Leaders Build with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methods : United Nations Summit in New York City

On September 19 & 20, 2013, members of the North America Strategic Play® Global were on-site in New York City for the United Nations Leadership Summit. You may have already heard that LEGO® presented the United Nations with a large LEGO® UN Model to thank the UN Secretary-General for his work in the area of education. It was wonderful to see Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, representing the LEGO® Group, present the model to Ban Ki-moon, who placed the final brick with the UN flag onto the model. Huge excitement surrounded this moment!  

It was a big honour to attend and to have the opportunity to facilitate using LEGO®'s methodology and materials. Four members of our team joined the LEGO® Foundation Team to facilitate at the education fair. The discussion revolved around the serious issues of Human Rights, Education Reform, and Caring for the Environment. Global leaders who attended built their ideas and added them to a large shared model of these United Nations focus topics. 

Leaders came, built, made their stories, and reflected. Many people took photographs and some even videotaped themselves telling the larger model story, so they could return to their home countries and present the ideas of the event.  It was a great example of how LEGO® bricks can be used to help people express their ideas and inner thoughts, and how the bricks provide a powerful visual tool for greater understanding through storytelling.