The campaign began with a bang as we secretly wrapped IDB’s iconic building and revealed it to much fanfare; celebrating
IDB’s 50 years of thinking and acting differently, 50 years of unfollowing.
The message was communicated across all relevant channels, key stakeholders and media were the invitees.
One driver of the campaign was the involvement of citizens to foster change. Instead of a top-down approach to change, we applied the inverse.
The Unfollow Box, a state-of-the-art portable booth, was a main vehicle in this pursuit, appearing throughout the country in public spaces and at events, giving citizens a different platform to share their ideas and solutions for a better Trinidad and Tobago.
Pillar Event 1 – Empowering citizens to lead change
Flowing from the Unfollow theme, the IDB’s Pillar 1 Event was a mix of immersive content and interactive panel discussions.
Topics ranged from protection of natural resources, crime, traffic and the gap between the field of study and suitable employment.
As a highlight, attendees were treated to a virtual reality tour of a coral reef , a proposed alternative tourist attraction that would help protect the delicate Buccoo Reef from human interference.
Introduction of the Next Gen Board.
As effective leadership, more specifically, leadership in and commitment to transformative ideas is essential to sustained development, we created the NextGen Board. A working group made up of young professionals and people with young ideas from diverse disciplines who will pursue the IDB’s “Unfollow” mission of development. Established in 2017, the NextGen Board continues to attract new ‘ideaters’ today who will lead our thinking into tomorrow.
Pillar Event 2 – Change through fun and experience
The “Cheer Fair”, a plastic-free, community-based, street fair-style event was the IDB’s 2nd Pillar Event, aimed at Fostering Human Development through fun,
interactive and educational displays and exhibitions.
The event featured NGC‘s “I am Movement” which emphasized how citizens can “REThink Energy” and promote energy efficiency. The North East Regional Health Authority set up mobile clinics offering free health-testing and representatives of “Adopt a River” explained the importance of water sources and the impact that water pollution has on contaminating water basins and how it contributes to flooding.
Attendees were also able to experience life from the other gender’s point of view via a VR tour. The tour followed a female as she dealt with hyper male sexual aggression at every turn in the form of catcalling. The aim was to educate men to unfollow such behaviour.
Pillar Event 3 – TransFormNation
For the final Pillar Event 3, we continued to give our participants
a new experience and new perspectives on procurement, red tape
and gender equality with campfire sessions, silent events and interactive installations. The event closed with the President’s Award recognizing projects in the public and private sector.
