#TweetaDream Campaign by OurFuture.World

Join thousands of young people in 50+ countries

visualising the future they want to see and sharing it via Twitter on International Children's Day, June 1st.

WHAT IS #TWEETADREAM? #TweetaDream is a global campaign by OurFuture.World aiming to inspire, amplify and connect the dreams of young people everywhere. How? By inspiring children and youth in more than 50 countries to visualise their dreams for the future and share them via Twitter on June 1st 2015, International Children’s Day. #TweetaDream is both the name and hashtag for the campaign, allowing everyone to share and connect their dreams online in one unified action. WHAT IS IN THIS BOOKLET? The next five pages briefly explain why #TweetaDream was called into life, how it works and who makes it work. We hope it will answer all questions you might have and be an inspiration for you and others alike. If you have questions, feedback or ideas please do not hesitate to get in touch, our contact details are at the end. We are thrilled to have you on board!

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? First, in the words of Walt Disney:   "If you can dream it, you can do it!“. When young people are inspired to dream big about the future and are encouraged to act on their dreams, many more will discover their passions and unleash their full potential – ready to shape the future for the better. Second, the dreams of young people tend to receive much less attention even though the actions of our leaders today largely influence whether the next generation will be able to act on their dreams tomorrow. Hence, we want to make sure that the dreams of young people will be heard. Third, dreams are stronger in teams. The more young people can connect around their passions as well as inspire and support each other, the further they will be able to go and the better their dreams will be heard. In short, #TweetaDream inspires, amplifies and connects young people’s dreams. Fourth, young people pushing their aspirations and following their dreams is not only empowering and fulfilling for them, it leaves a positive mark on everyone else, too. Our common future depends on the aspirations of the next generation and any young person can be a change maker! HOW DOES IT WORK? Everything starts with a dream, we want to inspire them and make sure that it does not stop there, too. With the right courage, determination and focus you can make your dreams become ever more real and eventually you might even grow beyond what you and others thought you could be. Here is how you and your dream can travel far and wide: Why visualise? When visualising a dream or goal, you become much more aware of it and can solidify its details. The visualisation will bring added clarity to your dream and make it easier for your brain to remember it as well. Visualising a dream also means that you spend more time dreaming actively, which lets your brain emit serotonin, making you feel happy and capable. In terms of the campaign, the 140 characters of a Tweet are rather little to fully explain a dream so an attached visualisation will make it easier for others to understand and remember your dream. Visual content is also more powerful than text and will further amplify your message.

Why share? Sharing your dream is the central part of the campaign, especially to make sure your dream is heard by others. With Twitter as the main platform, a vast audience in addition to participants will be able to see and respond to your dream. It will help spark a global dialogue about what matters most to young people around the world and is the basis for several of our other exciting plans to amplify your dreams, see further down for more details. On a personal level, sharing dreams and goals is well known to increase ownership, commitment and thus the likelihood to act on them. It will also allow you to connect with others around shared interests and passions so that you can support and inspire each other to follow your dreams. Why now? 2015 marks a year with several major events which will significantly define the future of young people everywhere. Among others, the UN Post-2015 Summit will set the development agenda for the next 15 years and the COP21 Conference will determine international action on climate change. Backed by thousands of dreams from young people across the world, we can call on the leaders at these events to take action for a brighter future. Case Study: Tererai Trent Tererai was born and raised in a rural village in Zimbabwe where she lived without running water and electricity. Unable to go to school because she was a woman she had no hopes for the future. She was forced to marry at age eleven and was a mother of three by the age of eighteen. In 1991, her village was visited by an aid worker who asked her a simple yet powerful question: “What is your dream for the future?” Tererai dreamed of an education and shared her dreams for the future. The aid worker’s response to her courageous dreams was: “If you believe in your dreams, they become achievable.” These words have tremendously altered the way Tererai thought about her future. Tererai’s mother encouraged her to write her dreams of going to America for a higher education. Together they sealed them in a tin can and burried them under a rock, ultimately redesigning her future. In doing so, she became her own dream keeper and broke down the vicious cycle of poverty in her life.

Tererai could have never imagined that her strong belief in her dreams would one day earn her several degrees. Today Tererai holds a PhD and is the founder of an international non-profit advocating for equal rights to education. She was also a keynote speaker at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit where she used her story to appeal to international businesses to invest in equal access to quality education. HOW CAN I PARTICIPATE?

1. Ask yourself: "What is my dream for the future?", you can focus on your personal future as well as the future of the world around you.

2. Visualise your dream in a format you feel is appropriate, 3. Write your dream and the hashtag #TweetaDream in 140 characters

and tweet it with your visualisation attached as a photo or video. Visualising Take some time and any materials you wish to use for visualising your dream. Let your creativity and imagination decide what you would like to make! For inspiration we prepared a selection of different media which you can find here. And most importantly, have fun! Sharing If you can, share your dream via Twitter since it will give your dream the largest audience and make it easier for you to see and connect with the dreams of others. It will also make the collective voice of young people everywhere stronger, so even if you don’t find enough time to visualise it, be sure to at least share it. If you cannot use Twitter, try these alternatives:

A. Ask someone to tweet it for you, it could be for instance your teacher, parent or just someone you trust.

B. Send it via email to the #TweetaDream ambassador of your country, he or she will tweet it for you on June 1st.

C. Share it via another social media platform such as Facebook and make sure it can be seen publicly together with the hashtag.

While #TweetaDream is made for children and youth, everyone is invited! Please note however, children below the age of 13 are legally prohibited from using social media and will have to take make use of options A or B. Not sure how to use Twitter? Check our guide! More open questions left? See our FAQ or get in touch with us at any time, we are here to help you.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTERWARDS? Our work will not end on the 1st of June, in fact, the time following the global event will be the start of several plans and further opportunities to inspire, amplify and connect the dreams of young people everywhere. The ability to see young people’s dreams from across the world opens up beautiful possibilities some of which we have selected and listed below: A. Exchange of Dreams Between Schools Confirmed After the global event, teachers and schools will be able to exchange sets of dreams with other classes and schools from a different country. B. Big Data Analysis & Visualisation of Dreams Fundraising With the power of big data tools we can showcase both in a beautiful and informative way what young people care about around the world. C. Represent Young People’s Dreams at Major Events In planning With young people being impacted the most by the big decisions of today but having the least influence, we represent their voices at these events. D. Art Exhibition of Selected Dream Visualisations Call for partners To draw further attention to the most powerful and widely shared dreams we consider organising an international exhibition with selected dream visualisations emerging out of the campaign and global Twitter dialogue. E. Hackathon Inspired by Dreams Call for partners Beyond sparking a global dialogue about what matters to young people we also want to inspire action and solutions around common challenges. In the long term, we hope the #TweetaDream campaign and its projects will contribute to the next generation living fulfilled and at its full potential, making a difference in their own and other people’s lives. Eventually, we wish to see today’s dreams become tomorrow’s world. Have an idea for a great project we should consider doing? Get in touch and let us know, we look forward to working with you to make it happen!

WHO IS OUR FUTURE WORLD?

OurFuture.World is an award-winning non-profit organisation set up by three young social entrepreneurs and supported by a network of currently 50+ ambassadors across 6 continents. Our ambassadors are young leaders themselves, proving what is possible when you believe in your dreams.

In addition, we are excited to work with a number of wonderful partners around the world who support us in our work and share our passion for inspiring young people to dream big and follow their dreams. Our network is growing by the day, please check our website and social media channels for further details and the latest updates.

Who is my ambassador?

Golam Kibrea golam@ourfuture.world

Golam is a global youth policy expert, frequent community organiser and development activist with a focus on education, youth empowerment and environmental sustainability. Among several international institutions, he is working with UN agencies on incorporating the voices of children and youth in their development agenda. He also spoke at a number of UN conferences as a special youth speaker and subsequently played a role as “Special Rapporteur” in various policy dialogues.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TODAY: WWW.OURFUTURE.WORLD/SIGN-UP

Please do not hesitate to contact your ambassador or OurFuture.World at mail@ourfuture.world and follow us on social media for the latest updates!