Educational Media Reviews Online

This film is a recording of a “conference-like” presentation made by Karl-Henrik Robert, a cancer scientist, karate champion, and founder of the Natural Step, an organization in Sweden devoted to nurturing discussion, consultation, and collaboration among scientists and business people for the maintenance of life on Earth.

Robert defines his system of ecological sustainability and plainly explains straightforward truths of nature. The goal of this presentation was to set forth environmental concepts and models to the business world at large, to affect their use of natural resources and dispersion of pollutants. Robert very skillfully makes his case by using business analogies such as “[We must] live on the interest and not on the capital” referring to industries’ overuse of natural resources. In the final portion of the film, Robert answers selected questions. In one response, he analyzes McDonald’s choice to use paper wrappers for their sandwiches in place of plastic boxes. The petroleum products used to produce the paper may indeed exceed the amount of petroleum needed to manufacture the plastic sandwich box. It is thought-provoking scrutiny like this that makes this film worthwhile.

The film’s content is outstanding, however, the film’s production could have benefited from a little design interest. The film is merely that of Robert’s head and shoulders at the podium with still shots of his presentation slides. His voice fades in and out when his head moves away from the fixed microphone.

The presentation content is dynamic. Robert is not merely launching a volley at the corporate world, but rather, sincerely looking for ways to promote a dialog among business people and scientists. The format of the film, however, receives only passable marks.