This animation conveys the issues that arise from 'the tragedy of the commons' (Hardin, 1968), a situation of resource depletion and/or pollution generation through people acting in their own self-interest around a common good (i.e., the environment). The animation then shows that these issues of resource depletion and adapting to new environmental conditions can be addressed through cooperative solutions.
The problems facing people and environment range in scale from the local to global level, and our cooperative systems and solutions must also include a range of scales. The video was thusly designed to be figurative yet simple in storyline, with the intention of being able to speak to broad, diverse audiences, inclusive of different cultures, perspectives, and ages.
The video complements research done through the Solutions Agenda project on the theme of co-operatives.
