An animated video on sustainability produced by UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant and undergraduate students at the Savannah College of Art and Design may soon be in a film festival, workshop or classroom near you.
The educational video on green infrastructure and stormwater management already has been selected for screening at the annual Gray’s Reef Film Festival, Feb. 2-5. It has been submitted to 34 film festivals around the world.
The tranquil video, which runs almost five minutes, begins with a man navigating a canoe along a creek and then follows the water past birds, fish and reptiles that live in forests, marshes, parks and backyards. As rain begins to fall, the narrator talks about the way plants and soil naturally slow down rainwater, causing it to spread and allowing water to soak into the soil. This process filters the rain, which eliminates pollutants before the water feeds into aquifers, wetlands, rivers or oceans.
“We want people who watch this to better understand why it’s important to have green infrastructure throughout our communities; it plays an important role in managing rainwater while protecting healthy ecosystems that provide us vital services such as clean air and water, habitat, food and flood control,” said Keren Giovengo, program manager for the Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant EcoScapes program.
The video was a collaboration between Giovengo, Savannah College of Art and Design Collaborative Learning Center class, and Mark McClellan, forestry specialist for the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Sustainable Community Forestry Program. The project was funded by the Georgia Forestry Commission, a state agency responsible for providing leadership, service and education in the protection and conservation of Georgia’s forest resources.
The video can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/193902038.