Photo by The First Earth Run – Empowerment Institute – Inititative of Global Action Plan for the Earth
The Vision and the Story
David Gershon
In 1986, at the height of the Cold War, a torch of peace was passed around the world. The First Earth Run, in partnership with the United Nations, engaged a billion people through the media, 25 million people on the ground, and 45 heads-of-state in 62 countries. For 86 days wherever the torch of peace went all wars stopped and the world was united as one.
Thousands of groups around the world worked together cooperatively to achieve this audacious goal at a time when there was limited communication connectivity and very few social networks. Everything had to be scrapped together piecemeal. But the world was ready then so it happened in spite of these limitations. The world is even more ready now!
What we’re proposing is not a 3-month experience of Peace on Earth, but a 7-year plan to actually create Peace on Earth by 2030. Humanity’s most profound dream for itself. We call it a moonshot for humanity!
Our mantra is John Lennon's “Imagine” which has become the global anthem. He sings: “Imagine all the people livin’ life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.”
This grand adventure for humanity’s future is based on the seven strategies that ignited and enabled the world to come together in common cause to bring a torch of peace around the world. These seven strategies have evolved into a Peace Intensive called the “Peace Game.” The Peace Game is combined with robust social change tools carefully honed and tested in hundreds of cities with millions of people over these ensuing four decades. This includes deep knowledge in the science of tipping points and non linear change.
Add to this the global communication connectivity, deep social networks, and profound yearning for a better world, and the conditions for the impossible to once again become possible are in place? If not now, when? If not us, who? We can do this!
Empowerment Institute — creator of the First Earth Run, in cooperation with many dedicated partners, including the Charter for Compassion, is leading this initiative. We are doing this by inviting the world to play the Peace Game and practice its seven peace actions which enables one to become a person of peace in their life and community. This evolves into Peace on Earth (POE) Zones that reweave the social fabric of a community transforming that which separates us into that which brings us together and learning how to cooperate for the common good.
Community by community, year by year, over the 2020’s we will witness the dawning of Peace on Earth and ushering in of the golden age civilization prophesied for humanity.
Our Peace Results
We achieved the following results in our 5-year pilot and demonstration phases and have now entered the global scaling phase.
- 50 plus partner organizations are promoting the Peace Game to their members around the world.
- 5,600 plus people have played the Peace Game.
- Across 13 countries and 7 Peace on Earth Zones.
- They have taken over 35,000 actions.
- Befriended over 14,000 people.
- The Peace Game has touched the lives of 8,750,000 people. (Our rubric is that each action influences a minimum of 25 people and ripples out from them to a minimum of 10 people.)
Watch the Video Overview of the First Earth Run:
