CNN launched the ECOSPHERE Project: A living digital ecosystem growing from tweets tagged with #COP17. CNN used a multi-channel campaign to invite the world to plant a thought with a tweet and watch the discussion evolve in real-time on the ECOSPHERE microsite: www.cnn-ecosphere.com The project began to spread on and offline, and as tweets poured in the ECOSPHERE began to flourish. Then the ECOSPHERE emerged inside COP17 as a digital installation bringing 120,000 voices to the conference. CNN then brought the conversation back to the airwaves as tweets became the subject of debates involving international COP17 delegates.

In November 2011, the UN hosted the COP17 Conference on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa. CNN wanted to make climate change topical again, and drive interest to their coverage of the COP17 Conference. The core strategy was not only to allow people to engage with the story but to become an integral part of it. To pique interest in COP17 by inviting the audience to take part - and have their point of view represented at the conference.

The ECOSPHERE Project brought over 120,000 voices to the COP17 Conference in Durban. The Project generated 6.7m media impressions in the 1 month of the action (non-CNN media).20m viewers tuned-in to follow CNN TV’s coverage of the COP17 Conference. Today the ECOSPHERE continues to grow, displaying over 226,000 tweets from around the world**(as of 27 March 2012)

The ECOSPHERE Project showed the world a truly global perspective on the topic of climate change. It strengthened CNN’s core brand promise to take the audience ‘beyond borders’ by empowering hundreds of thousands to have their statements present at the COP17 conference. The Project also underlined CNN’s promise to present the story in new dynamic ways, making the viewer part of the evolving story. The ECOSPHERE Project also utilised all 3 CNN media platforms: TV, Internet and Mobile.