• Building global community
    through conversation

    Big Shared World produces content to inspire curiosity and culturally responsive critical thinking to engage communities in topics of shared concern.

THE STORY

3 Questions. 30 Countries. 300 People.

The Big Shared World 3 Questions:

  1. What does a good life mean to you?
  2. In your opinion, what is the biggest threat to humanity today?
  3. What do you think the world will be like 50 years from now?

Big Shared World began as a quest for better global understanding, seeking to make connections with people and concepts along the way. Driven by a curiosity for global perspectives, Colleen designed a world travel adventure asking people the same three questions as she went. Surpassing her initial goals, over 700 people in 40 countries answered the BSW three questions. Their perspectives and insights guided a transformative experience that will be shared in her forthcoming book.

THE JOURNEY

Over the course of 15 months, the Big Shared World journey took place in 40 countries across six continents. Along the way, over 700 people answered the three questions, creating an international community of people who shared the Big Shared World experience.

Click below for the interactive map to view photo albums from each of the countries visited during the journey.

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THE BOOK

Colleen and Big Shared World is like if a millennial Malcolm Gladwell went on an Eat Pray Love journey. The book’s travel memoir approach will invite readers to come along on the Big Shared World global adventure. Beginning the day Colleen has the idea, the book tells the story of preparing for the ambitious endeavor ahead, including the question design process. Once deciding on the perfect three questions to ask people, readers will be taken on an inquisitive global journey, traveling back and forth from her home in Minnesota to the world on six separate trips to 40 countries around the world. Personal and global discovery is inspired by the richness of the interactions and the sincerity in which people shared their values and perspectives through the Big Shared World questions. The questions provide a thoughtful grounding for conversations around the globe, prompting compelling topics of reflection while traveling. By the end of the book, readers will have gone on a personal journey infused with a unique, analytical approach to better understand specific local and global issues.

When will the book be available?

Traveling to 40 countries over 15 months is one journey, and writing a book about it is another! Sign up to receive updates from Colleen on the publication of Big Shared World.

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ABOUT COLLEEN

When Colleen had the idea for Big Shared World – to travel the world, ask people the same three questions along the way, and write a book about it -nobody told her not to. Instead, everyone in her life thought it was a perfectly suitable project for her to embark on. Always curious, internationally-minded, and up for an adventure, Colleen took off on a remarkable journey to explore our world through engaging in conversations with diverse people and their perspectives along the way.

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