Need to Know
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Panama – In a bid to recover its travel industry, the Central American country is investing in a sustainable tourism plan that it hopes will rebuild its visitor economy by 2025. To do this, newly launched local marketing agency PROMTUR, together with the government-backed Panamanian Alliance for Community Tourism, is placing Panamian communities at the heart of the country’s growth.

Part of the initiative involves sensitively positioning 10 Indigenous or Afro-Panamanian communities as tourism destinations as a way to preserve their heritage and put the spotlight on local residents. ‘We know there’s an opportunity to attract this demand, to bring in dollars to the country, but at the same time preserving our nature and our culture with involvement of local communities and helping to improve the lives and wellbeing of communities,’ says Iván Eskildsen, tourism minister for Panama.

By prioritising its residents through this strategy, Panama sets an example to international tourism boards on how to balance external consumer interest with internal development.

UK – The Stop Cyberflashing campaign by health charity Brook and illustrator Genie Espinosa challenges the British government’s lack of response to the rise of unsolicited nudes sent online. With a tagline that reads, ‘It’s illegal to flash someone IRL, so why not online?’, the campaign is aiming to criminalise the act of ‘cyberflashing’.

The campaign was created in response to research by YouGov that found that four in 10 young British women have been sent a photograph of a penis that they did not request, with 46% saying they were under 18 when it first happened. Senders currently face few or no repercussions.

Brook asked illustrator and comic book author Genie Espinosa to design the campaign, using the innocence of childhood to illustrate darker messages. Motivated by government inaction, the campaign uses bright colours and youthful aesthetics to speak directly to those affected by cyberflashing, galvanising younger generations to act by scanning a QR code that conveniently allows them to message their MP. This form of Graphic Activism is becoming a key way for young people to raise awareness about political issues and demand change through design.

Mental wellbeing in the workplace is still a contested issue for many employees, with new research finding that nearly half (47%) of UK employees feel uncomfortable discussing mental health at work. This has led to a 16% increase in workers taking time off due to psychological reasons in 2021, compared with 2020.

According to research by MHR, a company that provides HR expertise and software, staff members are concerned that speaking openly about mental health could jeopardise their career advancement. Although a 26% increase in mental health training across organisations may have emboldened more employees to request wellbeing leave, stigma remains a barrier for many people.

The pandemic has brought questions about mental health into public view, with health and wellness becoming an international priority in the workplace. Companies looking to introduce new initiatives and wellness benefits will have to consider the new set of challenges affecting the workplace today. To learn more about how behavioural science can boost business, consult this article by Rupinder Mann, founder of UnNamed Ventures.