Our crowdfunding campaign

Our people are ready

At this very moment three junior reporters in three different countries are waiting for the green light to feature stories about climate change. Belal Taheri in Iran, Sarin Prom in Cambodja en Animul Islam in Bangladesh have been asked by us to wait until the initial sponsoring has been taken care of. Some dozens of young correspondents all over the world are in the starting blocks to cooperate as well. The proposed fees for them may be very modest, for western standards even low budget, but the motivation to act is high.

That’s why we start this campaign. To get the wheel into motion and the first 45 videos about global warming financed. We hope and believe that the channel will be vital enough by that time to manage without crowdfunding.

Our platform is ready

The website Cool Down The Planet has been completed in the last few months. It’s supposed to become a journalistic video platform that maps the regional impacts of climate change and human abilities to find solutions. Besides people can drop their own short video and express their views and concerns.

As a not-for-profit foundation based in the Netherlands, we want in the first place to commit young reporters and correspondents. Though more experienced professionals will be welcomed too on our semi-professional platform.

When it comes to funding, we hope that a growing number of COOL partners will support our video mission. People and companies can adopt one or more future videos, to be recorded at any place in the world. They will be creditied for this in the video and on the website.

Starting in the spring of 2019, we are endeavouring to launch an ever growing number of small and basic film projects around the world. Let’s go for it and give it a try!

Are you ready?

Now we are at the stage of launching the videos and requesting you to step into this journey. How can you be involved? Lend your (company) name to these videos, adopt one or more of them, and be a VERY COOL sponsor.

It’s a relatively low budget project! We need € 750,- per item for the first 45 video reports. This fee will be distributed fully to our correspondents, reporters and editor.

The videos will clearly show your (company) name in the credits. Besides your (company) name gets good visibility on our website.

How did we come to this point?

The story of Cool Down the Planet is linked to a small group of TU Delft students brought together by the Dutch journalist-filmmaker Roelf van Til. That’s me – the initiator of Cool Down the Planet and of this Indiegogo campaign.

The phenomenon of climate change got ahold of me half of my professional life. As a professional TV-reporter, based in the Netherlands, I committed myself 13 years ago to making films about sustainable energy solutions. It resulted in the production of many hundreds of small movies commissioned by energy companies, knowledge institutes and governments.

Delft University of Technology asked me, supported by some students, to work out a plan to set up an international ‘online’ tool to reduce the impact of global warming. As a result – and after some detours – the concept of a grand journalistic video expedition was born. Why not try to document both the impact of climate change and the way people try to counter it? Why not start the first video channel about climate change?!

Running an international video channel did not really fit into the core business of an established Dutch university, and so it was up to us to take up the flag and upgrade our dreams and ideas all by ourselves. And so that’s what we do. Now it’s time to spread our wings and fly, but that will only succeed with your support!

Best wishes, Roelf van Til – initiator