For the second screening in our current film series on the topic of Resources, we once again conducted a survey to capture audience reactions—this time to GREEN CITY LIFE by Manon Turinas and François Marques. Below we present the first set of results from the questionnaires.
I. THE FILM
GREEN CITY LIFE
Manon Turinas & François Marques | 2023 | France | 85 min | OV with subtitles
A city that combines the best of rural life with the advantages of urban living. Manon and François, two young city dwellers, travel the world in search of concrete initiatives that bring nature back into the heart of cities.
From the cheerful green skyscrapers of Japan to an unusual mushroom farm on a dark Parisian parking lot and a quirky Canadian supermarket growing its produce on the roof, they discover positive and practical solutions that are already working today.
Along the way, they meet people with revolutionary ideas. By weaving these solutions together, they offer their vision of what the beautiful cities of tomorrow could look like.
II. DATA COLLECTION
GREEN CITY LIFE was screened on May 20, 2025, at the Harmonie Kino in Freiburg. Approximately 80 attendees were given the option to complete either an online or a paper-based questionnaire. In addition to exploring attitudes towards ecological sustainability in urban environments, we also asked participants about their emotional responses to the film.
The questionnaire consisted of three parts: the first was completed shortly before the film, the second immediately after, and the third followed a panel discussion featuring experts Prof. Dr. Peter Woias and Michael Gorki from the ICN project ZUKAMAS, who research tree health in Freiburg.
III. INITIAL RESEARCH RESULTS
Below is an overview of the first descriptive analysis of the data. The letter “n” represents the number of respondents for a given question. For example, “n=49” indicates that 49 people responded. Please note that these findings are preliminary and subject to further in-depth analysis.
Even before the screening, there was a strong interest in urban ecological sustainability among the audience. As shown in Figure 1, 93.9% of survey participants rated green spaces as “very important” for quality of life and sustainability in cities, while 6.1% rated them as “important.”
Additionally, Figure 2 shows that 91.7% of respondents expressed a willingness to engage (even more) in promoting environmental sustainability in their own communities.
As Figure 3 illustrates, the most commonly cited obstacles to greater involvement were: lack of time (55.1%), convenience (38.8%), costs (36.7%), and ingrained habits (34.7%).
One key area of interest for us was how viewers perceive their own ability to contribute to sustainability locally. As shown in Figure 4, agreement with the statement “I myself can contribute to making my place of residence more environmentally sustainable” increased from 61.9% before the film to 78.6% afterward.
As with our previous events, we also asked about emotional responses to the film. According to Figure 5, the majority of participants (78.7%) reported feeling hopeful after watching the documentary. The next most frequent emotions were motivation to take action (59.6%) and a sense of connection (51.1%).
When asked whether GREEN CITY LIFE inspired them to become even (more) active in local sustainability efforts, the vast majority—90.7%—answered yes, as shown in Figure 6.
Equally relevant to our research was whether the post-screening discussion added value. As Figure 7 indicates, 81.3% of viewers felt the discussion with the experts enriched their experience. This supports our belief that pairing sustainability documentaries with expert-led discussions can enhance impact.
IV. CONCLUSION
In summary, the evaluation shows that GREEN CITY LIFE primarily evoked a sense of hope among viewers, along with motivation to take action. The film also had a positive influence on attitudes related to personal efficacy in contributing to ecological sustainability locally.
The follow-up panel discussion with experts added meaningful value for a majority of the attendees.
We would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey!
Next steps will include a more detailed analysis of the collected data and an exploration of correlations between different variables. Stay tuned!
VISIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY is an inter- and transdisciplinary research project funded by the Innovation Sustainability Campus (ICN), located at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Non-university cooperation partners include Harmonie Kino, the Volkshochschule Freiburg and Greenmotions. The Freiburg environmental mayor Christine Buchheit has take on the patronage of the project.