University of York
Educating for the Anthropocene
We are living in the Anthropocene, an era that has been shaped by people. As the planet feels the impact of human activity, we must change how we live, and a big part of this is changing how we educate our children. How we do this is at the heart of research by Dr Peter Sutoris, which we brought to the screen in this whiteboard animation.
The brief
We’re living in an environmental multi-crisis, a crisis that is affecting some parts of the world more than others. This is was the starting point for Dr Peter Sutoris’ research, as he looked at the crises we face and the ways we can overcome them.
Peter went to parts of the world that are heavily effected and saw how activism and education were playing a vital role in changing attitudes and addressing the issues people face.
We were asked by Peter to create a two minute whiteboard animation that shared his findings, weaved together a complex narrative and promoted his book.
The animation
Two minutes isn’t a lot of time when there’s so much to say, but it’s a challenge our creative team are used to. Beginning the animation, we needed to introduce the key terms and concepts that laid the foundations for Dr Sutoris’ findings. This is a great example of how a voiceover and visual thinking work together to explain ideas more deeply. In this case, the set piece of a hand created the space for visual thinking to put the Anthropocene in context and to emphasise the voiceover’s reference to the environmental multi-crisis.
Visual thinking like this is what brings a script to life, and can take many forms, from literal representations like the asteroid headed for the dinosaurs in the opening to visual metaphors like a mountain range taking the profile of a face to embody the voiceover and message.
Dr Sutoris’s research took place in Pashulok, India and Wentworth, South Africa. These both had important roles to play in the narrative, and took required a creative approach from the script and illustrations to introduce them and their relevance without losing flow of the whiteboard animation.
Explaining the key terms and research allowed develop the message in an unforced way to deliver the insights and findings of Dr Sutoris, a critical part of his message. This was achieved through more creative, bespoke visual thinking, that connected people through the use of characters and emotion. Emotion played an important role, as the tone sought to shock the viewer before moving towards a more hopeful note as the call to action was delivered.
A whiteboard animation with a powerful message, it was a pleasure to apply our creative team’s expertise to this vital topic of our age.
The Client
Dr Peter Sutoris is an anthropologist at the University of York. His work bridges anthropology with education, development studies and environmental studies. In his latest book ‘Educating for the Anthropocene’, Peter shares his research and findings based on his time in India and South Africa.
The context
‘Educating for the Anthropocene’ is available to read for free on the MIT Press website.
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