Introduction
im4u.world launched its Global Survey on April 22, 2021 (Earth Day). The survey asks what people globally believe are humanity's most urgent issues. It follows up by asking how those issues affect our lives and communities, the opportunities and constraints to finding resolution, and our willingness to participate in the solution.
The im4u.world Global Survey Report 2022 is the first annual report of the results. The report is presented here as a series of Learn-Engage-Empower blog chapters. The series will follow the 15 questions of the survey over two months (July and August).
The report represents the results of one year of data collection and analysis. We hope you find the results thought-provoking and inspiring. The results will be the basis of engaging in productive discussion to find solutions to some of our most pressing problems facing humanity. We hope this inspires you and your communities of interest to take action and make a meaningful difference in our world.
The Global Survey
The Global Survey is one of the bases of the Learn-Engage-Empower model that underpins im4u.world's mission, mainly the Learn function. Thirteen Collaborators representing multiple disciplines developed the Global Survey.
The survey consists of 15 questions, of which 13 are open-ended, and two are numeric. The survey begins by asking about the respondent's vision of the future for the world. The questioning then immediately turns to a local community context and takes the respondent through a series of questions about obstacles and opportunities in their community and with themself.
Survey respondents came from 13 countries - Bangladesh, Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sweden, the United States, and Uruguay. 54.11% of the respondents identified as he/him/his, 44.12% as she/her/her, 0.59% as they/them/their and 1.18% as ze/hir/hir. The age of the respondents: 0.59% 21 years of age or less; 13.61% 22 to 35 years old; 16.57% 36 to 49 years old; 36.68% 50 to 64 old; and 32.55% 65 years of age and older.
Did you know? The Global Survey is ongoing, and it is never too late to complete one. Please visit the im4u.world Global Survey today at https://www.im4u.world/globalsurvey. Every voice matters.
Question 1: Imagine you are now living 25 years into the future. What is your vision of the world, then? What do you hope it will be?
Summary: Many respondents envisioned an ideal future state governments operated, and society behaved, more responsibly and humanely. These changes would then enable humanity to fully or partially resolve many other issues affecting us.
im4u.world Collaborators' Discussion
A Potential Vision:
In 25 years, governments and society acknowledge and actively pursue a collective responsibility to ensure the well-being of the whole planet and all that lives here. There is an innate understanding of the interconnectedness of all that exists on Earth and that resources are finite. Sustainability and resiliency are everyday operative terms. Humanity is a kinder, open society of governments and people. That enables us to collectively reverse climate change, nurture a healthy and sustainable natural environment, and actively create prosperity, peace, and equality for everyone.
Civility, cooperation, and collaboration are central to most people's future visions. The ability to work together includes politics, leadership, social media, and human. The spiritual topic category mirrors this, too, identifying attitudinal and behavioral changes needed. Civility, cooperation, and collaboration require an internal shift in an individual's state of being and behavior.
Typically, most problems in the past affected only a subset of humanity, such as war and food insecurity. Humanity is experiencing issues affecting everyone, such as climate change and pandemics.
When people collaborate and cooperate civilly at all levels of society, it is more likely that humanity can find and implement the complex and coordinated solutions needed to solve our biggest problems. That is a dominant theme throughout all the questions, not just this one.
Sustainability and resiliency are two concepts coming through repeatedly in people's future visions.
There is an awareness of the interconnectedness of the human and natural systems and that resources on Earth are finite.
People talked about traditional measures for the natural environment, such as cleaning up and polluting less.
People recognize a connection between our consumption of consumer goods and some of the problems we face. There is a call for a future where humanity chooses to consume less.
Climate change is a separate topic because of the current global interest; however, many may consider it a subset of the Planet & Environment category.
It will be interesting to see how Climate Change as a topic category weaves through the remaining survey results.
Issues related to equality are essential to resolve, and it connects with topics related to Spiritual and Health categories. That may reflect current events and interest globally in racial equality, women's rights, LGTBQ+ issues, human trafficking, immigration, and refugees. Many people envisioned a future with these issues resolved.
There appears to be a COVID-19 echo in the survey responses, particularly under the Health category, which includes personal and public health. There seems to be a tacit acceptance that there will be more pandemics in the future, but they are managed better with less human suffering.
The snapshot of the ongoing survey results occurred before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That may have affected the low mention of peace-related topics in the responses.
Do you think humanity is heading in a good direction?
Yes
No
Unsure
Important Caveat
The Global Survey is not a statistical survey, meaning that the method by which it was designed and administered yielded statistically significant results. The results are not a statistical representation of the world's population. Anyone was welcome to answer the survey. More importantly, the survey results will define the topics and framework starting the next phase of im4u.world's development, Engagement. Subscribe to im4u.world for updates and an invitation to join global conversations. There is no cost and no obligation. Visit: https://www.im4u.world/join-subscribe-contact
07072022A1/8
Join us next week for Global Survey Question 2: What problems do you have in your community today that must be solved before they could be part of your vision of the future?
im4u.world is an ambitious project designed to build positive and constructive conversations worldwide, share learning experiences and make real change locally.
Make a difference in the world. We can show you how.
Comments