2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the digital or ambient execution or campaign.

We have created a virtual pump as an installation that could be toured in various location for participation. The pump feels very much like pumping water for real, as on a large display user can see a syncronised water flow filling a bottle as well as water scarcity knowledge, and motivation. For each filled bottle, information about what the water pumped will achieve is displayed. And more significant the amount pumped is, higher is the achievement, from saving a child for a day to an entire village for a month. People felt compelled to continue using the pump as they directly saw what their contribution would enable. And when their effort was slowing down, our on-screen host was giving them encouragement. Upon completion, each participant could enter their name and see it on a sticker stuck to the bottles (for real) they had pumped helping MBRGI to humanise their mission.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

There is a water crisis today in Africa. But the crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy their needs. It is a crisis of managing water so badly that millions of people suffer. Access is an issue and families have to walk many kilometres to fetch it, locking them into a cycle of poverty. Our campaign was designed to create awareness, education and sensitize people about this issue. But as well to allow them to act, and to make them feel empathy towards the one suffering. Another key goal was to raise funds to dig wells as a permanent solution and get bottled water funding as an intermediate solution.