Mission

Purpose

This organization exists to inspire behavior change to create a better world by primarily having people adopt more plant-based practices in their lives (also referred to as plant-forward). We focus foundationally on plant-based practices given the predominance of scientific research evidence supporting plant-based practices as a key solution to the global challenges of climate change, animal and human suffering, food insecurity, human illness, and biodiversity loss. We use user experience research methods to understand our audience, to identify best practices, and we then use design and filmmaking to create a documentary as well as mini documentaries otherwise known as social media reels to inspire the appropriate behavior changes.   

Using the power of research, design, and filmmaking to inspire behavior change for a better world

We also realize that Generative AI, as a new technology that is rapidly emerging, is drastically compromising most climate goals given its much heavier use of energy. Inspiring people to go more plant-based will offset some of the increased climate risk of Generative AI but we are also examining additional ways of improving various aspects of Generative AI itself for a better world, including promoting behaviors that will reduce its energy consumption, make it more inclusive, mitigate bias, increase transparency, and even to provide answers to plant-based questions.   

Focus  

We focus on plant-based practices because they are a powerful, known, and behavior-based solution to the problems we’ve identified. We work on the following questions.

How might we inspire people to adopt more of a plant-based lifestyle in order to:

  • significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve water and land resources, and decrease deforestation, in order to contribute to the fight against climate change

  • reduce animal suffering and death by decreasing the demand for meat, dairy, and other animal products

  • reduce human suffering of slaughterhouse workers who endure significant physical and psychological trauma due to the constant exposure to the witnessing and participating in the killing of animals

  • alleviate food insecurity and famine because plant-based nutrition is several fold more efficient than meat-based nutrition 

  • reduce the prevalence of numerous illnesses and improving overall health outcomes

  • reduce the pressures that animal agriculture places on ecosystems and thereby slowing biodiversity loss

  • reduce subsidies for animal agriculture and redirect the funds to social programs

  • offset the increased negative climate impact of Generative AI and promoting behaviors to reduce its energy consumption, make it more inclusive, mitigate bias, increase transparency, and create the capability of using GenAI to provide ready and accurate answers to plant-based questions to facilitate the adoption of habits for a better world.   


Plant-based is our foundational focus but teams can explore other solutions after they’ve exhausted plant-based behavior change ones and the Generative AI teams will definitely need to explore beyond plant-based even though the work of the teams working on the other challenges with plant-based as a solution will help offset the negative climate impact of it.   

Values

We take a research- and evidence-based approach to all we do. We study the existing prior research, we conduct our own research on human behavior to understand why a person isn’t adopting a known solution and what strategies have worked by others in effectively adopting the solution. We meet people where they are rather than assuming we already know. We also value the power of filmmaking in effectively communicating the results of our work. And in all that we do, we abide by a set of privacy and ethical principles.     

Members

The members of this organization are volunteers and they contribute their time and any assets freely and independently of the companies or organizations that employ them.

Audience

The research we do will inform the personas we optimally will need to reach and the themes and strategies we need to use to inspire the desired behavior change.  

Activities

We carry out desk research to understand the prior research documented regarding plant-based solutions to the key challenges we’re addressing. Members then do self research introspecting whether they carry out the desired behaviors, if not why not, and if they do, what was their process of adopting the desired behavior. The team then does that same thing among themselves followed by targeted research outside of the team. The team captures the information gathered into design thinking persona, empathy maps, and as-is scenarios and they vote on the most opportune insights that have been gleaned. While not primarily focused on plant-based solutions, the Generative AI team does the same regarding behaviors involved in the use of Generative AI technology.  


The team then ideates and creates storyboards of the proposed best practices to effect the desired behavior change, then votes on the ideas that are deemed to be the most impactful and easiest to adopt. After that the team summarizes their proposed strategies using storyboards and a prioritization grid and presents them during an all teams Zoom call. 

Film and Media Production

After the research phase, our work in media production begins in earnest. Our objective is the promotion of positive behavior change strategies (as determined in the research phase) through multimedia endeavors. Each behavior change strategy will require a unique translation into media in order to be most effective. This media may be a documentary film, a series of films, short or long form social media content, visual media or podcasts. We aim to produce the content ethically and effectively, with high quality production standards, with a heavy focus on testing the effectiveness of the media, adapting it based on viewer feedback, followed by proper distribution of the media in order to have the maximum impact possible.

Measurement 

Throughout the project, metrics will be central, whether during the research phase, the filmmaking phase, or after the release of the film deliverables. We will research current behaviors, the transition to the desired behaviors, assessing which messages are most efficacious for which global challenges, and a measure of the overall impact we’ve had on inspiring behavior changes for a better world, including both the foundational plant-based solutions and the Generative AI ones.    

Impact

Our goal is to measurably increase the number of people in our targeted audience adopting more plant-based practices and engaging in optimal AI practices for a better world. And we intend to share the results openly and widely.   

Karel and Carly

Co-Founders