Does Education Matter for Climate Action? Assessing the Evidence and Harnessing Youth Potential for Impact

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Within the overall conference theme of ‘The Power of Protest’, this panel considers the evidence around the roles of education for climate change, with a specific focus on youth knowledge and engagement.
The existential threat of climate change is only intensifying over time. To mitigate climate change effects and limit greenhouse gas emissions, all major economic systems (power, buildings, industry, transport, forests and land, food and agriculture, technological carbon removal, and finance) have to undergo systems change.

Young people around the world have recognized that they will inherit the earth in a very precarious state. They are now the voice and face of the climate change movement. At an individual level, educating young people in formal and nonformal settings can have a mitigating and adaptive effect since it can raise their knowledge, awareness, and lead to pro-climate attitudes, beliefs and eventually behaviors and actions. At a communal level, education can empower youth and adults as agents of change to mobilize their communities and change social norms. Formal education on climate change can give them the tools to understand and imbibe long-lasting behaviors. Youth movements, communication and social media engagements can provide them with the experiential learning needed to foster policy change and action at the local, national or global levels. Propelled by leading youth climate activists, the youth movement to demand climate action from governments and industry has exponentially grown.
However, the journey from knowledge and awareness to behavior change; or from activism and protest to policy change is not straightforward. Individuals may increase their accuracy of information about climate change, and their perceptions, beliefs and attitudes towards the need to do something about climate change, but may not know how to change their behavior or actions to make a difference. Or may not believe that their individual action will matter in the grand scheme of things. Similarly, protests and movements may give young people and marginalized groups some visibility, but this may not translate to inclusion in policy discourses.

The papers on this panel highlight different aspects of the knowledge to climate mitigation outcomes pathway. The session begins with 4 presentations (12 mins each).
• Dr. Priyadarshani Joshi will focus on framing the interlinkages between education and climate change, and understanding how education and knowledge can be harnessed for policy impact. In doing so, the paper provides evidence and data analysis on the association between education outcomes and climate literacy, awareness, policy preferences and climate outcomes. It also embeds the research evidence on youth engagement, and what enables youth engagement to be translated to policy impact.

• Dr. Noam Angrist and Dr. Harry Patrinos will present analysis of causal effects of additional education on pro-climate outcomes using new compulsory schooling law data across 16 European countries. They analyze effects on pro-climate beliefs, behaviors, policy preferences, and novel data on voting for green parties – a particularly consequential outcome to combat climate change. Results show a year of education increases pro-climate beliefs, behaviors, most policy preferences, and green voting, with voting gains equivalent to a substantial 35% increase.

• Hugh McLean Senior Advisor to NORRAG and Guest Editor for NORRAG Special Issue #09, Foundational Learning: Debates and Praxes, will provide an overview of 5 contributions to NSI-#09 that deal with climate change and environmental issues, each of which explores perspectives and pedagogies for renewed approaches to eco-literacy. Foundational learning, experiential learning, or hands on activity are all fundamental for activism and engagement around climate. The papers reviewed include an account of indigenous education and the struggle for land in Ceará, Brazil; educational activism through socially-engaged art in Miami, Florida; reflections on foundational learning in the climate crises; the outdoor pedagogy of a Forest Kindergarten in Switzerland; and a story of awakening consciousness from India’s Bhopal Gas tragedy to the wrath of Hurricane Ida in New Jersey in 2021.

• Yona Nestel, Inclusive Quality Education Policy and Advocacy & Hub Lead from Plan International will present key findings from a global survey that Plan International conducted with young people on green skills which showed that a majority felt that education is key priority for addressing climate change. The presentation will also highlight findings from Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) on how climate change impacts on adolescent girls’ and young women’s access to education in Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as a longitudinal study of 120 girls from across 9 countries looking at their perspectives on education and climate change. The presentation will additionally look at how innovative, games-based and experiential learning approaches, such as the ‘children’s climate cards’ and ‘youth leadership in climate policy workbook’ are inspiring youth led action and are integrated into community or school systems for long-term impact.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Priyadarshani Joshi, UNESCO

Individual Presentations

• Education and Climate Change: Interlinkages, Evidence, and Implications - Priyadarshani Joshi, UNESCO

• Pedagogies for Eco-Literacy: Insights from NORRAG Special Issue #09 – Foundational Learning: Debates and Praxes - Hugh McLean, NORRAG

• Climate change and youth engagement: Analysis and findings from Plan International - Yona Nestel; Milena D'Atri, Plan International

Discussants

• Setrag Hovsepian, Arizona State University

• Dilraba Anayatova, Arizona State University

• Radhika Iyengar, Columbia University - Earth Institute

• Noam Angrist, Youth Impact; What Works Hub for Global Education, University of Oxford