The University of Birmingham wanted to create the Forum for Global Challenges, an inaugural event that brings together thought leaders in sustainability and equality, along with other academics, policy makers, NGOs, students and corporate leaders.  

The aim: to discuss the challenges that we face globally and to champion active change. As an inaugural event, the Organising Committee needed a full communications campaign to align with the upcoming delivery of the event, to connect with their target global audiences and to convey the vision for the Forum.

We asked challenging questions such as: “What is the Forum REALLY for?”

We created a manifesto that positioned the Forum as an Active source of practical solutions as opposed to an elitist ‘talking shop’.

We recommended the creation of a public facing campaign that celebrated the connection between those taking part at the Forum and the people of the world, who ‘need’ solutions to be brought to life. We suggested a shift in focus, widening from a purely academic audience to an audience that included young people and global communities. The client as a result developed a more detailed youth engagement programme that we also supported with campaign materials.

The wide-reaching campaign adopted a dynamic and emotive tone of voice with calls to action, across multi-channel campaign assets. Due to this, we saw a significant change in levels of outreach and impact.  

The event saw over 1k attendees showing up physically and virtually to watch the game-changing keynote speakers. The likes of Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, Professor Alice Roberts, Biological anthropologist, biologist, television presenter and author, Professor David Nabarro, WHO special envoy on Covid-19 and inspirational Earthshot Prize winners were all part of the crucial conversations for driving positive change worldwide.

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