Ecological and climate crises are having profound impacts on people and communities across the globe, and educational systems are deeply affected. Increased numbers and severity of climate events, together with incremental environmental changes, are causing more school disruptions, worsening learning conditions and increasing environmental anxiety. Due to human activity, we are facing unprecedented biodiversity losses and devastating impacts on oceans and land. The impacts of environmental damage and change are unequal and inequitable. Socio-economically disadvantaged communities, women, girls, indigenous peoples, ecosystems, plants and animals have less power and fewer resources to adapt and sustain the manner of life they are accustomed to and aspire to. In the context of ecological and climate crises, justice is multi-layered, dynamic and situated.
Many civil society organisations and educational systems are working to make education responsive to environmental conditions and to slow carbon emissions. However, evidence of meaningful change and transformative solutions is insufficient and patchy. From primary to tertiary schooling, from formal to vocational and lifelong learning, we need more conversations and examples about education’s role in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and environmental conservation.
We welcome proposals that call for bold, innovative and sustainable approaches to tackling the environmental and climate crises and their disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities. We would particularly invite submissions that use creative, dialogic and generative formats, addressing any of the following topics:
- Education that addresses (in)equalities and (in)justice in how humans experience, benefit from and are held accountable for the natural environment.
- Educational research and practices that employ biocentric justice or more-than-human approaches to environmental sustainability.
- Educational research and practices that advance pluriversality and/or epistemic justice (for example, by drawing on indigenous knowledges) in environmental education.
- How environmental and climate justice intersects with gender justice, particularly in reproductive justice, racial justice, and ageism.
- Imagined, desired, (un)likely and actual environmental education outcomes.
- Education’s role in and relationship to environmental activism, from learner-led demonstrations to partnerships and alliances within and beyond the education sector.
- Adapting schools and other learning environments to environmental change.
Sub theme Convenors
 Rachel Wilder – University of Bath |
 Fernanda Gándara – Room to Read |