Storybook represents innovative approach to engage public in the SDGs
At Phoenix Design Aid we are proud to have contributed to the limited advance edition of the storybook ‘Fairy Tales for a Fairer World’, which has been conceptualized, written and designed as a creative outreach effort of the Perception Change Project of the UN Office in Geneva.
The storybook aims to engage readers of all ages in the discovery of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a collection of worldwide tales. The tales work together and highlight some of the global challenges humanity faces today, such as hunger, human rights, discrimination, education, women empowerment, migration and climate change. The well-known stories, therefore, do not follow the traditional route; rather they are adapted to fit into the modern-day framework. As such, the storybook is as an educational book about the SDGs, and how the United Nations and other international organizations work together to solve world challenges. By mapping out a journey, the book illustrates how working together across generations and places is the way to prevent history from repeating itself and move forward.
‘Fairy Tales for a Fairer World’ is the product of a multidisciplinary and international team. Carolina Rodriguez is Head of the International Geneva Perception Change Project. She came up with the concept for the book and acts as designer and coauthor. Carolina clarifies the creative thoughts that preceded the creative concept.
The idea behind the book was firstly to find a creative and novel way of explaining what the SDGs are through well-known stories from around the world. The stories have all been strung together into a single narrative but they each have multiple entry points that link up with different development issues. It has been designed as a transmedia project, so readers can scan the book and join online conversations with other readers, fairy tale characters and experts from the UN, NGOs and academia.
The physical book links with a website (www.sdgstories.com) that has curated conversations between experts, the characters, goodwill ambassadors, celebrities, and the readers themselves.
To discuss the different topics presented in the book, readers are invited to scan the QR-Code presented on the back cover and join the conversation.
Carolina Rodriguez elaborates on distribution channels and future plans for the book.
This initial print run is the advanced edition and it has been designed to start the online conversation on the website. It has been distributed to high-level officials and partners in Geneva. We hope that with this print run we confined a publisher, which can take the distribution of the book to the next level. We are in the process of translating in French, Spanish and possibly Arabic.
Future editions of the book will direct to specific conversations linked to the story as they become available and offer good starting points for public engagement.