Stories from the future
Digital story telling and critical climate education
How well can we live on a vulnerable planet in the face of climate change? This question is the starting point of this project, in which an innovative and creative approach to climate education is to be developed together with pupils and teachers at MS St. Leonhard, which focuses on the well-being of all people and nature in its interconnectedness. Such an approach is transdisciplinary, goes beyond the mere transfer of knowledge and is intended to promote democratic participation.
One challenge is that dealing with climate change is often accompanied by feelings of hopelessness because the solutions to environmental and sustainability problems are not easy to implement. The critical climate education approach developed in the project is intended not only to contribute to a better understanding of climate change, but also to counter apocalyptic narratives, which often lead to feelings of fear, powerlessness or passivity, with other narratives that give young people a voice and make another world imaginable. In the sense of a "pedagogy of hope" (Paolo Freire, bell hooks), it is important to focus on the lives and everyday worlds of young people and their questions and concerns.
The project works with (feminist) participatory action research that involves all participants in the entire research process as far as possible and also sees research as a joint learning process. Depending on the jointly developed research question, both social science methods such as observations, interviews, mapping or photovoice and natural science methods such as water quality measurements, soil sampling, insect observations or CO2 balancing are used. In participatory research, students learn how scientific methods and theories can be used to explore the realities of their own lives. In addition, intergenerational storytelling is used to address the connection between past, present and future. Students will conduct intergenerational interviews with relatives, friends and scientists about experiences, knowledge and strategies related to climate change. Based on the joint research, the students - supported by the project team - produce (speculative) digital stories. The aim is to (self-)empower young people in dealing with climate change and to invite everyone to find creative answers - in the sense of responsibility (Donna Haraway).
This 3-year project is funded by Sparkling Science (OeAD, BMBWF).