Climate Crisis Influences on the Media Industry

As an accelerating climate crisis destabilises political, social, and cultural infrastructures, television drama occupies a paradoxical position. Its production relies on materially intensive systems—energy-heavy workflows, international transport, complex logistics, set construction, resource use, and large-scale digital storage—that contribute significantly to the sector’s environmental footprint (Kääpä & Vaughan 2022). At the same time, television fiction serves as a key cultural infrastructure through which climate change is narrated, sensed, emotionally processed, and ethically negotiated. Screen stories shape how audiences imagine the present, anticipate possible futures, and understand their own agency in relation to socio-environmental transformation (Philipsen and Pilegaard 2026).

This dual role has generated a tension in both Danish media policy and research, where attention has largely centred on sustainable production practices—carbon accounting, certification schemes, energy-efficient workflows, recycling strategies, and the introduction of green managers. While these measures are essential, such a narrow focus risks sidelining the cultural and narrative dimensions of sustainability (Philipsen 2024; Philipsen & Pilegaard 2026). It is precisely here that the notion of what I term green scaffolding becomes analytically productive. Sustainability frameworks can function not only as regulatory constraints but as structured supports that guide creative practice, shaping both how media fictions are produced and how they imagine ecological futures within their narratives. Recent Danish examples include Families Like Ours and The Christmas of Valde (Philipsen 2024), both of which illustrate how sustainability considerations can inform creative choices at the level of storyworld, theme, and production design.

Drawing on earlier research on the National Film School of Denmark and the role of constraints in creative processes (Philipsen 2005, 2010), I propose that sustainability frameworks can likewise be understood as a form of what I have previously termed institutional scaffolding: a structured support system that reduces complexity, fosters focus, and stimulates creativity. As one respondent in my earlier study observed, “[…] then there are a lot of things you don’t need to consider” (“[…] så er der en masse ting, man ikke behøver at tage stilling til”, Philipsen 2005: 211). This insight is highly relevant today, as creative practitioners—writers, producers, and directors—navigate the expanding demands of sustainable production.

By approaching sustainability requirements not as impediments but as productive constraints, we gain a clearer critical understanding of how ESG and NES guidelines can actively support creative development, particularly in screenwriting and early conceptualisation. In this sense, sustainability frameworks can be seen as a form of green scaffolding: structured, sustainability-oriented boundaries that guide creative choices while enabling new forms of innovation.

Institutional Scaffolding from the Film School

The concept of scaffolding originates in learning theory (Wood, Bruner & Ross 1976; Vygotsky 1935/1978) and describes how structured support enables learners to operate within their zone of proximal development. In my earlier research on the Film School, I demonstrated how rules, constraints, and predefined conditions can function as supportive forms of what I mentioned as termed institutional scaffolding in film education and media production. Constraints—such as the so-called pentest used at the Film School—help reduce the overwhelming openness of creative work and provide a manageable frame within which creativity and innovation can sometimes occur (Philipsen 2005, Philipsen 2010).

As the learning scholars Hansen and Nielsen (1999) have stated, “The learner requires an appropriate degree of support from their environment in order for learning to be optimised.” (“Det lærende menneske har brug for en passende form for støtte fra sine omgivelser, hvis dets læring skal optimeres”, Hansen & Nielsen 1999: 9). This principle applies equally to professional creative practice.

In my earlier work on creativity and constraints (Philipsen 2010: 150), I identified three forms of scaffolding:

• Institutional scaffolding — rules and structures provided by the organisation (e.g., the Film School, production companies, funding bodies, broadcasters, the European Union etc.)
• Team scaffolding — collaborative support within creative teams (e.g., Dogme 95 etc.)
• Individual-scaffolding — rules and constraints creators impose on themselves (e.g., Trier’s genre experiments etc.)

These boundaries are defined and regulated by individuals, teams, or institutions, thereby shaping the conditions under which creative media production unfolds. In this article, I further propose that such institutional scaffolding can be conceptualised as green institutional scaffolding, insofar as sustainability frameworks function as structured supports that can guide creative practice.

Defining Green Institutional Scaffolding

Green institutional scaffolding—as I define it—refers to the sustainability-oriented rules, frameworks, and organisational structures that shape creative practice by providing structured, externally defined boundaries.Boundaries—such as those articulated in NES and ESG—perhaps help to reduce complexity, focus attention, and guide decision-making in ways that can stimulate rather than restrict creativity.

As a form of institutional scaffolding, they operate by narrowing the field of possibilities, establishing shared orientations for creative teams, and embedding ecological considerations into the conditions under which media work unfolds. In this sense, green institutional scaffolding functions both as a regulatory framework and as a productive creative support, influencing how stories are developed, how productions are organised, and how ecological futures are imagined in screen narratives.

Introduction to NES

NES (Nordic Eco Standards) is a unified sustainability framework developed by the Nordic film institutes and the Nordisk Film & TV Fond (2025) to harmonise environmental and social requirements across audiovisual production in the Nordic region. NES establishes a shared set of criteria across six domains—transport, energy, materials, biodiversity, social responsibility, and governance—designed to reduce the environmental footprint of productions while strengthening ethical and organisational practices. As a form of institutional scaffolding, NES provides a structured set of boundaries that guide creative teams toward more sustainable decision-making without prescribing artistic outcomes. Its purpose is not merely compliance but the cultivation of a common sustainability culture across the Nordic screen industries.

NES Compared to ESG Frameworks

While both NES and ESG frameworks aim to promote sustainability, they operate at different levels and with different scopes. NES is a sector-specific standard tailored to the practical realities of audiovisual production. It focuses on operational practices—such as low-carbon logistics, circular set design, and on-set governance—and provides concrete, production-level guidance. NES mostly functions as a creative-production tool: a set of boundaries that shape everyday decisions in development, pre-production, and production.

EU’s ESG frameworks, by contrast, are cross-sectoral regulatory instruments designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and comparability in sustainability reporting across all industries. Instruments such as the EU ESG Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) emphasise governance structures, risk management, due diligence, and standardised reporting metrics. For cultural and media organisations, ESG requirements shape institutional accountability and long-term strategic planning rather than day-to-day creative processes.

Taken together, NES and ESG form and offer a multi-layered system of institutional green scaffolding: NES helps to structure creative practice at the production level. Whereas ESG helps to structure organisational behaviour at the institutional level. Both can be understood as complementary forms of institutional scaffolding that reduce complexity, create shared orientation, and support sustainable innovation in the cultural and media industries.

The NES and ESG requirements specify a wide range of conditions for the media production industry, including reduced travel, low-carbon logistics, circular set design, diversity and labour standards, and governance transparency. At first glance, such measures may appear to restrict creative freedom. In the academic project Green Media Production Development, we found that many filmmakers were indeed interested in sustainability in the industry, yet simultaneously concerned about its potential to limit their creative autonomy.

In the project (University of Southern Denmark 2023-24), we interviewed 15 filmmakers and actors in the Danish media production sector to explore how they might contribute to more sustainable change in the industry (Philipsen & Iversen, 2024). A fear of diminished creative freedom—as well as worries about increased costs and more time-consuming processes—dominated the respondents’ reflections.

This may indicate that individual production companies or filmmakers feel uneasy about carrying the full responsibility for implementing sustainable choices in their productions and storylines. The ‘burden’ is perceived as lighter when an institution—such as a funding body or broadcaster—sets the guidelines. Such institutional direction not only legitimises the sustainability requirements but may also be accompanied by resources that support more environmentally responsible production processes.

Reducing Stress and Complexity

Even before sustainability responsibilities were introduced to the media production industry or creative sector, creative work was often characterised by an overwhelming abundance of choices. When, for example, a writer embarks on a new script, the field of possibilities is, at least initially, virtually unlimited. This situation resembles a classic—and at times stressful—maximiser scenario: everything is, in principle, possible, and that openness carries a considerable responsibility.

As my earlier chapter discussed (Philipsen 2010) the psychologist Barry Schwartz’s distinction between so-called ‘maximizers’ and ‘satisficers’ is thus crucial. Maximizers often suffer under too many options, while satisficers often thrive when choices are narrowed (Schwartz 2005). Sustainability frameworks reduce the cognitive load of infinite possibilities. They eliminate certain production pathways (e.g., flying a crew to multiple continents) and thereby free mental resources for deeper creative exploration.

As animation teacher Gunnar Wille observed in my earlier study (Philipsen 2005, 2010): “The more precisely the limitations are set, the better the work becomes” (“Jo mere konkret begrænsningerne er sat op, jo bedre bliver det”, Philipsen 2005: 85). This insight resonates strongly with creativity scholar Patricia Stokes’ argument that creativity emerges from constraints rather than from boundless freedom (Stokes 2006). Constraints compel creators to see as something already existing (Schön 2001)—to reinterpret familiar elements in new ways.

As another respondent from the Film School study noted, constraints can be “tremendously liberating” (“enormt befriende”) because they remove unnecessary decision-making (Philipsen 2005: 211). ESG and NES guidelines can play a similar role: they reduce the ‘tyranny’ of choice and enable creative teams to concentrate on what truly matters.

By being introduced to forms of green institutional scaffolding, the media production industry is thus relieved of the question of whether it should produce sustainability-related content. The focus shifts instead to how such content should be developed. The decision that sustainability must be addressed has already been made at the institutional level; creative practitioners are therefore tasked not with debating its necessity, but with determining the most meaningful and imaginative ways to integrate it into their work.

Sustainability as a Shared Creative Language

One of the most powerful effects of green institutional scaffolding is that it also helps to create a shared vocabulary within teams. NES and ESG frameworks provide: 1) Common goals (e.g., carbon reduction, diversity targets). 2) Shared metrics (e.g., energy use, waste reduction). 3) Collective responsibility (e.g., governance transparency). This aligns with my chapter’s emphasis on team-scaffolding, where collaboration becomes easier when everyone works within the same frame (Philipsen 2010).

Nordic examples of media fiction relating to sustainability:

The North Sea / Nordsjøen (Norway, 2021)

The film’s disaster narrative in The North Sea is built around real offshore-safety and environmental-risk regulations. Writers consulted with environmental agencies and petroleum-safety authorities—a form of expert-driven scaffolding that shaped plot plausibility and thematic direction.

Borgen – Power & Glory / Borgen – Riget, Magten og Æren (DR & Netflix, 2022)

The season’s central storyline about Arctic oil, climate diplomacy, and Greenlandic sovereignty emerged partly from DR’s internal sustainability and public-service frameworks. Writers worked within a “responsibility frame” requiring factual grounding and consultation with climate experts (more in Philipsen 2024).

Families Like Ours / Familier som vores (TV 2, 2024)

The Danish series Families Like Ours offers an illustrative example of how green storytelling can shape narrative development from the outset. The series imagines a near-future Denmark where rising sea levels force the entire population to evacuate the country — a premise directly tied to climate science and environmental risk (more in Philipsen and Pilegaard 2026).

Kamikaze (HBO Max, 2021)

Produced under HBO’s sustainability guidelines, the series limited long-distance travel and used virtual production to replace several international location shoots. This constraint led to a more stylised, psychological visual language—an example of how forms of green scaffolding can sharpen artistic expression.

Ragnarok (Netflix Norway, 2020–2023)

The production deliberately localised filming in Odda, Norway, reducing travel emissions and grounding the narrative in a real industrial landscape. The creative team described the location constraints as ‘a gift’, because the town’s geography shaped the show’s mythological aesthetic.

The Christmas of Valde / Valdes jul (TV 2, 2023/2025)

This is a Danish Christmas series that offers a clear example of how sustainability considerations can be integrated into both production practices and narrative design. Although not branded explicitly as a “climate series,” Valdes jul incorporates several elements aligned with green storytelling.

The series foregrounds nature as an active narrative space, using forests, seasonal cycles, and non-human elements as central components of the storyworld. This aligns with green storytelling principles that emphasise ecological interconnectedness and the emotional value of natural environments. The narrative also frames care, responsibility, and stewardship as core ethical themes, resonating with sustainability-oriented storytelling that encourages audiences to reflect on their relationship with the environment.

Dogme 95 and The Five Obstructions

My earlier chapter (Philipsen 2010) demonstrated how constrained concepts like ‘Dogme 95’ and the film The Five Obstructions (De fem benspænd) helped to illustrate the generative power of constraints. Director Lars von Trier’s ‘obstructions’ push director Jørgen Leth in The Five Obstructions into new creative territory precisely because they limit his artistic options. As my chapter noted: “When not everything is possible, one concentrates on what is possible.” (“Når ikke alt er muligt, koncentrerer man sig om dét, der er muligt”, Philipsen 2005: 165).

Sustainability frameworks or green scaffolding function similarly, I would argue: 1) They remove certain production choices. 2) They gently ‘force’ filmmakers to rethink habitual practices. 3) They encourage experimentation within new boundaries. And 4) They distribute responsibility, reducing individual pressure.

Why Sustainability Rules Matter for Screenwriting

Screenwriting is often imagined as the freest stage of production. But in practice, screenwriters often benefit from constraints that sharpen focus and reduce abstraction (Philipsen 2010). Sustainability frameworks can sometimes: 1) Encourage scripts designed for low-impact production. 2) Inspire narratives with green storytelling (Jacimovic 2021) that reflect contemporary ecological and social realities. 3) Promote ethical representation and inclusive storytelling. 4) Support early-stage collaboration with producers, designers, and sustainability managers. In this sense, sustainability elements can function as not just a production concern but also creative principles.

When the filmmakers behind productions such as Families Like Ours and The Christmas of Valde (Philipsen 2024), they worked within a set of ‘rules’ institutional scaffolded by the broadcaster TV 2 Denmark. One could argue that they enacted green storytelling that echo the logic of institutional scaffolding: 1) The climate crisis illustrated in Families Like Ours is treated as an immediate narrative condition. 2) Characters’ emotional journeys are inseparable from ecological upheaval. 3) The story avoids dystopian spectacles and instead focuses on relational, ethical, and communal responses.

These green scaffolds narrow the creative field in order to deepen it, preventing the ‘maximator’ trap of endless thematic possibilities. Sustainability becomes a structural narrative engine, shaping character motivations, visual aesthetics, and pacing. In this sense, Families Like Ours exemplifies how green storytelling can operate as institutional scaffolding: a set of creative constraints that support innovation, reduce complexity, and align artistic choices with broader societal concerns.

In that sense, The Christmas of Valde also illustrates how green institutional scaffolding can support creative development as sustainability becomes a structuring condition that influences both the practical organisation of the shoot and the ecological sensibilities embedded in the story. The result is a form of green storytelling where environmental awareness is woven into the fabric of the series rather than added as an external message. This can be called explicit green storytelling (Philipsen 2024).

Do you want to read more about sustainable media?

Here are a few suggestions:

---

Kääpä, P., & Vaughan, H. (2022).
Environmental Media: Planetary Perspectives.
Abingdon: Routledge.

Philipsen, H. (2024).
Økoserier – Findes de i den danske mediebranche?
In Philipsen, H. & Hansen, H.
Populær serialitet – I en dansk arena,
Syddansk Universitetsforlag, pp. 51-70.

From a production perspective, The Christmas of Valde was also developed within TV 2’s broader sustainability strategy, which includes the use of green production guidelines, reduced material waste, and more energy-efficient workflows. These measures reflect how institutional frameworks—such as NES and ESG—are beginning to shape not only how productions are organised but also how creative teams think about setting, aesthetics, and thematic direction. Moreover, the series gained the certification GREEN FILM for its sustainable production practices (Philipsen 2024).

The Climate Crisis as a New Creative Constraint

Seen from a broader societal perspective, the climate crisis itself can be understood as a form of constraint — a set of non-negotiable limits imposed not by institutions, but by the natural world. Rising temperatures, resource scarcity, and ecological fragility now define the outer boundaries of what responsible film and media production can and should do. In this sense, nature has become an involuntary rule-setter, establishing conditions that mirror the logic of institutional scaffolding.

Just as constraints at the National Film School of Denmark helped students focus their creative energy, today’s environmental realities might compel filmmakers to rethink long-established practices. Reduced transport, lower energy consumption, circular set design, and localised production are no longer merely ethical choices; they are creative parameters shaped by planetary limits. These constraints narrow the field of possibilities, but they also sharpen attention, encourage innovation, and foster new forms of storytelling that resonate with contemporary audiences.

In other words, the climate crisis introduces a new kind of green scaffolding: a framework that both restricts and enables. By accepting nature’s limits as part of the creative process, filmmakers can develop production methods and narrative strategies that are not only sustainable, but also artistically generative. The challenge ahead is therefore not simply to comply with environmental demands, but to recognise them as catalysts for a renewed, responsible, and imaginative media production culture.

Conclusion: Sustainability as a Creative Catalyst

Rather than viewing sustainability frameworks as external impositions, the media and cultural sector can embrace them as institutional scaffolding—a structured support system that fosters creativity, reduces stress, and stimulates innovation. As my earlier research increased (Philipsen 2005, 2010), rules or scaffolding do not stifle creativity; they also enable it. They provide focus, reduce complexity, and open new imaginative pathways. NES and ESG frameworks can play the same role today, guiding the industry toward more responsible—and more creatively vibrant—forms of storytelling. In a time when the cultural sector faces both ecological urgency and creative saturation, sustainability rules may be exactly the kind of helpful constraints that help the sector move forward.

Hopefully, this article has illuminated how sustainability elements can serve as sources of inspiration and orientation within media production. The “Green Guidelines” on Greenstorytelling.dk are built exactly on this principle. Yet it remains, of course, the individual filmmaker who must engage with these frameworks critically and independently in order to realise precisely the kind of film or series their creative vision is committed to.

References

Bruner, J. S., Wood, D., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. HarperCollins.

European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2024). Regulation (EU) 2024/3005 on the transparency and integrity of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating activities. Official Journal of the European Union.

Hansen, J. J., & Nielsen, B. S. (1999). Stilladsering – en vej til bedre læring. Gyldendal.

Jacimovic, I. (2021). “What is green storytelling? - and how to become good at it”. Medium. From: https://medium.com/the-shadow/what-is-green-storytelling-and-how-to-become-good-at-it-4ba5da90431c

Kääpä, P., & Vaughan, H. (2022). Environmental Media: Planetary Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge.

Philipsen, H. (2005). Danish Film’s New Wave – Imprints and Impact of the National Film School of Denmark, Phd thesis, University of Southern Denmark.

Philipsen, H. (2010). Spilleregler i filmskabelse – behjælpelige begrænsninger. In C. Mathieu & J. S. Pedersen (ed.), Dansk film i krydsfeltet mellem samarbejde og konkurrence, Ariadne, pp. 145–166.

Philipsen, H. (2024). Økoserier – Findes de i den danske mediebranche? In Philipsen, H. & Hansen, H. Populær serialitet – I en dansk arena, Syddansk Universitetsforlag, pp. 51-70.

Philipsen, H. and Pilegaard, N. (in press, 2026). Sustainability Across Production, Story and Reception - An ESG-, Hope- and Agency-Based Analysis Model with Insights from the Series Families Like Ours. In The Journal of Environmental Media.

Philipsen, H., and Iversen, S. M. (2024). How can we create more sustainable change in the media industry? [Catalogue]. Green Media Production Development-Project, University of Southern Denmark.

Nordic Film Institutes & Nordisk Film & TV Fond. (2025). Nordic Ecological Standard (NES) 1.1. The Five Nordics.

Nordisk Film & TV Fond (2026). Nordic Ecological Standard, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/pages/nordic ecological-standard?utm_source=copilot.com

Schwartz, B. (2005). The paradox of choice: Why more is less. Harper Perennial.

Schön, D. (2001). The reflective practitioner. Ashgate.

Stokes, P. D. (2006). Creativity from constraints: The psychology of breakthrough. Springer.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978/1935). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

Audiovisuel Productions

Borgen – Riget, Magten og Æren. (2022, DR & Netflix)

Families Like Ours / Familier som vores (2024, TV 2)

The Christmas of Valde / Valdes Jul (2023, 2025, TV 2)

Kamikaze (2021, HBO Max)

Ragnarok (2020–2023, Netflix)