s content and
crowdsourcing platform and approach that collaborate to find innovative solutions.
helps organizations tap into people’s insights for
innovation, storytelling and change. The People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform
and approach forms the core of our distinctive
The People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform insights and foresight approach, which consists
helps organizations build and nurture public of four elements: organic conversation analysis,
or private, web or mobile, hosted or white MSLGROUP’s own insight communities, client-
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application areas: Expertise Request Network, deep dives into these communities. The People’s
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Network. Our community and gaming features insights from conversations and communities.
encourage people to share rich content, vote/
Learn more about us at:
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9. For People’s Lab solutions, contact
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