Living well within limits

A short, powerful film which paints a biophysically viable vision of the future

The project on which the film is based looks at the minimum energy requirements for providing a decent standard of living for all people using existing technologies by 2050.

This short (8 minute) but powerful film fuses art and science to create a vision of a future more hopeful than the one we are on a path to now. I found it very affecting because I can see that the vision the artist is (literally) painting could be possible, if we had political leaders with foresight and courage.

Obviously that is a big if.

For everyone to live well in the future, we will need more public transport, abundant public realm spaces and highly energy-efficient, compact homes

The film is based on the findings of The Living Well Within Limits project led by Dr Julia Steinberger. The project sought to answer the following questions:

What are the biophysical resources, more specifically energy, required to achieve human well-being?

What influence do social and technical provisioning systems have on the levels of resource use associated with well-being?

If remaining within planetary boundaries requires rapid decreases in resource & energy use, how could these scarce resources best be employed to enhance and preserve wellbeing?

Watch the film by clicking below.

“Working part time and spending more time with your family could be a status symbol in the 21st century.”

- Narrator, ‘No one is an island’.

This is the future we are heading towards, but with some foresight and the right kind of leadership, a different, more hopeful future is possible.

You can vote for ‘No One is an Island’ (and watch the other great films) that are part of the 2025 MY HERO International Film Festival here before December 1st, 2025.