Collaborative processes, such as the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit, provide evidence of humankind’s power to visualize change and its resolve to see that change materialize. Our data visualization’s theme, “when spider webs unite they can tie up a lion”, stems from the belief that there are more solutions than problems in the world, when we choose to unite.
This data visualization is an exploration of our world. We survey the landscape of both the global bad news (the lion) and the global good news (the spider webs). Then we end our journey exploring the power to unite (human empathy). Through this last section, we find out what people are thinking worldwide and listen to what humanitarians are saying through the World Humanitarian Summit.
This visualization represents a sampling of global information to provide an overall picture for discussion and dialogue purposes and it may be viewed from the lens of many different academic disciplines including psychology, sociology, geography, education and more.
This visualization is a submission to #VisualizeChange, a World Humanitarian Summit data challenge powered by UniteIdeas.
Explore the global “bad news” such as poverty, disease, death and inequality. What are the causes of our suffering, where is it happening, and by how much?
Explore the global “good news” and see the wealth of resources that we as a human species have, such as educational, financial, natural resources and more.
Explore the World Humanitarian Summit dialogue and see what people are thinking and feeling worldwide. Is there a link between psychosocial conditions and the global good and bad news?
Amidst chaos and confusion, we see courage and collaboration. Amidst hardship, we see heart and hope. Amidst even the most deafening and horrendous evils - of which we can barely comprehend - the indomitable human spirit continues to emerge, starting with a single humanitarian, seemingly frail at first, but becoming fierce when joined in collaboration with other humanitarian actors. Out of the shadows, the humanitarian “net” becomes that determined, collective and resolute force, standing tall, with eyes wide open, to visualize change, to see preventable problems tamed and implement solutions to mitigate known risks.
The scope and scale of world humanitarian issues requires global citizens to broaden their view of what constitutes an effective humanitarian crisis prevention and relief strategy, while still addressing the most acute needs. We believe part of the collective “glue” for good involves human empathy. Such a topic, once relegated to the fields of faith, family, and philosophy is worthy of further exploration as it may play a pivotal role in creating a long term climate of global cooperation. When empathy is strategically cultivated, students of empathy become practitioners of empathy, impacting their families, their communities, their countries and the world for good.
The Adsila Retreat would like to thank the United Nations and the World Humanitarian Summit for the opportunity to explore the world of global humanitarian action through the #VisualizeChange challenge. The six weeks we spent on this project were thoroughly exciting and challenging and most importantly, educational and eye opening for all of us as we explored intriguing data from many sources and datasets that we may not have otherwise explored. The process sparked many stimulating and thought-provoking discussions which we will never forget and we are grateful for the experience.
We would also like to thank the following collaborators, researchers and advisors for lending their invaluable expertise and ideas on this project, which could not have been completed except through our collective efforts:
Project Lead: Maraya Pearson M.B.A, Founder / President The Adsila Retreat.
Research Support: Stacey Mayo, M.A., President, Educational Harbor; Kaitlin Collier, Parsons School of Design; Jill Young, Founder Reino Ranch; Hank Hurst, Siemens; Shanti Hill, J.D. Beusse Wolter Sanks Mora & Maire, P.A.
Faculty / Research Advisors: Surendra Pratap Singh, M.A.S., Ed.D., FPPR, FACAP, FMSI, Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida, Retired Neuropsychologist; Nancy Eisenberg, Ph.D, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University; Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, Ph.D. Professor, Interim Director, Human Early Learning Partnership, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, Faculty of Education, The University of British Columbia; Jennifer Lansford, Ph.D, Research Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University; Linda Dusenbury, Research Consultant, Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning; Roger P. Weissberg, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education and NoVo Foundation Endowed Chair in Social and Emotional Learning, University of Illinois at Chicago; Dale Hewitt Collier, Kings Counsel & Trust
Geographer and Mapping Consultant: Ibrahim Mohammed
Website Design: eNox Media
Intern: Jessica Carmer, Perry High School
Infographics and databases are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Questions or comments? Email us at info@adsilaretreat.org.