Energy to Change: A documentary
The Stories
Climate change is a challenge like humanity has never faced before. We use energy in every aspect of our lives, from our greatest needs to survive, like keeping medicine cool, to our greatest pleasures, like keeping ice cream cool. Energy is crucial to our work and our homes. Still, while some people are using a lot more energy than they need, others don’t have access to energy at all. Though we use energy every day, for most of us, the source of energy remains invisible, and we have to find the source and change it to renewable energy before it’s too late.
Just as great as the challenge of climate change is human ingenuity and motivation to change our way of lives. ‘Energy to Change’ follows 6 stories around the world, as different communities and individuals commit to changing their source and use of energy.
With this second documentary, the collective CIDSE initiative Change for the Planet – Care for the People aims to bring to light the power that people have and the role they can play in bringing about meaningful changes towards more sustainable and fair societies. People are putting into place concrete alternatives, and communities are struggling to take back control of energy projects that impact them. Compiled into this documentary, these examples aim to inspire citizens to take action, grow more conscious, and use their resourcefulness
You can host a screening
The documentary is now available for free for public screenings.
The personal stories in Energy to Change show that everyone is capable of living their values in big and small ways no matter where they are. The people talk about their internal relflections that lead them to make a change in their daily life. The documentary also touches on larger issues around energy and climate change, such as overconsumption in the global north versus lack of access to electricity in the global south, or ‘green’ energy with adverse impacts, such as hydroelectric dams.
This makes the documentary a great starting point for group discussions. The audience members can open up about their own reflections and experiences, and connect their own actions to these larger issues.
How to use the documentary:
- Screen the documentary as an additional activity within related workshops or conferences.
- Use the documentary as a starting point for a debate night. Ask the audience to share their experiences in trying to live more sustainably.
- Make your event sustainable. For example, get vegan sustainable catering, pick somewhere people can arrive by bike or public transport.
- Invite local sustainable initiatives to present on their projects after your screening.
You can host a screening
Learn more about the collective CIDSE initiative on our homepage.
