Leading figures from advertising, marketing, the arts and education, including Sir John Hegarty, Rory Sutherland, Sir Mark Thompson, Pip Jamieson, Dr Juli Beattie and Sophie Devonshire, are backing the launch of a new global charity and awards scheme, designed to showcase the power of visual creativity to tackle pressing social issues.
The first focus of Art For Social Change (AFSC) will be the epidemic of loneliness with a “proof of concept” campaign launching across London on January 18 2027, Blue Monday.
The free-to-enter AFSC awards are inviting submissions from agencies, universities, colleges and schools and are supported by the creative, advertising, design, behavioural sciences and education sectors. Entries will be judged on their ability to drive behaviour change and attitudes towards loneliness and will be ranked using a cutting-edge neuro and behavioural science methodology to determine their Behavioural Change Energy (BCE) score.
The awards have been designed as a repeatable process that can address any human challenge – from loneliness to inclusivity. Over time AFSC will build the first global, evidence-based movement for behaviour-changing art.
The closing date for entries in this first iteration of the scheme is July 31, with the shortlisted 50 and top ten announced on October 1. The top ten will form the centrepiece of a major London behavioural change campaign to be displayed on digital out of home sites, with media space already donated by Bauer Media Outdoor.
The charity and awards scheme is the brainchild of behavioural change expert Crawford Hollingworth and supported by leading industry bodies including The IPA, The Marketing Society, DMA, companies including Bauer Media Outdoor, Omnicom, thenetworkone and educational organisations including UAL, Bournemouth University, Nottingham Trent, ARK academy and The Harris Federation, with many more joining the movement each week.
Explaining what motivated him to create the charity, Art For Social Change, Hollingworth said: “We all know art and advertising can change behaviour. Advertising has nudged us to reshape our attitudes to social issues over the years. We’ve shifted norms, triggered emotion, encouraged action, moved culture at scale.
“But right now there is a void of large scale strategic and scientifically led creative campaigns tackling negative social issues so Art For Social Change is stepping forward to fill that void. The enthusiasm that has greeted our attempt to remind everyone of the power of our creative industry to tackle social issues and ultimately to change lives is really heartening.”
MSQ vice chair Stephen Maher, who is an advisor to the charity, added: “London is a leading global creative capital, so it makes sense for us to launch our charity here. And loneliness is our first focus because It’s an epidemic that crosses generations, with 1 in 3 adults feeing lonely regularly (WHO/BMJ) and 1 in 2 young people in the UK reporting loneliness (BMJ). Our behavioural change mission is simple: To make London friendlier. More caring. More empathic. Less lonely.”
Launch date for the first AFSC campaign is the aptly chosen Blue Monday, arguably the most depressing day of the year. The AFSC team will track and measure the behavioural impact of the work pre and post exposure.
Over time, AFSC will build a global database of Nudge Art and the world’s first Visual Data Bank; a permanent, open source, evolving library of scientifically tested artworks proven to change behaviour. Teachers, councils, NGOs and consumers worldwide will be able to download and use these evidence-based images to help tackle negative social issues.
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