The movie Breaking Boundaries is about the state of the planet. David Attenborough and Professor Johan Rockström, who have each studied the planet's ecology and biosystems for many decades, explain in the film how a stable planet is a prerequisite for human civilization and life. The film shows, using animation and in an easily accessible way, how humanity has pushed the earth beyond the limits that have kept the planet stable for 10,000 years since the beginning of civilization.
So it is understandable, it is conveyed how different systems are reaching the so-called tipping points, and how this can mean, and already means, irreversible conditions that we cannot fix.
It is compared in the film to driving too fast on a train towards an abyss, discovering it, but not being able to brake quickly enough because the train is going too fast.
The film is like a concentrate of information about the state of the planet, about what has happened, and why it is the way it is. The planet has changed so much since industrialization, and the changes are so drastic that we are now out of the current geological period – called the Holocene – and have entered the so-called Anthropocene period, which is characterized by the fact that modern humans have become the planet-determining factor. Humans currently have the real power over how the Earth's physical and living systems develop.
It is heartbreaking to watch the film. But it is informative and factual, and what is conveyed is immediately understandable. Among other things, it helps to understand how there is a crucial difference between whether we are heading towards an increase in global warming of 1.5 or 2.0. It seems like such a small thing, but it has a decisive impact on whether we can "slow down the train".
”The science is clear and has been communicated for the last 30 years, and we are still not moving in the right direction.”
– Johan Rockstrom
The film also explains what the right direction is, and it becomes very concrete, and the connection between "private life" and the global ecosystems becomes very clear. Because it clearly shows how our everyday actions have significance like rings in the water, and how everything is connected.
These are simple solutions that can lead us in the right direction:
• Minimize intake of meat, fish and dairy products.
• Reduce CO2 emissions by 50% over the next few years.
• Reduce flights to a minimum.
• Invest in tree planting. This can be done through organizations.
It is conveyed why these lifestyle changes will work, and it becomes clear how it makes sense both on an individual level and on collective and political levels.
The film is beautiful and horrifying at the same time. For me, it strengthened my sense of connection to the earth. Sharing and feeling in my body both the pain of what we are destroying, and at the same time the joy of life in all its diversity. It is an enormous pain and an enormous joy that we as humanity must embrace and act on right now.
⋙ The film is now available to watch on Netflix ⋙
Kirsten Rotbøll Lassen
Master of Education. in didactics (material culture). Diploma in visual arts at the Danish University of Education. Art and cultural leadership training, Scinekunsten Udevelopment center. University College SJälland. Bachelor's degree ppsychomotor skills from Ingrid Prahms seminar. Kirsten works as a visual artist, teacher and consultant, and isiden 2015 pprojectleader on ”I CAN CREATE”– a project about teaching design and creative processes for vulnerable children and young people. From 2012 to 2020, she has led Design School on Design Museum Denmark. She teaches in Project Inner Strength, a collaborative project between Human Practice Foundation and The Children's Life Skills Association.
Kirsten has a long-standing meditative practice and a dance practice. She regularly participates in courses at the Growth Center and receives practice guidance.
