THE POLITICS OF PERCEPTION
Donation protected
T H E P O L I T I C S O F P E R C E P T I O N
A global special event + feature documentary film
to promote critical thinking and action
for creative system change
#ThePoliticsOfPerception #GlobalVisionGeneva #CreativeSystemChange
E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
Greetings! My name is Michael O’Callaghan. I’m an artist and the Director of Global Vision Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. I believe that perception is a political act, and I invite you to join me in a historic adventure to promote critical thinking and action for creative system change.
The Politics of Perception
The Politics of Perception is a breakthrough cultural initiative to foster critical thinking & collaborative action for creative system change in response to the global crisis. It involves the production of a cinéma verité feature film during a historic special event in 2022 called Global Vision Geneva —a trans-disciplinary conference with art, theatre, infographics and a VIP lineup — designed to focus the attention of planetary policy makers and the general public on the connection between the global crisis and our ways of seeing it.
The need for creative system change
We face a global crisis without precedent in history. The tangled symptoms include the Covid-19 pandemic, climate heating, species extinction, resource limits, erosion of democracy, unsustainable debt, poverty, unemployment, mass migration, racism, polarisation, brutality, information warfare, conspiracy theories, loss of hope for the future etc. These are signals of the widespread systemic dysfunction of our industrial civilisation in which we all play a part. We know the crisis threatens the death of democracy, the end of human rights, and the possible collapse of civilisation in our lifetime. But attacking the symptoms doesn’t work.
This is why global teenagers and the emergent global civil society consensus are calling for creative system change for the transition to some kind of democratic, equitable, sustainable, and regenerative future. Its implementation will require a whole systems approach, extraordinary imagination, creativity, conversation and consensus. Moreover, the unprecedented level of collaboration between governments, transnational corporations and citizens that we need is blocked by conflicting notions of private & public interest and of short- & long-term risk. Nobody knows how to overcome this blockage, so the time has come to think outside the box.
An artistic response
THE POLITICS OF PERCEPTION is a trans-disciplinary artistic response to this challenge. Its design is inspired by an emergent realisation (from complex dynamic systems, anthropology, sociology, psychology and cognitive science) of the perceptual nature of the crisis. We humans are responsible for the world of our experience, because we construct it by sense-making through our organs of perception and our body/mind. Perception is thus a political act! The project aims to foster the emergent planetary sense of personal agency and shared responsibility as a species, by promoting critical thinking & action for creative system change.
Our aim is to create and film a historic “situation” to engage the most important planetary stakeholders in a public conversation on the connection between the crisis and our ways of seeing it — because the transition to a sustainable future now requires everyone to activate our capacity to distinguish knowledge from opinion. Our survival depends on this, it is easy to learn, it is empowering, and it’s the most important action we all can do to make a difference. We want to push the idea of responsible perception a mainstream meme.
Situationist approach
This project involves the production of a documentary feature film artistically designed to provide its viewers with an immersive experience of the epistemological paradigm shift we seek to catalyse. Principal photography will take place during a special event called GLOBAL VISION GENEVA, conceived as a historic “context of information” or what the artist Guy Debord called a “situation”. He used this word to define extraordinary moments in time whose exciting atmosphere can bring forth new ways of thinking and behaviour.
Our goal is audacious and means to be historic in the context of the global crisis: to bring together leading representatives of the world’s key stakeholder groups for 4 amazing days in Geneva in a politically neutral and psychologically safe setting with a convivial and festive social atmosphere. The film set will be constructed as a social situation or artistic mise-en-scène to provide participating public & private stakeholders with an unique opportunity to temporarily suspend their contradictory assumptions and dogmas, practice rigorous critical thinking, liberate their collective intelligence, fire up each other’s imagination, unleash their creativity, think outside the box, and engage in a dynamic process of mutual learning, co-creation and co-discovery of unforeseen synergies, solutions and actions to make the sustainability transition happen.
The film set / special event: Global Vision Geneva
The film is set in Geneva —the unique microcosm where the principal planetary meridians of global governance, trade, finance and civil society intersect today. It’s the de facto hub of global governance; many of the most important global policy decisions are made and implemented (for better or worse) by public and private stakeholders in Geneva on a daily basis. Principal photography will take place from 21-24 April 2022 during a special event called Global Vision Geneva which is being specifically designed as the live set for the shoot.
This includes a high-level trans-disciplinary multi-stakeholder conference framed by spectacular infographics, a related art exhibition by major artists, and a short theatrical play that turns the event participants into the principal protagonists of the global drama. Principal photography will take place at the International Conference Centre Geneva, a state-of-the-art facility with a capacity for 2,200 participants. The project will test Geneva’s potential as catalyst for a global renaissance.
World-class lineup
A selection of A-list VIP celebrities and leading thinkers are being invited to participate, including the some of the most powerful conservative & progressive, influential and/or visionary leaders of science, finance, civil society, transnational corporations, international law, UN agencies, think tanks, philanthropists, indigenous peoples, big data & intelligence agencies, young people, mainstream media and social networks. The first invited leading thinkers from civil society have confirmed to their participation, including Nora Bateson (International Bateson Institute), Jakob von Uexküll (Right Livelihood Award & World Future Council), Maud Barlow (International Forum on Globalization), Richard Falk (Princeton University), Hans Herren (Millennium Institute), Felix Dodds (Global Research Institute), Pat Mooney (ETC Group), and Mark Halle (former European head of IISD and boardmember of Sustainable Finance Geneva). Many more will be invited.
Cinéma vérité
The conference programme is carefully choreographed to provide participants with an immersive experience of the paradigm shift we want to catalyse. The structure of the agenda is being planned in advance, but the content will be created by the participants themselves. The interaction between public and private stakeholders will no doubt be fascinating and revealing, but its unfolding is impossible to predict. Most of the film will therefore be unscripted. In order to document the event in a balanced way, we will use the cinéma vérité documentary approach to tell the story of whatever happens, and situate this time as the tipping point of history that will determine the fate of Homo sapiens for millennia to come. For more on the film see page 41.
Timeline
Special event & film shoot in April 2022. Film release late 2022.
Distribution strategy
We plan to promote the film for theatrical release, TV broadcast and streaming via film festivals, the European Broadcasting Union, our partners’ social media networks, and embedded journalists. The Geneva event will be live-streamed to a global audience in partnership with International Earth Day, the world’s biggest environmental celebration involving over 1 billion people & 77,000 partner organisations in over 190 countries.
Global Vision Foundation
The project is the brainchild of the information-artist Michael O’Callaghan and is being produced through Global Vision Foundation, an international public interest non-profit organisation based in Geneva, in collaboration with a trans-disciplinary network of leading thinkers around the world. We have completed the conceptual design, R&D, feasibility study and business plan. 16 organisations have already shown their interest to participate. The conference will be co-chaired by the complex dynamic systems thinker, filmmaker and author Nora Bateson, Director of the International Bateson Institute in Stockholm. Mark Halle, will coordinate the stakeholder’s action agenda; he is a veteran global sustainable development expert, former European director of IISD, and a board-member of Sustainable Finance Geneva.
Rationale
Critical thinking is the prerequisite to make sense and deal effectively with the global crisis. Perception is now a political act, and the time has come for everyone to accept his or her personal responsibility for how we see the world. This realisation is based on the following facts:
1. A non-violent transition to a sustainable, regenerative and equitable future urgently requires some kind of creative system change that has not yet been fully conceived, defined or agreed.
2. This creative system change involves mobilising our collective intelligence and a process of mutual learning and co-creation with an unprecedented level of agreement and collaboration between governments and public and private stakeholders, who often work at cross purposes.
3. The path is essentially blocked by the false perception of intrinsic conflicts of interest between these stakeholders, which seems insurmountable in the current economic and political circumstances.
4. Overcoming this blockage therefore requires a paradigm shift, which starts with critical thinking. In order to implement the transition with the necessary momentum for success before it is too late, we must take personal and institutional responsibility for how we perceive and how we communicate.
5. The first step for critical thinking is to activate our innate human capacity to recognise the difference between knowledge and opinion.
6. Our survival depends on this, it is easy to learn, and we all can do it.
Expected outcomes
The conference process is designed to create the right psycho-social conditions for critical thinking, mutual learning and co-creation. We cannot predict the outcomes, but expect the following:
Public messages:
• Critical thinking is essential to address the global crisis, as demonstrated in the film & conference.
• Nonviolent creative system change is the only alternative to chaos and violence.
• Everybody can contribute to creative system change by taking responsibility for his or her perception.
• Hope for the future.
Participant interaction:
• Critical thinking outside the box for key global stakeholder groups.
• Mapping the unexplored territory of unforeseen emergent synergetic solutions.
• Mutual learning to transcend perceived conflict between private and public interests.
• Fostering phase shifts in means of action.
• Identifying leverage opportunities / tipping points for creative system change.
• Formation of working groups to undertake immediate practical actions.
• Co-creation and launch of innovative strategies for trans-sectoral collaboration.
• Stimulating accelerated financing of the SDGs, the Paris Accord and other actions for the transition to a sustainable regenerative future.
• Opportunity for visionary participants and sponsors to gain recognition on the global stage.
• Encouraging Switzerland to leverage its reputation and become the (?) world leader in ethical finance.
• Test / showcase Geneva’s potential to catalyse a 21st century Renaissance.
Media products:
• Global Vision Geneva conference livestreamed for a global public.
• World premiere of the theatre piece that turns the audience into the principal protagonist of the global drama.
• World-class exhibition of related works by major artists (suitable for subsequent museum tour).
• Possible screening of a short version of The Politics of Perception film at COP 26 in November 2021.
• Worldwide release of The Politics of Perception movie for TV broadcast, cinema release & webstream in late 2021 / early 2022.
• The production of a related TV miniseries, book and MOOC is under consideration.
Carbon neutrality
This project will obviously generate substantial GHG emissions, especially if the number of conference participants reaches the 2,000-seat capacity of the venue. Assuming the absence of pandemic-related restrictions, we expect around half of the participants will be residents of Geneva, and the other half visiting from other countries. We aim to reduce the carbon footprint to net zero by encouraging participants to use public transport, via carbon credits or the planning of appropriate trees to regenerate a damaged ecosystem.
Costs & funding plan
The estimated cost for the whole project is CHF 2.74m (≃ € 2.54m / GB£ 2.26m / US$ 3.1m).
We plan to secure the full project funding in three rounds from neutral and non-controversial sources including philanthropic donations, institutional grants and ethical corporate sponsorship. Each stage will deliver results to facilitate the subsequent funding round.
CHF 100K: The goal of the first round is to raise CHF 100k to complete the next objectives of the project development phase including (1) the confirmation of a world-class co-director for the film, (2) the first VIP celebrities for the film and conference lineup, (3) a few famous artists for the exhibition, a (4) renowned playwright for the theatre piece, and (6) to host promotional events for prospective public and private partners in Geneva at the Palais Eynard, the Maison de la Paix / Graduate Institute and/or the Palais des Nations (UN headquarters). The results will demonstrate the project’s traction and momentum. This seed money is the key to leverage the rest of the budget.
CHF 255k: The aim of the second round is to raise the balance of CHF 255k to complete the remaining development objectives, i.e. to contractually engage the film co-director, confirm all of the VIP lineup and keynote and panel speakers, and the playwright for the theatre piece; book the conference venue; select the participating artists and their works; put in place the film / theatre /multimedia production crews; finalise the logistics + scheduling + PR strategies; demonstrate the interest of film and TV distributors; and provide prospective donors and sponsors with estimated audience numbers and demographics. These results will make the project extremely attractive for major donors and sponsors. The final aim of this second round is to raise the funds for the third round.
CHF 2.4m is the estimated balance required for the preproduction, production and postproduction.
An historic opportunity for partners, donors and sponsors
This is a creative adventure without precedent in art, politics or motion-picture history. It provides a world class opportunity for compatible partners, foundations, public institutions, donors and sponsors worthy of lasting recognition as real progressive leaders on the global stage. Contributions are tax-deductible in Switzerland. We invite your participation, collaboration and financial support.
Feedback
The politics of perception is an extraordinarily visionary, impressive, promising and timely undertaking.
— RICHARD FALK
Emeritus Professor of International Law, Princeton University. Princeton, USA.
This is an amazing project. I hope it will open the "doors of perception". I wish you good luck and great success!
— SATISH KUMAR
Editor, Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. London, UK.
Geneva, city of the Red Cross and the United Nations, needs new perspectives for the planetary transition; this project will provide an invaluable source of visionary global ideas to that end.
— GUILLAUME CHENEVIÈRE
Former Director, RTS TV network. Author, Rousseau: une histoire genevoise. Geneva, Switzerland.
A big deal!
— ROBERT THURMAN
Author, Inner Revolution.
Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University. New York, USA.
This project seems important!
— EDGAR MORIN
Director of Research Emeritus, National Centre of Scientific Research - CNRS.
UNESCO Chair of Complex Thought. Paris, France.
Special thanks
My gratitude to all the friends and colleagues who helped me develop this project so far, especially to Nora Bateson • Richard Falk • Jakob von Uexküll • Hans Herren • Satish Kumar • Mark Halle • Alan Boldon • James Skinner • Tracy Worcester • Robert Thurman • Maud Barlow • Pat Mooney • Patrice van Eersel • Daniel Wermus • Charles Méla • Serge Macia • Thibaud de Montenach • Isabelle Derigo • Henry Brett • Evelyn Cantacuzène-Spéransky • Nancy Roof • Guillaume Chenevière • Florence Lhoste • Vanessa de Thorpe Millard • Alastair Kenneil • Alexandra Fitzherbert • Dylan Townsend • Malia Everette • Camilla Robbins • Mick & Afia Fortune Apostolos Lycras • Kim Kindersley • Izabella Linuza Alexandre Maréchal • Hélène Herdt • Laurent Terroux Alan Fleischmann • Philip Clark • Donald Hyams • Barnaby & Dorly O’Sullivan • Nilüfer Töral • Davie Phillip • Eoin Campbell • Jack O’Sullivan • Michael Ryan • Denny Baldin • Garrick Stark • Frederic Vecchio • Marc-André Macdonald • Miguel Tercedor • Jose Maria Garcia • Rüdiger Stegemann • Lily Fortune • Jane Taylor • Victor Carvalho Ribeiro • Wilson Vieria Dos Santos • Joe O’Callaghan • Bryan O’Callaghan • Vioune Defago Madeleine Moulin • Roberto Giuliani • Béatrice Schulter • Antoine Schmid • Michael Levin • Pasha Mirza • Mike Winter • Brigid Grauman • Erik Björkman • Marc-Albert Braillard • Penel Meredith Hardy • Laure Mi Hyun Croset • Zané Elksnité Grants von Wolff • Gerasimos Marianti di Pergola.
OUR CROWDFUNDING TARGET = CHF 100,000 BY 1 MAY 2021
We now invite your participation to secure the seed money of CHF 100,000 Swiss francs (≃ US$ 113k / GB£ 83k / €93k Euro) to implement the next goals of the development phase, and thus make it easy to leverage the rest of the budget in the second and third funding rounds:
• Enlist the first few progressive celebrity VIPs for the film & conference lineup, a renowned playwright for the theatre piece, and the first famous artists for the exhibition.
• Appoint a world-class film director to co-direct the movie.
• Secure official endorsements from the first local and international strategic partners.
• Estimate the prospective audience demographics & numbers with letters of interest from distributors.
• Identification of the production teams for the film, art exhibition, play, conference, event management, advertising and PR.
• Creation of the project website and documentation.
• Promote the project to local stakeholders (including the Canton and City of Geneva governments, financial institutions, NGOs and other prospective partners) with a launch event at Geneva’s prestigious Palais Eynard (elegant site of the foundation of the Red Cross).
• Promote the project to global stakeholders at the Maison de la Paix / Graduate Institute Geneva and/or the Palais des Nations (the UN European headquarters) in Geneva.
• Pitch the production funding to selected philanthropists, foundations and sponsors.
• Secure the balance of the budget to complete the development phase (approx. CHF 255k)..
BENEFITS FOR DONORS
Donations are tax-deductible if you pay tax in Switzerland up to the amounts allowed by local canton rules. (Our Swiss company ID: CHE-443.285.190 ).
Full project funding will enable us to offer donors the following benefits:
• All donors: Your name will appear on the main stage of the conference and the end credits of the film.
• CHF 100 or more: All of the above + a discount pass for 3 or 4 days of the conference.
• CHF 500 or more: All of the above plus 2 free tickets for the film.
• CHF 1,000 or more: All of the above plus a 1m x 1.2 m print of the POLITICS OF PERCEPTION poster (above right), signed by the artist —a possible future collector’s item!
• CHF 5,000 or more: All of the above + a large 2m x 2.4m print of the same image, signed by the artist, that is sure to start interesting conversations if you have a big enough wall to hang it on.
I invite you now to participate in this adventure by making a donation according to your means. Small amounts add up, but please be as generous as you can.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Please use the DONATE button below to send your contribution via this secure GoFundMe platform.
All donors will receive my profound gratitude + that of the potential 2,200 people who attend the conference + all those who follow the livestream event online + the possible millions of people who see the film + present and future generations whose lives will be impacted for better or worse by what we who are alive today can do to make a difference.
Please also share this crowdfunder with family, friends and colleagues, because the success of crowdfunding depends a lot on the number of initial donors to get the ball rolling!
C O N T A C T I N F O
Michael O'Callaghan
Director
Global Vision Foundation
c/o Byrne-Sutton Bollen & Kern
Rue Agasse 45
CH-1208 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel + 41 77 [phone redacted]
Email: moc@global-vision-foundation.org
Web: global-vision-foundation.org
Facebook: globalvisionorg
Hashtags:
#ThePoliticsOfPerception
#GlobalVisionGeneva
#CreativeSystemChange
A global special event + feature documentary film
to promote critical thinking and action
for creative system change
#ThePoliticsOfPerception #GlobalVisionGeneva #CreativeSystemChange
E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
Greetings! My name is Michael O’Callaghan. I’m an artist and the Director of Global Vision Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. I believe that perception is a political act, and I invite you to join me in a historic adventure to promote critical thinking and action for creative system change.
The Politics of Perception
The Politics of Perception is a breakthrough cultural initiative to foster critical thinking & collaborative action for creative system change in response to the global crisis. It involves the production of a cinéma verité feature film during a historic special event in 2022 called Global Vision Geneva —a trans-disciplinary conference with art, theatre, infographics and a VIP lineup — designed to focus the attention of planetary policy makers and the general public on the connection between the global crisis and our ways of seeing it.
The need for creative system change
We face a global crisis without precedent in history. The tangled symptoms include the Covid-19 pandemic, climate heating, species extinction, resource limits, erosion of democracy, unsustainable debt, poverty, unemployment, mass migration, racism, polarisation, brutality, information warfare, conspiracy theories, loss of hope for the future etc. These are signals of the widespread systemic dysfunction of our industrial civilisation in which we all play a part. We know the crisis threatens the death of democracy, the end of human rights, and the possible collapse of civilisation in our lifetime. But attacking the symptoms doesn’t work.
This is why global teenagers and the emergent global civil society consensus are calling for creative system change for the transition to some kind of democratic, equitable, sustainable, and regenerative future. Its implementation will require a whole systems approach, extraordinary imagination, creativity, conversation and consensus. Moreover, the unprecedented level of collaboration between governments, transnational corporations and citizens that we need is blocked by conflicting notions of private & public interest and of short- & long-term risk. Nobody knows how to overcome this blockage, so the time has come to think outside the box.
An artistic response
THE POLITICS OF PERCEPTION is a trans-disciplinary artistic response to this challenge. Its design is inspired by an emergent realisation (from complex dynamic systems, anthropology, sociology, psychology and cognitive science) of the perceptual nature of the crisis. We humans are responsible for the world of our experience, because we construct it by sense-making through our organs of perception and our body/mind. Perception is thus a political act! The project aims to foster the emergent planetary sense of personal agency and shared responsibility as a species, by promoting critical thinking & action for creative system change.
Our aim is to create and film a historic “situation” to engage the most important planetary stakeholders in a public conversation on the connection between the crisis and our ways of seeing it — because the transition to a sustainable future now requires everyone to activate our capacity to distinguish knowledge from opinion. Our survival depends on this, it is easy to learn, it is empowering, and it’s the most important action we all can do to make a difference. We want to push the idea of responsible perception a mainstream meme.
Situationist approach
This project involves the production of a documentary feature film artistically designed to provide its viewers with an immersive experience of the epistemological paradigm shift we seek to catalyse. Principal photography will take place during a special event called GLOBAL VISION GENEVA, conceived as a historic “context of information” or what the artist Guy Debord called a “situation”. He used this word to define extraordinary moments in time whose exciting atmosphere can bring forth new ways of thinking and behaviour.
Our goal is audacious and means to be historic in the context of the global crisis: to bring together leading representatives of the world’s key stakeholder groups for 4 amazing days in Geneva in a politically neutral and psychologically safe setting with a convivial and festive social atmosphere. The film set will be constructed as a social situation or artistic mise-en-scène to provide participating public & private stakeholders with an unique opportunity to temporarily suspend their contradictory assumptions and dogmas, practice rigorous critical thinking, liberate their collective intelligence, fire up each other’s imagination, unleash their creativity, think outside the box, and engage in a dynamic process of mutual learning, co-creation and co-discovery of unforeseen synergies, solutions and actions to make the sustainability transition happen.
The film set / special event: Global Vision Geneva
The film is set in Geneva —the unique microcosm where the principal planetary meridians of global governance, trade, finance and civil society intersect today. It’s the de facto hub of global governance; many of the most important global policy decisions are made and implemented (for better or worse) by public and private stakeholders in Geneva on a daily basis. Principal photography will take place from 21-24 April 2022 during a special event called Global Vision Geneva which is being specifically designed as the live set for the shoot.
This includes a high-level trans-disciplinary multi-stakeholder conference framed by spectacular infographics, a related art exhibition by major artists, and a short theatrical play that turns the event participants into the principal protagonists of the global drama. Principal photography will take place at the International Conference Centre Geneva, a state-of-the-art facility with a capacity for 2,200 participants. The project will test Geneva’s potential as catalyst for a global renaissance.
World-class lineup
A selection of A-list VIP celebrities and leading thinkers are being invited to participate, including the some of the most powerful conservative & progressive, influential and/or visionary leaders of science, finance, civil society, transnational corporations, international law, UN agencies, think tanks, philanthropists, indigenous peoples, big data & intelligence agencies, young people, mainstream media and social networks. The first invited leading thinkers from civil society have confirmed to their participation, including Nora Bateson (International Bateson Institute), Jakob von Uexküll (Right Livelihood Award & World Future Council), Maud Barlow (International Forum on Globalization), Richard Falk (Princeton University), Hans Herren (Millennium Institute), Felix Dodds (Global Research Institute), Pat Mooney (ETC Group), and Mark Halle (former European head of IISD and boardmember of Sustainable Finance Geneva). Many more will be invited.
Cinéma vérité
The conference programme is carefully choreographed to provide participants with an immersive experience of the paradigm shift we want to catalyse. The structure of the agenda is being planned in advance, but the content will be created by the participants themselves. The interaction between public and private stakeholders will no doubt be fascinating and revealing, but its unfolding is impossible to predict. Most of the film will therefore be unscripted. In order to document the event in a balanced way, we will use the cinéma vérité documentary approach to tell the story of whatever happens, and situate this time as the tipping point of history that will determine the fate of Homo sapiens for millennia to come. For more on the film see page 41.
Timeline
Special event & film shoot in April 2022. Film release late 2022.
Distribution strategy
We plan to promote the film for theatrical release, TV broadcast and streaming via film festivals, the European Broadcasting Union, our partners’ social media networks, and embedded journalists. The Geneva event will be live-streamed to a global audience in partnership with International Earth Day, the world’s biggest environmental celebration involving over 1 billion people & 77,000 partner organisations in over 190 countries.
Global Vision Foundation
The project is the brainchild of the information-artist Michael O’Callaghan and is being produced through Global Vision Foundation, an international public interest non-profit organisation based in Geneva, in collaboration with a trans-disciplinary network of leading thinkers around the world. We have completed the conceptual design, R&D, feasibility study and business plan. 16 organisations have already shown their interest to participate. The conference will be co-chaired by the complex dynamic systems thinker, filmmaker and author Nora Bateson, Director of the International Bateson Institute in Stockholm. Mark Halle, will coordinate the stakeholder’s action agenda; he is a veteran global sustainable development expert, former European director of IISD, and a board-member of Sustainable Finance Geneva.
Rationale
Critical thinking is the prerequisite to make sense and deal effectively with the global crisis. Perception is now a political act, and the time has come for everyone to accept his or her personal responsibility for how we see the world. This realisation is based on the following facts:
1. A non-violent transition to a sustainable, regenerative and equitable future urgently requires some kind of creative system change that has not yet been fully conceived, defined or agreed.
2. This creative system change involves mobilising our collective intelligence and a process of mutual learning and co-creation with an unprecedented level of agreement and collaboration between governments and public and private stakeholders, who often work at cross purposes.
3. The path is essentially blocked by the false perception of intrinsic conflicts of interest between these stakeholders, which seems insurmountable in the current economic and political circumstances.
4. Overcoming this blockage therefore requires a paradigm shift, which starts with critical thinking. In order to implement the transition with the necessary momentum for success before it is too late, we must take personal and institutional responsibility for how we perceive and how we communicate.
5. The first step for critical thinking is to activate our innate human capacity to recognise the difference between knowledge and opinion.
6. Our survival depends on this, it is easy to learn, and we all can do it.
Expected outcomes
The conference process is designed to create the right psycho-social conditions for critical thinking, mutual learning and co-creation. We cannot predict the outcomes, but expect the following:
Public messages:
• Critical thinking is essential to address the global crisis, as demonstrated in the film & conference.
• Nonviolent creative system change is the only alternative to chaos and violence.
• Everybody can contribute to creative system change by taking responsibility for his or her perception.
• Hope for the future.
Participant interaction:
• Critical thinking outside the box for key global stakeholder groups.
• Mapping the unexplored territory of unforeseen emergent synergetic solutions.
• Mutual learning to transcend perceived conflict between private and public interests.
• Fostering phase shifts in means of action.
• Identifying leverage opportunities / tipping points for creative system change.
• Formation of working groups to undertake immediate practical actions.
• Co-creation and launch of innovative strategies for trans-sectoral collaboration.
• Stimulating accelerated financing of the SDGs, the Paris Accord and other actions for the transition to a sustainable regenerative future.
• Opportunity for visionary participants and sponsors to gain recognition on the global stage.
• Encouraging Switzerland to leverage its reputation and become the (?) world leader in ethical finance.
• Test / showcase Geneva’s potential to catalyse a 21st century Renaissance.
Media products:
• Global Vision Geneva conference livestreamed for a global public.
• World premiere of the theatre piece that turns the audience into the principal protagonist of the global drama.
• World-class exhibition of related works by major artists (suitable for subsequent museum tour).
• Possible screening of a short version of The Politics of Perception film at COP 26 in November 2021.
• Worldwide release of The Politics of Perception movie for TV broadcast, cinema release & webstream in late 2021 / early 2022.
• The production of a related TV miniseries, book and MOOC is under consideration.
Carbon neutrality
This project will obviously generate substantial GHG emissions, especially if the number of conference participants reaches the 2,000-seat capacity of the venue. Assuming the absence of pandemic-related restrictions, we expect around half of the participants will be residents of Geneva, and the other half visiting from other countries. We aim to reduce the carbon footprint to net zero by encouraging participants to use public transport, via carbon credits or the planning of appropriate trees to regenerate a damaged ecosystem.
Costs & funding planThe estimated cost for the whole project is CHF 2.74m (≃ € 2.54m / GB£ 2.26m / US$ 3.1m).
We plan to secure the full project funding in three rounds from neutral and non-controversial sources including philanthropic donations, institutional grants and ethical corporate sponsorship. Each stage will deliver results to facilitate the subsequent funding round.
CHF 100K: The goal of the first round is to raise CHF 100k to complete the next objectives of the project development phase including (1) the confirmation of a world-class co-director for the film, (2) the first VIP celebrities for the film and conference lineup, (3) a few famous artists for the exhibition, a (4) renowned playwright for the theatre piece, and (6) to host promotional events for prospective public and private partners in Geneva at the Palais Eynard, the Maison de la Paix / Graduate Institute and/or the Palais des Nations (UN headquarters). The results will demonstrate the project’s traction and momentum. This seed money is the key to leverage the rest of the budget.
CHF 255k: The aim of the second round is to raise the balance of CHF 255k to complete the remaining development objectives, i.e. to contractually engage the film co-director, confirm all of the VIP lineup and keynote and panel speakers, and the playwright for the theatre piece; book the conference venue; select the participating artists and their works; put in place the film / theatre /multimedia production crews; finalise the logistics + scheduling + PR strategies; demonstrate the interest of film and TV distributors; and provide prospective donors and sponsors with estimated audience numbers and demographics. These results will make the project extremely attractive for major donors and sponsors. The final aim of this second round is to raise the funds for the third round.
CHF 2.4m is the estimated balance required for the preproduction, production and postproduction.
An historic opportunity for partners, donors and sponsors
This is a creative adventure without precedent in art, politics or motion-picture history. It provides a world class opportunity for compatible partners, foundations, public institutions, donors and sponsors worthy of lasting recognition as real progressive leaders on the global stage. Contributions are tax-deductible in Switzerland. We invite your participation, collaboration and financial support.
Feedback
The politics of perception is an extraordinarily visionary, impressive, promising and timely undertaking.
— RICHARD FALK
Emeritus Professor of International Law, Princeton University. Princeton, USA.
This is an amazing project. I hope it will open the "doors of perception". I wish you good luck and great success!
— SATISH KUMAR
Editor, Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. London, UK.
Geneva, city of the Red Cross and the United Nations, needs new perspectives for the planetary transition; this project will provide an invaluable source of visionary global ideas to that end.
— GUILLAUME CHENEVIÈRE
Former Director, RTS TV network. Author, Rousseau: une histoire genevoise. Geneva, Switzerland.
A big deal!
— ROBERT THURMAN
Author, Inner Revolution.
Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University. New York, USA.
This project seems important!
— EDGAR MORIN
Director of Research Emeritus, National Centre of Scientific Research - CNRS.
UNESCO Chair of Complex Thought. Paris, France.
Special thanks
My gratitude to all the friends and colleagues who helped me develop this project so far, especially to Nora Bateson • Richard Falk • Jakob von Uexküll • Hans Herren • Satish Kumar • Mark Halle • Alan Boldon • James Skinner • Tracy Worcester • Robert Thurman • Maud Barlow • Pat Mooney • Patrice van Eersel • Daniel Wermus • Charles Méla • Serge Macia • Thibaud de Montenach • Isabelle Derigo • Henry Brett • Evelyn Cantacuzène-Spéransky • Nancy Roof • Guillaume Chenevière • Florence Lhoste • Vanessa de Thorpe Millard • Alastair Kenneil • Alexandra Fitzherbert • Dylan Townsend • Malia Everette • Camilla Robbins • Mick & Afia Fortune Apostolos Lycras • Kim Kindersley • Izabella Linuza Alexandre Maréchal • Hélène Herdt • Laurent Terroux Alan Fleischmann • Philip Clark • Donald Hyams • Barnaby & Dorly O’Sullivan • Nilüfer Töral • Davie Phillip • Eoin Campbell • Jack O’Sullivan • Michael Ryan • Denny Baldin • Garrick Stark • Frederic Vecchio • Marc-André Macdonald • Miguel Tercedor • Jose Maria Garcia • Rüdiger Stegemann • Lily Fortune • Jane Taylor • Victor Carvalho Ribeiro • Wilson Vieria Dos Santos • Joe O’Callaghan • Bryan O’Callaghan • Vioune Defago Madeleine Moulin • Roberto Giuliani • Béatrice Schulter • Antoine Schmid • Michael Levin • Pasha Mirza • Mike Winter • Brigid Grauman • Erik Björkman • Marc-Albert Braillard • Penel Meredith Hardy • Laure Mi Hyun Croset • Zané Elksnité Grants von Wolff • Gerasimos Marianti di Pergola.
OUR CROWDFUNDING TARGET = CHF 100,000 BY 1 MAY 2021
We now invite your participation to secure the seed money of CHF 100,000 Swiss francs (≃ US$ 113k / GB£ 83k / €93k Euro) to implement the next goals of the development phase, and thus make it easy to leverage the rest of the budget in the second and third funding rounds:
• Enlist the first few progressive celebrity VIPs for the film & conference lineup, a renowned playwright for the theatre piece, and the first famous artists for the exhibition.
• Appoint a world-class film director to co-direct the movie.
• Secure official endorsements from the first local and international strategic partners.
• Estimate the prospective audience demographics & numbers with letters of interest from distributors.
• Identification of the production teams for the film, art exhibition, play, conference, event management, advertising and PR.
• Creation of the project website and documentation.
• Promote the project to local stakeholders (including the Canton and City of Geneva governments, financial institutions, NGOs and other prospective partners) with a launch event at Geneva’s prestigious Palais Eynard (elegant site of the foundation of the Red Cross).
• Promote the project to global stakeholders at the Maison de la Paix / Graduate Institute Geneva and/or the Palais des Nations (the UN European headquarters) in Geneva.
• Pitch the production funding to selected philanthropists, foundations and sponsors.
• Secure the balance of the budget to complete the development phase (approx. CHF 255k)..
BENEFITS FOR DONORS
Donations are tax-deductible if you pay tax in Switzerland up to the amounts allowed by local canton rules. (Our Swiss company ID: CHE-443.285.190 ).
Full project funding will enable us to offer donors the following benefits:
• All donors: Your name will appear on the main stage of the conference and the end credits of the film.
• CHF 100 or more: All of the above + a discount pass for 3 or 4 days of the conference.
• CHF 500 or more: All of the above plus 2 free tickets for the film.
• CHF 1,000 or more: All of the above plus a 1m x 1.2 m print of the POLITICS OF PERCEPTION poster (above right), signed by the artist —a possible future collector’s item!
• CHF 5,000 or more: All of the above + a large 2m x 2.4m print of the same image, signed by the artist, that is sure to start interesting conversations if you have a big enough wall to hang it on.
I invite you now to participate in this adventure by making a donation according to your means. Small amounts add up, but please be as generous as you can.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Please use the DONATE button below to send your contribution via this secure GoFundMe platform.
All donors will receive my profound gratitude + that of the potential 2,200 people who attend the conference + all those who follow the livestream event online + the possible millions of people who see the film + present and future generations whose lives will be impacted for better or worse by what we who are alive today can do to make a difference.
Please also share this crowdfunder with family, friends and colleagues, because the success of crowdfunding depends a lot on the number of initial donors to get the ball rolling!
C O N T A C T I N F O
Michael O'Callaghan
Director
Global Vision Foundation
c/o Byrne-Sutton Bollen & Kern
Rue Agasse 45
CH-1208 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel + 41 77 [phone redacted]
Email: moc@global-vision-foundation.org
Web: global-vision-foundation.org
Facebook: globalvisionorg
Hashtags:
#ThePoliticsOfPerception
#GlobalVisionGeneva
#CreativeSystemChange
Organizer
Michael O'Callaghan
Organizer
Geneva
