A Youth-Led Ritual from Finland — Calling the Global Football Community to Act for the Planet and Peace

Mika Vanhanen
Dec 9, 2025
3 min read

EMBARGOED UNTIL

10 December 2025 — 08:00 EET PRESS RELEASE — 10 December 2025

Joensuu, Finland — Fair Play Peace Circle® is the world’s first youth-led ritual uniting football, environmental responsibility and peace — transforming pre-match moments into a powerful global call for unity, responsibility and climate action.

A New Ritual for a New Era of Responsibility The Fair Play Peace Circle® ritual invites young people to reshape the iconic peace symbol on the football field using the three core values of the Peace Circle® model: Heart (compassion), Head (understanding) and Hands (action).

The ritual culminates as a tree sapling is lifted into the air — held like a trophy for the planet, symbolizing shared care and a shared future.

This simple, uplifting opening ritual creates:

a shared moment of unity
a visible commitment to fair play
a collective gesture of climate and environmental responsibility

Model Video Released — A Practical Tool for Global Participation A newly released model video demonstrates how the ritual can be performed on any football pitch, anywhere in the world. Filmed in Joensuu, Finland, the video shows young people turning the peace symbol into a living formation that embodies care, responsibility and hope.

The model video was created by students from Joensuu Upper Secondary School’s IB Programme, produced with support from the City of Joensuu, and completed with Riveria Vocational College and local football club Ylämyllyn Yllätys.

Young People Bringing Global Values to Life The involvement of IB students reflects the core mission of IB education: developing young people who recognise our common humanity and shared responsibility for the planet. Sari Manninen, Vice Principal of Joensuu Upper Secondary School:

“IB programmes aim to develop internationally minded young people who contribute to a better and more peaceful world. IB students approach others with empathy, compassion and respect, and act to make a positive difference both in their communities and in the wider world.” From Awareness to Climate Action Mika Vanhanen, founder and director of the Peace Circle® Network, describes the ritual as a response to this global moment:

“We live in a chaotic world where values are dissolving and hope seems to be fading. Mere knowledge is no longer enough. We need meaningful ways to act — together. Football, as the world’s largest community, has immense power to amplify change. This ritual turns values into movement, responsibility into climate action — and gives hope a physical form.”

Earth Cup 2026 — A Global Invitation to Act In April–May 2026, the Peace Circle® Network will launch Earth Cup, a global initiative inviting schools, youth teams and football clubs to perform the Fair Play Peace Circle® ritual before matches and to plant Fair Play Trees with their communities.

Earth Cup issues an open call to the World Cup to join this shared movement for unity, responsibility and climate action.

A Global Ritual, Now Seen in 3D To support global participation, the Fair Play Peace Circle® ritual has also been captured as a 3D Gaussian Splatting sculpture — the first time any youth-led climate and peace ritual has been preserved in this form. The entire field movement becomes a “living peace symbol” in three dimensions, enabling educators, teams and communities worldwide to explore the ritual from any angle.

This world-first innovation sits at the intersection of sport, art and climate action, offering a new way to understand and teach the values behind the ritual.

3D sculpture: https://360panorama.fi/GaussianPeaceCircle/