Anatomy of Action

The Anatomy of Action activates people to contribute to SDG 12. It provides core actions people can take in the domains of Food, Mobility, Leisure (consumer goods and tourism) and Housing. They help activate sustainable living for people. UNEP developed this media toolkit with the Unschool of Disruptive Design, founded by 2016 UN Champion of the Earth Leyla Acaroglu as a contribution to the One Planet Network Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Programme. The Anatomy of Action (AoA) separates lifestyles into 5 main domains: food, stuff, move, money and stuff, and maps out top-priority actions individuals everywhere can take to reduce their carbon footprint based on scientific evidence. To test the potential of the AoA a 15 day social media Take Action Challenge was launched with a grassroots approach by engaging global influencers to encourage their communities to make sustainable lifestyle changes based on the AoA (visible on #Anatomyofaction). In doing so, youth were targeted globally – the next generation of consumers and change-makers - to show that sustainable living is easy, cool and fun. The challenge format introducing one action every day can be reactivated at any time. The images and videos can be used by individuals, on social media, and organisations helping people to live more sustainably. Over 1,000 #AnatomyOfAction posts from 40 countries were shared during the challenge, to an audience of a combined 5 million followers. The challenge was supported by UNEP social media and contributed to the #Actnow UN Campaign around the Climate Summit. The AoA was featured in Business & Industry UK. AoA assets and videos are designed for individuals and organisations educating on sustainable living, and anyone can start their own Take Action Challenge based on the AoA at any time. We plan to reactivate this kind of challenge around major events such as IUCN Global Summit next year in Marseilles.