CNN International launches ECOSPHERE Project at 17^th UN World Climate Summit 2011

At www.cnn-ecosphere.com, a unique visualisation is being generated that shows a comprehensive picture of Twitter discussions currently taking place on climate change. From 28 November to 9 December, the animation will be seen in the form of a hologram at the United Nations World Climate Summit in Durban.

Starting on 28 November, the United Nations will host the 17^th World Climate Summit in the South African port city of Durban and the world will once again get a close-up view of how the international community intends to fight climate change. With the CNN ECOSPHERE Project, CNN International is collecting the opinions, ideas and thoughts of the global Twitter community on the themes of the World Climate Summit and combining them into a unique animation.

The ECOSPHERE filters and aggregates tweets on the themes of the World Climate Summit using the hashtag #COP17. The tweets generate digital trees in real time. The more often a topic appears on Twitter with the hashtag #COP17, the faster the visualisation grows – from a small shoot to a large a tree. When topics are no longer discussed, the plant, or tree will die, creating room for new discussions. Zooming in on the various twigs and branches will illustrate what topics are of particular interest to participants worldwide.

During the 17^th World Climate Summit, CNN International will take the ECOSPHERE Project to Durban directly: an on-site hologram that will show the delegates in real time what the global Twitter community think about the themes being discussed at the summit.

CNN International will also use the ECOSPHERE Project in its live reporting about the summit. CNN correspondents Robyn Curnow and Diana Magnay will report and comment on events in and around the meeting, exploring what effect the decisions taken in Durban will have on the world, on business and on every individual person on the planet.

The CNN #COP17 ECOSPHERE Project is an initiative by CNN International. It was conceived by Heimat-Berlin and developed and produced by Minivegas (Amsterdam, Los Angeles) in partnership with Stinkdigital (London, New York). You can find more information about the CNN #COP17 Ecosphere Project at www.cnn-ecosphere.com.

In addition, the ECOSPHERE Project will also be part of the December edition of Road to Durban: A Green City Journey. In the months approaching the summit, CNN made the journey to Durban starting in the UK and travelling across Germany and Turkey reporting on local climate protection projects. In December, Road to Durban: A Green City Journey will be dedicated to the themes of the 17^th World Climate Summit. For more information, please go to www.cnn.com/roadtodurban.