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Conferences as Learning Spaces on Climate Change and Sustainability: Insights from University Students' Experiences
Abstract
The international community is increasingly recognizing the importance of youth's meaningful engagement and empowerment for managing long-term climate change challenges, and of their consultation on policies and decisions that affect their well-being and sustainable development. Yet the extent to which new learning is generated in current spaces for youth participation in local, national and global negotiations and decision-making on environmental issues remains less understood. This Chapter discusses the importance and effectiveness of youth-targeted and youth-led environmental conferences, forums, workshops and similar events in advancing the learning experiences of youth participants in these events. Testimonials from young people, generated through in-depth interviews of youth participants at environmental conferences and forums in the Netherlands and South Africa provide key insights into their engagement. The findings highlight the need for more empowering and critically engaging platforms for youth participation and for adequate mentoring of young participants.
This study explores how university students’ engagement in sustainability-themed extracurricular activities influences their awareness of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the critical role of higher education in advancing sustainability, this research assesses initiatives such as environmental action clubs, sustainability research, eco-innovations, green campuses, and training workshops for fostering awareness, engagement, and leadership. A cross-sectional quantitative design targeted 400 university students in Greece involved in sustainability-related extracurricular activities. Structured online questionnaires were used, and multiple regression analysis examined the relationship between extracurricular activities and SDG engagement. The findings highlighted that all five activity types significantly enhance students’ sustainability awareness. Environmental action clubs improve knowledge of climate change and waste reduction, while research projects strengthen engagement with renewable energy and climate resilience. Eco-innovation challenges foster problem solving and interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly in urban and industrial sustainability. Green campus initiatives promote practical sustainable strategies, and capacity-building programs develop leadership and teamwork skills. Extracurricular activities serve as transformative tools that bridge theoretical knowledge with real-world sustainability applications, equipping students with the mindset and skills to address global challenges. Universities and policymakers should enhance funding, digital integration, and collaborations to expand the reach of these programs. Future research should assess the long-term impact of student participation on sustainable behavior and broader societal well-being.
In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in the role of space in the learning process. However, there is limited research about how different Learning Spaces (LS) can lead to Sustainable Development (SD). Therefore, this paper presents a systematic literature review aimed to identify how physical, virtual, and hybrid LS have been designed and used to support SD. From an initial sample of 204 articles between 2009 and 2021 found in the Scopus database, 33 were included after inclusion criteria were applied. Findings show a wide variety of focus in the uses of LS (e.g., promote education quality, accessibility, or environmental sustainability). In general, the design process of LS implies a top-bottom approach, where students remain as passive actors. Nevertheless, it has been identified a growing interest in codesign processes that promote broader participation and bottom-top perspectives. This study contributes to orientate the understanding of the concept of LS, and looks towards inspiring new teaching and learning practices.
Building on several decades of development education practice in the UK, the first
twelve years of the twenty first century has seen increased interest amongst policy
makers in young people’s engagement with issues of international poverty and
development. Discourses in this area have tended to characterise young people
in UK society as engaging with international development through specific, often
campaign-related, activities, motivated by concern. Whilst this can be seen as a
positive picture, and may well be the case for many young people, it is argued
here that these assumptions are likely to mask a more complex and interesting
picture.
Drawing on existing literature and anecdotal evidence, this report points towards a
more nuanced understanding of young people’s learning about and engagement
with development. It adopts broad understandings of international development,
and the relationship between learning and action. At the same time, the report
acknowledges the dominant perspectives that exist on these issues in development
education policy and practice, in particular an over-emphasis on engagement as
participation and action which can mask the importance of the learning processes
and the complex relationships between learning and behaviour.
Globalisation and its flows of media, technology, ethnicities and ideologies
mean that young people are exposed to a range of opportunities to learn about
development issues beyond those provided by specific educational interventions. A
range of contexts for the ‘where’ or learning about international development are
explored, including the media and personal connections to people and places in
developing countries and to individuals already engaged with the issues, as well as
formal and informal education, including youth work.
The notion of the individual learner is understood as crucial in learning theory but
has received limited attention in the context of young people’s global learning.
What is known about the ‘who’ of learning about international development is
explored, including the influence of factors relating to young people’s identity
and experiences (such as gender, age and socio-economic status) and to their
motivation. For some, this may be based on ‘being concerned’ or ‘caring about
others’ but for others it may be due to personal relationships, experiences and
interests.
The report aims to stimulate debate and discussion on young people’s
engagement with issues of development and to suggest the need for more openended
research which explores how, when and why young people engage with
such issues. Many young people in the UK are clearly engaging with and learning
about international development and poverty. Organisations and education
systems seeking to facilitate this perhaps need to give greater consideration to
young people’s experiences and motivations and to look beyond assumptions
about the processes and outcomes of learning and engagement.
ARACY is a national non-profit organisation working to improve the wellbeing of children and young people by advancing collaboration and evidence-based action for all Australia's children and young people. Despite Australia being a wealthy, developed country, crucial aspects of the health and wellbeing of our young people have been declining. ARACY was formed to progress evidence-based action to prevent the major problems affecting children and young people. ARACY tackles these complex issues through building collaborations with researchers, policy makers and practitioners from a broad range of disciplines.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to identify components and educational design principles for strengthening sustainability competence in and through higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
– This is a conceptual paper that uses an exemplary autobiographical empirical case study in order to illustrate and support a line of reasoning.
Findings
– A number of “Gestalts” of mind‐sets of sustainability competence and key elements of the learning processes needed for developing such competence have been identified.
Originality/value
– This is one of the first papers to consider sustainability competence from a transformative social learning perspective. The value of the paper lies in its potential to help teachers of university courses in re‐designing their educational processes with sustainability competence in mind.
Institutions of higher education are poised to play a significant role in the search for a more sustainable future. Most universities are tackling sustainability issues in a compartmentalised manner, sustainability education is confined to specific courses, education is often isolated from research, and neither is likely to be linked to sustainable campus operations. Universities can optimise their role as agents of change with regard to sustainability by adopting a ‘whole-of-university’ approach to sustainability. This approach explicitly links research, educational, operational and outreach activities and engages students in each. By encouraging a collaborative space within the curriculum for students, academics and managers to critically reflect on university's performance with regard to sustainability, many positive benefits ensue, including raising the profile of university's sustainability initiatives; providing solutions to sustainability problems; building trust among students, managers and academics; and providing meaningful learning experiences for students.
Empowered youth CAN and DO make a difference! Young people become empowered by their participation in the institutions and decisions that affect their lives-which in turn can lead to real positive change in the community. Youth Participation and Community Change presents leading authorities providing the latest research and effective approaches on how young people can be drawn to participate in organizations and communities. The diverse perspectives discuss youth participation in today's society, the models and methods of its practice, the roles of youth and adults, and the future of youth participation and community in a diverse democracy. Approaches include those which promote participatory community-based research and evaluation, and involve youth groups in poor and racially segregated areas. The mainstream view of much of today's youth is that of being victims of society rather than a being a possible positive influence on society as a whole. Youth Participation and Community Change seeks to shift the viewpoint from youth as being problems to empowering them to enact positive social change. The book explores community agency efforts to involve young people, and the process by which youth civic engagement promotes empowerment. Social work and public health approaches are examined, with cogent discussions on conceptual and theoretical issues. Empirically based case studies illustrate best practices and interdisciplinary work that draws upon psychology, sociology, social work, public health, education, and related academic disciplines and professional fields. Topics in Youth Participation and Community Change include: • Key dimensions of critical youth empowerment • a case study of youth leadership development in Hawaii-the Sariling Gawa Youth Council • the Lexington Youth Leadership Academy-a leadership development and community change program • a new model for youth civic engagement in Hampton, Virginia • three projects that engage urban youth in community change through participatory research • youth engagement strategies and the benefits of youth participation in health research • ten projects which used photovoice to represent, advocate, and enhance community health • a participatory action research process with youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina • the Growing Up in Cities project of UNESCO • training students as facilitators for the Youth Empowerment Strategies (YES!) project • four characteristics of engagement in the research literature and a school-community-university project • differences in developmental outcomes among youth organizing, identity-support, and traditional youth development agencies Youth Participation and Community Change is thought-provoking, enlightening reading that is perfect for organizers, planners, policymakers, advocates, youth service workers, agency administrators, educators, students, and professionals in psychology, sociology, social work, urban planning, public policy, and public health.
This article contributes to the development of a critical social theory of youth empowerment which emphasizes collective efforts to create sociopolitical change. It draws upon analysis of four youth empowerment models, and upon findings from a participatory research study which identified key dimensions of critical youth empowerment: (1) a welcoming, safe environment, (2) meaningful participation and engagement, (3) equitable power-sharing between youth and adults, (4) engagement in critical reflection on interpersonal and sociopolitical processes, (5) participation in sociopolitical processes to affect change, and (6) integrated individual- and community-level empowerment. It concludes with discussion of the measurement of outcomes, and the challenges and opportunities for empowerment in youth organization.
250 words Climate change discourses present two parallel narratives, one about the problems of climate change, the other about the solutions. In narratives about the problem of climate change, loss features dramatically and terrifyingly but is located in the future or in places remote from Western audiences. In narratives about solutions, loss is completely excised. This paper suggests that this division into parallel narratives is the result of a defensive process of splitting and projection that protects the public from the need to truly face and mourn the losses associated with climate change. Its effect is to produce monstrous and terrifying images of the future accompanied by bland and ineffective proposals for change now. A more sophisticated understanding of the processes of loss and mourning, which allowed them to be restored to public narratives, would help to release energy for realistic and lasting programmes of change. Psychoanalytic models of grief and loss may be particularly helpful in achieving this understanding. Drawing on practical work with small groups in Cambridge, UK, the paper proposes that William Worden's typology of the tasks of mourning and their negatives provides an appropriate model both for developing a culture of truthfulness, leadership and appropriate support and for developing practical programmes that would help members of the public to work through acceptance of changes that may threaten aspiration, culture, security and identity.
Achieving a sustainable future requires that individuals adopt different values, attitudes, habits, and behaviors, which are often learned and cemented at a young age. Unfortunately, current educational efforts are inadequate for achieving transformative action. Even programs whose primary goal is to promote responsible, pro-environmental behaviors have largely failed at creating change among students. The lack of efficacy in sustainability-related educational programs is at least partly due to faulty assumptions about knowledge automatically leading to action, and by extension, the information-intensive methods that focus largely on declarative knowledge regarding how environmental systems work. Meanwhile, social science literature clearly highlights the need to go beyond ecological and technical knowledge when educating for transformative action, since sustainable behaviors are motivated by much more than declarative information. In order to effectively educate for sustainability, alternative forms of knowledge (i.e., procedural, effectiveness, and social knowledge) are essential, as is the consideration of various barriers and motivators for action. The transition towards sustainability will require action and change that is guided by an understanding of the complexities that arise within an interconnected system, as well as the ability to collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds, while keeping an eye to the future. In formulating our approach to educating for sustainability, we incorporate perspectives from three somewhat disparate fields: (i) behavioral change research, (ii) sustainability scholarship, and (iii) educational pedagogy. While drawing upon diverse knowledge domains, our primary purpose is to integrate behavior change research and sustainability competencies in developing effective educational approaches for transformative actions.
Recent policy frameworks for addressing the well-being of young people have increasingly adopted a prevention framework that emphasises age-relevant support, a social inclusion approach, targeted assistance for the most disadvantaged, and more avenues for the voices of young people. However, despite the increased policy commitments to youth consultation and participation, there is confusion about the operational implications of such commitments, and implementation across different program areas has been patchy. This paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding the various forms of youth participation, ranging from information exchange to more open and self-managed participation; and the associated rationales for various forms of participation. It is argued that there are three main rationales for greater voice and participation of young people across a variety of institutional settings and policy areas. First is the argument that young people have the right to be nurtured, protected and treated with respect, and where appropriate be involved and consulted. Secondly, it is argued that improvement of services for young people requires their views and interests to be well articulated and represented. Thirdly, it is asserted that there are developmental benefits arising from participation, for both the individuals themselves and for civil society as a whole.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent and type of extra-curricular ESD-related practice in UK universities and to record opinions about the utility of such work. Design/methodology/approach - A postal questionnaire survey of all UK universities was undertaken in 2006. Over half (51 per cent) of the UK's 140 universities with degree-awarding powers responded. Findings - Extra-curricular ESD-related interventions were found to be widespread and in 31 per cent of cases were the primary approach to ESD. Respondent opinions highlight a paradox whereby the voluntary nature of extra-curricular interventions can both extend and limit the reach of ESD. Research limitations/implications - The survey approach gathers impressions of UK practice at one point in time, only. Further case study research to look at the impact of such practice is now under way. Practical implications - In the UK, much recent work to support ESD has focused on efforts to support curriculum change. The paper suggests that attention should also be directed at the extra-curricular sphere in parallel. Originality/value - This paper partly fills a gap in the literature, there being little empirical enquiry into extra-curricular ESD in higher education.
Recent technological, geophysical, and societal forces have fundamentally altered the structure and functioning of human environments. Prominent among these forces are the rise of the Internet; rapid rates of global environmental change; and widening rifts among different socioeconomic, racial, religious, and ethnic groups. The present article traces the influence of these conditions on individuals' cognition, behavior, and well-being. New theoretical questions are raised and conceptual frameworks proposed to understand how global conditions are restructuring people's relationships with their everyday environments. New directions for psychological research and practice aimed at reducing global threats to personal and societal well-being are discussed.
This book explores a mostly untapped resource on college campuses—the leadership potential of staff and faculty at all levels—and contributes to the growing tradition of giving voice to grassroots leaders, offering a unique contribution by honing in on leadership in educational settings. In an increasingly corporatized environment, grassroots leadership can provide a balance to the prestige and revenue-seeking impulses of campus leaders, act as a conscience for institutional operations with greater integrity, create changes related to the teaching and learning core, build greater equity, improve relationships among campus stakeholders, and enhance the student experience. The text documents the stories of grassroots leaders, including the motivation and background of these “bottom up” beacons, the tactics and strategies they use, the obstacles they overcome, and the ways they navigate power and join with formal authority. This investigation also showcases how grassroots leaders in institutional settings, particularly more marginalized groups, can face significant backlash. While we like to believe that organizations are civil and humane, the stories in this book demonstrate a dark side with which we must reckon. The book ends with a discussion of the future of leadership on college campuses, examining the possibilities for shared and collaborative forms of leadership and governance.
This paper highlights the benefits of regional conferences to the development of undergraduate scholars. Presenting at such conferences helps undergraduates see their work in a different light—as scholarship and not simply coursework. Furthermore, the experience speeds their transformation from consumers to producers of knowledge.
Sustainability initiatives in higher education in general and student affairs specifically must recognize the impact of our present decisions on environmental health, social justice, and economic strength. Efforts must push beyond “green” ideas to identify solutions that move toward a future that is environmentally capable, more just and equitable, and economically viable for all.
This paper sets out to develop key messages for the theory and practice of environmental education from a review of recent research literature on climate change communication (CCC) and education. It focuses on how learners of climate science understand messages on climate change, the communicative contexts for education on climate change, the barriers that can be found to public engagement with climate change issues, and how these barriers can be addressed. 92 peer-reviewed studies were examined. The analysis focuses on the goals and strategies of CCC, and how barriers can be addressed given the research findings on: (a) the content of CCC, (b) visualizations, (c) framing, (d) audience segmentation. The paper concludes that CCC and education need to address barriers to public engagement on several levels simultaneously. It recommends that scholars of environmental education focus critical attention on how practice addresses senses and spheres of agency; sociocultural factors; and the complexities of developing scientific literacy given the interpretative frames and prior understandings that are brought to bear by the public in non-formal education settings.
In spite of a number of Sustainable Development (SD) initiatives and an increasing number of universities becoming engaged with SD, most higher education institutions (HEIs) continue to be traditional, and rely upon Newtonian and Cartesian reductionist and mechanistic paradigms. As a result many universities are still lagging behind companies in helping societies become more sustainable. This paper analyses the texts of eleven declarations, charters, and partnerships developed for HEIs, which can be considered to represent university leaders’ intentions to help improve the effectiveness of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The analysis was done against two sets of criteria: (1) the university system, including curricula, research, physical plant operations, outreach and engagement with stakeholders, and assessment and reporting; and (2) the texts’ complexity, number of bullet points, and number of words. The analysis was done continuously; whenever a new element was found in a text it was added to the university system (first criteria set) and applied to the analysis of the other texts. In this way, the system was augmented with the following elements: collaborating with other universities; fostering transdisciplinarity; making SD an integral part of the institutional framework; creating on-campus life experiences; and ‘Educating-the-Educators’. The authors of the paper propose that for universities to become sustainability leaders and change drivers, they must ensure that the needs of present and future generations be better understood and built upon, so that professionals who are well versed in SD can effectively educate students of ‘all ages’ to help make the transition to ‘sustainable societal patterns’. In order to do so, university leaders and staff must be empowered to catalyse and implement new paradigms, and ensure that SD is the ‘Golden Thread’ throughout the entire university system.
The paper hypothesises that student learning about sustainable development (SD) might usefully be configured within a broad framework combining formal, informal and campus curriculum. Student learning about sustainable development is a form of education for sustainable development (ESD), a term which has many definitions and interpretations. In this paper we refer to both student learning about SD (referring to multiple influences, actions and levels of engagement) and ESD as an overarching formal term (in our work based upon the UNESCO framework for ESD). The term campus sustainability is used when the focus of learning and engagement is based upon or designed around campus‐focused projects and activities. We discuss why we believe our broad framework approach is useful and illustrate the practical development of some of these ideas through the early work of our institutional Ecoversity project. Our approach requires bringing together and meshing widely disparate institutional processes and drivers to support wide and multiple levels of student learning about SD. Such institution‐wide engagement requires that a number of key ‘enablers’ are developed, including: academic policy of ESD and SD; academic school engagement with ESD and SD including staff development and training; strategically focused processes and projects around the informal curriculum; and campus management practises and processes that support open and transparent decision‐making processes and treat all campus projects as educational opportunities. We describe some of the early achievements from our cross institutional ESD projects and reflect on some key learning points.
Purpose
An online questionnaire survey was conducted to explore University of Plymouth students' perceptions and understandings of, and attitudes towards, sustainable development and related concepts and issues. In general, student perceptions of sustainable development have been under‐researched. This research sought to go some way towards filling the gap by providing insights for those working in the field of education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey was administrated in autumn 2005 by the Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Plymouth. The closed‐category statements were analyzed in terms of frequencies and percentages. A comprehensive set of cross tabulations and χ ² tests were also conducted using SPSS. Responses to open‐ended questions were coded and categorized according to emerging themes.
Findings
Key findings include, first, that a majority of student respondents think sustainability is “a good thing” their positive response not particularly correlating with their degree of familiarity with either of the concepts of sustainable development or sustainability. Second, students strongly associate the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability with their environmental as against economic and social aspects. Third, in terms of personal change for a sustainable lifestyle, “light green” actions addressing responsibility as consumers such as changing purchasing habits, recycling, and saving energy and/or water were most frequently articulated. Fourth, respondents harbour mixed feelings regarding the future of society in the face of sustainability‐oriented challenges.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the importance of ESD curriculum development that more explicitly addresses the interconnectedness of different aspects of sustainable development and which also employs pedagogies that help students to take action towards realizing their preferred futures. It also suggests future study directed towards identifying various means of facilitating students' pro‐sustainability behaviours.
This chapter considers environmental action as an avenue for developing young people’s capabilities for democratic participation
as scientifically literate citizens. From the literature, we describe parallels between civic education conceptualised as
civic engagement and science education approached as inquiry-based learning. We suggest six guiding principles for youth participation
in local environmental action: youth as contributors, genuine participation, deliberate action, inquiry, critical reflection, and positive youth development. We illustrate these principles by applying them to local and national environmental programmes in the USA. The engagement
of individual youth and the depth of their learning may vary widely even when programmes incorporate the guiding principles.
We suggest future research directions around youth experiences, guiding principles, educator practices, participant characteristics,
educational setting, impacts on adults and community, and culture. Such research will enhance understanding of environmental
action and its contribution to science and civic learning.
Keywords environmental action, youth, participation, science education, civic engagement
The research and evaluation evidence is mounting: out-of-school-time (OST) programs can keep young people safe, support working families, and improve academic achievement and social development. Over 6 million children are enrolled in after-school programs nationwide, but an estimated 14.3 million children still care for themselves in the nonschool hours. Because of this discrepancy, OST stakeholders need information about how to maximize participation in OST programs. The Harvard Family Research Project (HRFP) has developed a conceptual model, based on scholarly theory, empirical research, and knowledge gained from providers, that describes the characteristics that predict participation in OST programs as well as the potential benefits of that participation. In the center of the model, participation is conceived as a three-part construct of enrollment, attendance, and engagement. This equation serves as the basis for framing this issue of New Directions for Youth Development. The chapter provides an overview of why participation in OST programs matters for young people, describes some of the barriers and challenges to youth participation, teases out more precise definitions of participation, and presents HFRP's conceptual model of participation. It focuses on the participation equation and concludes by highlighting some overarching themes that recur throughout the issue and that have an impact on future directions for research and evaluation.
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