GREAT GREEN WALL

Overview

The Great Green Wall is an African-led project with an epic ambition: to grow an 8,000km line of plants and trees across the entire African continent. Its goal is to provide food, jobs, and a future for the millions of people who live in a region on the frontline of climate change.

We were invited by the UN to promote the Great Green Wall, and to connect people emotionally with the cause. Unable to bring the world to Africa to experience the initiative in person, it was clear that Virtual Reality was the solution — nothing can take you there quite like it.

Working with our talented friends at venturethree and Surround Vision, we created 'Growing a World Wonder'; a Virtual Reality film that follows Binta, a young Senegalese girl, as she and her family tend to their section of the Wall. Using advanced VR technology and cutting-edge 360° video drones, the film captures both the epic ambition of the project and the intimate human story of the people at its heart.

Results

'Growing a World Wonder' premiered to presidents, prime ministers, and other world leaders at the COP21 climate change event in Paris in December 2015. It succeeded in its purpose of encouraging a new round of support for the project amongst the leaders who are best placed to affect real change in the world.

The film soon after launched in 360° on YouTube and as a dedicated iOS and Android app with support for Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard. To bring the film to a wider audience, a dedicated microsite was developed featuring the VR experience, a making-of film, and easy-to-read information about the project.

To watch 'Growing a World Wonder' and learn more about the Great Green Wall, visit https://www.unccd.int/our-work/ggwi

Client Testimonial

"Apache have helped create a truly stunning Virtual Reality experience, brilliantly capturing the epic magnitude of Africa's Great Green Wall, and bringing to vibrant life the people who are a growing a response to the greatest challenge of our generation — climate change. 'Growing a World Wonder' was one of the undoubted highlights at this year's world climate change summit, demonstrating to awe-struck global decision makers that creativity and technology have a key role to play in shaping the future of our planet."

— Alexander Asen, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification