Listen Up!

You are invited to participate in the first World Listening Day, which happens on Sunday, July 18, 2010.

The purposes of World Listening Day are:

• to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us, environmental awareness, and acoustic ecology;
• to raise awareness about issues related to the World Soundscape Project, World Listening Project, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and individual and group efforts to creatively explore phonography;
• and to design and implement educational initiatives which explore these concepts and practices.

World Listening Day is being organized by the World Listening Project, in partnership with other organizations. July 18 was chosen as the date for World Listening Day because it is the birthday of the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. Schafer is one of the founders of the Acoustic Ecology movement. The World Soundscape Project, which he directed, is an important organization which has inspired a lot of activity in this field, and his book Soundscape: The Tuning of the World helped to define many of the terms and background behind the acoustic ecology movement.

The World Listening Project invites you to participate in World Listening Day. Here are several possibilities—

• You can set aside some time when you pay attention to your soundscape.
• You can organize a soundwalk or a listening party when people play field recordings.
• You can organize a performance event that involves field recordings and other artistic expressions that explore our soundscape and how we can listen to our sonic environment.
• You can facilitate an educational event that relates to acoustic ecology, field recordings, or a similar topic.
• You can contact organizations or individuals that are listed as participating in World Listening Day, to see if you can get involved that way.

Visit The World Listening Project for more information.