Toronto Screening: The Cost of Growth
An Evening of Film, Conversation, and Collective Sense-Making
Wildfires, floods, rising costs of living, growing inequality, geopolitical tensions, the threat of AI—many of us feel that something in our world is no longer working. Are these separate challenges, or are they somehow connected? How might we navigate this moment and come out on the other side?
Join us for an evening of film and conversation, as we explore how these challenges might be linked to stories we tell ourselves about progress, growth, and success. And how GDP is a grossly flawed measure of human and planetary flourishing.
We will be screening the documentary The Cost of Growth, which invites us to look beneath today’s crises and ask deeper questions about our economic systems, whose interests they serve, and what alternative futures might be possible.
The screening will be followed by a lightly facilitated conversation—no prior expertise required, just curiosity and openness.
Schedule
6:00 PM – Doors open
6:30 PM – Welcome & brief introduction
6:45 PM – Film screening
8:15 PM – Reflections & closing
8.45 PM – Open conversation
About the Film
The Cost of Growth explores the consequences of an economic model built on endless expansion. Through intimate storytelling and investigative reporting, the film follows people across Europe who are questioning large-scale development projects, challenging extractive practices, and experimenting with new ways of organizing society—rooted in cooperation, care, and shared well-being.
Rather than offering easy answers, the film opens space to reflect on how climate breakdown, inequality, and power are intertwined—and what it might mean to imagine prosperity differently.
Themes We’ll Explore
Who benefits from economic growth—and who bears the costs?
The human and ecological impacts of extraction and development
How climate, inequality, and power intersect
What a more just, democratic, and life-centered economy could look like
Why This Matters Now
In our rapidly changing world:
Technologies like AI are reshaping our future job prospects— while fueling further ecological breakdown through energy & water demand
Geopolitical tensions are increasing over access to oil and critical minerals— all in an effort to sustain economic growth
Climate change is no longer a distant threat. Unprecedented natural disasters are occurring every year with increasing frequency
These developments remind us that the systems shaping our lives are rapidly unraveling and in need of transformation.
Why Attend
This is not a lecture or a debate. It’s an invitation to pause, reflect, and make sense of a complex moment—together. Whether you’re deeply engaged in these questions or just beginning to explore them, you’re welcome here.
About the Director
Thomas Maddens is a documentary filmmaker whose work explores social justice through innovative storytelling. He has created films for organizations including the United Nations and UNICEF, contributed to virtual-reality projects for the USC Shoah Foundation, and directed Myendo, a film on reproductive rights that helped change Belgian law. The Cost of Growth is his feature-length directorial debut.
More information: https://www.thecostofgrowth.com/
Organizers
Institute for Inclusive Economies and Sustainable Livelihoods (IIELS):
IIELS is a new research center dedicated to imagining and planning alternative economic futures. https://inclusiveeconomiesinstitute.org/
Degrowth Collective:
Degrowth Collective is an international grassroots group that advocates for degrowth and publishes the Sufficiency and Wellbeing Magazine.
Just Sustainability Design:
The Just Sustainability Design Lab (JSD Lab) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information explores how technology can serve social justice, environmental sustainability, and community well-being. At the lab, researchers, students, and community partners come together to imagine and design technologies that sustain life rather than deplete it. We work across fields and disciplines to create systems and practices that foster life, equity, and care. https://justsustainabilitydesign.org/
Earth47:
Earth 47 is a think tank focused on leaving a thriving planet behind for the next generation. Earth 47 was founded on the belief that the numerous crises we face today are all symptoms and the real problems are our social, cultural, political, economic and spiritual scripts.
kesaco:
Event and lecture series unpacking the structural features of modernity. Covering topics around Climate Change, Economy, Technology, Energy, and the Polycrisis.
PUPA Focusing :
PUPA Focusing with Annette Dubreuil is a Toronto-based practice teaching Eugene Gendlin’s intuitive body-sensing method for personal clarity, creativity, and transformation.
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This is a non-profit event. All proceeds will be used to cover the costs of the event, including the movie license, venue rental, and other logistics-related expenses.