Pokémon GO Promotes World Development with PokéStops in Switzerland

The world’s biggest meeting of political and business leaders is being taken over by adorable little monsters. And for a good cause.

The 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is the new site of seventeen special PokéStops in Pokémon GO. Niantic and The Pokémon Company partnered with the nonprofit Project Everyone to raise awareness for the world’s most important issues.

Each of the seventeen new PokéStops represents one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals. These Goals were set in 2015 to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities, and take climate action by 2030.

“With Pokémon GO, the world is our playground,” Tsunekazu Ishihara, President of The Pokémon Company International, said in a statement. “And when the world is your playground, you want it to be as beautiful and safe as possible. That’s why we’re delighted to play a part in driving the awareness of the Global Goals.”

The Davos Congress Centre, which hosts the World Economic Forum every year, is also acting as a Gym in Pokémon GO. In spring 2017, additional in-game content will continue to promote the importance of the Global Goals campaign.

“We’ve always wanted both Niantic and Pokémon GO to be a force for good in the world,” John Hanke, founder of Niantic, said in a statement. “We are extremely proud to partner with the Global Goals campaign to help remind people of how critically important the Goals are while hopefully keeping the world’s leaders focused on delivering on them.”

It’s great to see an influence as popular as Pokémon GO using its fame to advocate progressive world change in such a fun and accessible way.