International Day of Peace

Brokering world peace may seem a near impossibility, but John Hunter, inventor of the World Peace Game, has seen it achieved hundreds of times--by children. A grade-school teacher in Virginia, Hunter created the game--played on a four-tiered Plexiglas structure resembling a toughened-up game of Risk--to teach his students the behavior he says is necessary to spur world change. As they rep the cabinets of four fictional countries, battles are chosen, rules morph, and crises are interconnected. Hunter has discussed the program at TED, and the game has inspired a documentary (World Peace...and Other 4th Grade Achievements), a two-week play session in Norway, and even a bit of hope for the future.

Wednesday, September 21 >>

A version of this article appears in the September 2011 issue of Fast Company.