Dare to be Grey
The Dare to be Grey initiative is a campaign that challenges the polarization of society and calls on people to recognize the ‘grey’ middle ground between what are often mistakenly considered ‘black and white’ issues. The campaign was initiated in the Netherlands in 2016, and seeks to promote the different views and voices of the large majority of moderate thinkers, which are too often drowned out by more extreme voices. The Dare to be Grey initiative aims to put a stop to the polarization that is dividing societies, and raises awareness through a video and photo series, an online platform, local debates, and an educational program, entitled “Generation Grey.” A survey at the Utrecht University (Amongst 200+ students) showed that people who identified with ‘being grey’ grew from 65,6% to 76,8% within 2 months. 29% of them indicated they wanted to speak out more and 47,8% were considering to speak out more in favour of the Grey middle ground. The campaign has an estimated media reach of 8.000.000, more than 8.000 Facebook followers within a year and a high Facebook engagement rate, between 10 and 25%, depending on the amount of posts per week.