This year over 2300 artists, designers, poets, and activists registered to compete for awards and cash prizes in flash animation, spoken word, digital video, and best entry. Their task was to create short multimedia pieces that can inspire, amuse and activate people who believe that a better world is possible. You can watch all of the award-winning Multimedia entries here: http://multimedia.globalsolutions.org

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"A new creed must be declared;
One that can be shared.
As we take this great responsibility we've been given
And collectively create
A new found world
That we want to live in."

Those are the lines that inspired 22-year-old Rowan North, the Overall Winner of our 2008 Multimedia contest. Rowan, from Lopez Island, Washington, took the top prize of $2,000 with his digital video titled, Declare a Paradigm. His success was remarkable for two reasons: it was the first time Rowan had entered the contest; and he picked a different subject from our suggested theme -- Failing Darfur: Five Years On. Instead, Rowan focused on the need for responsible global engagement.

"In today's world people from all walks of life find themselves navigating some pretty chaotic waters," he explained. "I ask people to declare the paradigm in which they want to live and coexist. I have unwavering faith in human ingenuity and firmly believe that we can create whatever reality we wish to experience."

Getting students like Rowan involved in global issues is exactly what the contest was designed to do. Contest creator Valerie Schrock said many of the contest's participants had not been involved in global issues before.

"We're asking young people to look at issues such as poverty, climate change and peacekeeping and present some real solutions," said Schrock. "What we're getting back from them is smart, edgy and ultimately hopeful. This is refreshing for people who are sick and tired of only hearing bad news about the world."

Other winners say the contest also showed them how little attention global issues receive in the U.S.

"When we began this project, our original assumption was that we'd find all these statistics, graphs, and charts in major newspapers that we could highlight," said Wil Kristin, leader of a group that won the Digital Video category. "It was depressing when our search came up almost empty and we were reminded of how relatively little coverage there has been of [Darfur,] particularly in American news outlets."

Teresa Crout agrees. "I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about global issues, but, WOW, this contest really has opened my eyes to the sad state of affairs in Darfur," she said. "The information is out there, but it does not get nearly the attention that other issues, such as climate change, get." Teresa's entry titled, 26 Second Guide to Darfur, won the Flash Animation category; Wil Kristin, Ashely Kiehnau and Simon Stumpf titled their digital video, Drawing Conclusions.

For many of our entrants, the contest is a springboard for work on other global issues. "Right now I am doing promotional videography for a trans-partisan social sector organization focusing in the areas of smart growth," said Rowan.

Jessica Mitchell, who won the Spoken Word category, is expanding her research on women's issues.

"The contest has definitely opened my eyes and helped me to understand the complexities of the situation," said the 23-year-old graduate student at Syracuse University. "People are dying, being raped, and being kidnapped on a daily basis. A solution must be found, and soon."

You can watch all of the award-winning Multimedia entries here: http://multimedia.globalsolutions.org. Better yet, you can meet the winners in person at our annual meeting, which will be held in Washington, DC March 19-21.