ARBETSDOKUMENT - KONFIDENTIELT MARS 2025
THE OVERVIEW EFFECT
EDUCATION
A NEW WAY OF TEACHING TO DEEPEN OUR CONNECTION WITH EARTH
– OUR ONE AND ONLY HOME
In a time when the world is facing complex global challenges, education must do more than convey facts – it must foster understanding, engagement, and responsibility. The Overview Effect is a key to a new way of teaching.
When astronauts see the Earth from space, they describe a profound sense of connection, vulnerability, and wholeness – an insight that changes how they perceive life on Earth. This is what they call The Overview Effect. This experience can be translated into the classroom. By combining images of Earth from above, texts, students' own reflections, and interdisciplinary approaches, we create a powerful educational tool.
Tulip fields in Lisse, Netherlands.
Aquaculture in the Cat Ba Archipelago, located in northern Vietnam.
Residential development is seen in Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
The Navigator of the Seas, Miami USA.
Salar de Uyuni Lithium Mines, Bolivia.
Port Hedland is the largest iron ore loading port in Pilbara, western Australia.
A massive bloom of cyanobacteria is seen in the Baltic Sea.
"The Empty Quarter” — is the largest sand desert in the world, Saudi Arabia / Oman.
Venice, Italy, is a unique city built on 118 small islands separated by canals and connected by bridges.
THE VISUAL PLATFORM
The foundation of this method for teaching about our planet – either through interdisciplinary approaches or standalone narratives – is a visual installation consisting of LED screens. Before each task, participants experience the sensation of floating above Earth and observing it from a new perspective. The central LED screen, embedded in the floor, acts as a kind of window into our planet, where different themes and stories are projected. The horizontal screen works both in parallel or independently, offering complementary material.
Viewers are invited on a visual journey across the Earth, where various themes related to the environment, history, societal development, and technology are explored. Through film, sound, and storytelling, a deeper understanding is offered of how our planet “thinks” – and how humanity, through centuries of innovation, discovery, and impact, has left both positive and negative footprints.
The installation contains all the necessary information related to the different parts of the teaching material. It is activated by authorized users via login and can be easily controlled through a fixed touchscreen or a mobile device. The platform creates an engaging and interactive learning environment, where students gain an experience-based entry point into complex questions about our shared future.
THE FILM OVERVIEW
Overview is a short documentary film from 2013, created by The Planetary Collective. The film explores the so-called “Overview Effect” – a profound emotional and cognitive shift often experienced by astronauts when they see Earth from space. Through interviews with astronauts, philosophers, and scientists, the film portrays how this unique view of our planet evokes insights about Earth’s fragility, the interconnectedness of humanity, and the urgent need to care for our shared world. With stunning visuals from space and thought-provoking reflections, Overview invites us to see our place in the universe in a new light.
SCIENTIFIC PARTICIPATION AND EXPERTISE
Photographer and filmmaker Mattias Klum, together with author and speaker Marcus Vantt, will contribute to the project through personal reflections and stories about our planet and the Overview Effect. Drawing on their extensive experience in documenting the beauty and vulnerability of the Earth, they offer valuable perspectives that strengthen the thematic connections within the teaching material.
Their involvement provides educators with an opportunity to bring authentic, real-world voices into the classroom — voices that can spark student engagement, support deeper learning, and enrich discussions about humanity’s role in a global context.
The material they contribute can be used as a starting point for interdisciplinary projects, thematic lessons, or reflective discussions in subjects such as social studies, geography, science, and language. By connecting their stories to the curriculum, teachers can foster critical thinking, creativity, and a broader understanding of the challenges and opportunities we face as a global community.
OBS. Ovanstående personer är ett exempel på att ta med expertis och förebilder till de olika delarna i projektet.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
The purpose of the Teacher’s Guide for The Overview Effect is to provide educators with tools and inspiration for working thematically with the film and the accompanying images and descriptions in the classroom. The guide supports teachers in connecting the film’s core messages — Earth’s fragility, the unity of humanity, and our shared responsibility for the planet — to school subjects and national curricula.
Through discussion questions, in-depth assignments, and interdisciplinary approaches, the guide creates opportunities for students to reflect on major societal issues, develop a global perspective, and relate the film’s content to their own lives.
STUDENT GUIDES
The purpose of the subject-specific student guides is to support teaching by offering curriculum-aligned entry points into the content of the film. Through assignments, key questions, and reflection exercises linked to course objectives and core content, students are encouraged to explore The Overview Effect from different perspectives — such as social sciences, natural sciences, or philosophy.
These guides aim to deepen understanding, stimulate critical thinking, and create meaningful connections between the film’s themes and the learning goals of each subject.
The Overview Effect Education program for schools and universities is available for rent.
Please contact us for more information.
Per Olsson
+46 703-757787
per@uponwalls.com