In December, the island nation of Palau started requiring tourists to sign the Palau Pledge, a promise to not harm the environment during their stay that is stamped into their passports. With its tourist-dependent economy, Palau is the first nation to issue a mandatory eco-pledge. The country introduced it along with a mandatory in-flight video on respecting the environment and a ‘do’s & don’ts’ checklist. In the poem-like pledge, visitors to Palau must vow to ‘tread lightly, act kindly and explore mindfully’. 

Who ever saw their passport as anything other than functional?! In today’s saturated attention landscape, the omnichannel battle will be won by those who find innovative and appropriate new channels (our CONTEXTUAL OMNIPRESENCE trend). The Palau Pledge uses the passport as a totally new, unavoidable channel for getting its message across to tourists. And by stamping the pledge into passports, it reaches tourists at the right time: before they have the chance to wreak environmental havoc.

Furthermore, this initiative demonstrates how even the smallest of nations can capture global attention - see the Sheep View project from the Faroe Islands for more inspiration on this front! So if you’re an up-and-comer or less well-known as you’d like to be: can you find a new channel that will put your organization on the map?

Want more? Clients can set up weekly innovation digests for relevant topics. They also get full access to the 19,000+ innovations in our online database and 50+ reports a year, including our exclusive 2018 Trend Report. Learn more »