Open Planet launches its Global Advisory Board • News
Open Planet is proud to announce the first members of its Global Advisory Board, bringing together thought leaders and pioneers in planetary health, science, education, film and storytelling.
The advisory board will play a crucial role in steering Open Planet’s ambitious plans to scale its impact, helping to create innovative strategies, amplify diverse voices and stories from across the globe, and foster new collaborations to address the planetary crisis.
Founding members of the advisory board include Amanda Ellis, Global Partnerships Lead at Arizona State University; Marie-Claire Graf, climate justice activist and Co-Founder of the Youth Negotiators Academy; Brad Irwin, Senior Advisor on Climate and Nature at Project Everyone; Prof. Tim Lenton, Director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter and Chair in Climate Change and Earth System Science; Prof. Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Professor and Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health; and Emily Wanja, Director of African Programs at Doc Society.
Their collective knowledge and passion will strengthen Open Planet’s ability to respond to the external landscape and deliver the greatest possible impact in this critical decade for our planet.
The assembly of the board marks one year since Open Planet was first announced. The award-winning open-source footage library now features over 10,000 clips and supports a growing community of changemakers, communicators and campaigners to tell impactful stories about our changing world.
“Balancing issues and perspectives is paramount to achieving Open Planet’s mission. By ensuring that our organisation remains forward-thinking and globally inclusive, the board will help us to accelerate Open Planet’s impact as a cornerstone of the climate movement.”— Colin Butfield, Board Chair at Open Planet
Hear from the first members of our Global Advisory Board
You can also learn more about their background and experiences here.
Amanda Ellis, Global Partnerships Lead for the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University
“Open Planet has a crucially important mission to raise awareness globally of the importance of preserving our natural world. As an economist I think in numbers: the OECD estimate of $95 -$125 trillion per annum of critical ecosystem services provided “free” by Nature. As a human I respond to the stunning beauty of visuals that move me – and hundreds of millions of my fellow humans – to tears and action. What an incredible gift Open Planet is for storytellers and what an incredible investment for liveable global futures.”
Marie-Claire Graf, climate justice activist and Co-Founder of the Youth Negotiators Academy
“In a world where effective nature and justice centred multilateral decisions are more important than ever, the impact of compelling visuals cannot be underestimated — they have the power to inspire action, foster global collaboration, and drive meaningful transformation.
Open Planet helps bridge the gap between the public and policymakers, ensuring that the urgent messages carried by these images reach the decision-makers who hold an important key to our collective future.”
Brad Irwin MBE, Senior Advisor on Climate and Nature at Project Everyone
“How do you catalyse widespread global action around the climate crisis? You democratise access to the world’s greatest natural history footage and let people tell the stories they want to tell.
That’s why I’m passionate about Open Planet. It’s a game changer for the storytellers out there in the world.”
Professor Tim Lenton, Founding Director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter and Chair in Climate Change and Earth System Science
“The climate and nature crisis is now an existential crisis for humanity which is affecting people inequitably in different parts of the world. We need to see and hear these stories from across the globe on the challenges people face and the solutions that work. Open Planet is a powerful, accessible and trusted resource that will enable diverse communities to tell their story, and crucially accelerate the action we need.”
Professor Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in Malaysia
“In a turbulent world facing dangerous planetary challenges, geopolitical tensions and widespread polarisation, where mis- and disinformation is rife, never has the power to tell compelling, factual stories been more important. For real change to happen, re-evaluating our role on this planet, and returning to our core values is critical.
I am delighted to be a part of Open Planet, where such rich resources can be made available to the millions of storytellers around the world that will be able to use powerful images to move humanity in the right direction.”
Emily Wanja, Director of African Programs at Doc Society
“Our era is defined by a battle of narratives, compounded by misinformation and AI. Culture has the power to accelerate public action to hold decision-makers accountable.
Open Planet is a great resource that provides storytelling tools to help build agency and ignite our imagination on what a more climate-just world could look like and our active role in making this a reality.”
For more information about Open Planet, or to discuss opportunities for collaboration, please get in touch: [email protected].
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