Climate change represents an increasing source of stress for adolescents and young adults, contributing to higher risks of anxiety and impaired mental health. This systematic review synthesizes current evidence on resilience to climate-related stressors among individuals aged 10–25 years. A systematic search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and from the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) (PROSPERO: CRD42025644668) identified 6,975 individual references. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies, conducted across high-income countries (e.g. USA, Germany, Australia), Asian LMICs (Thailand, Nepal), and sub-Saharan African countries with high climate and health vulnerability (e.g., South Africa, Uganda), comprised 9,439 participants with approximately equal gender distribution. Methodological designs included qualitative (n = 2), quantitative (n = 4), and mixed-method (n = 4). Quantitative studies applied standardized resilience scales (e.g., BRS, CYRM-R) or related constructs such as coping, self-efficacy, and disaster preparedness. Using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, 70

The consequences of anthropogenic climate change threaten the well-being of natural environments and lead to permanent changes in ecosystems. In high Alpine regions, glaciers serve as critical climate change indicators. Their presence makes them essential to climate change education. However, the rapid retreat of glaciers increases difficulties for school field trips to these areas. The citizen science project Freeze For Future - Young People create Virtual Glacier Worlds for the Future of Climate Change Education thus aimed at developing a virtual glacier field trip in collaboration with 380 high school students and three researchers from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) in order to create an innovative application for future educational purposes. The final version of the VR environment includes a virtual field trip following the young people's tracks on seven stations through the Gaisberg Valley, including experiences beyond reality, such as time leaps. This study provides insights into the projects' research design, the implementation as well as cooperation with stakeholders in and outside academia.

IntroductionIn recent years, the consequences of climate change for human well-being and ecosystems have become increasingly severe. High mountain environments are undergoing changes that not only make the effects of climate change visible but generate new environmental risks. These highly dynamic environments represent powerful learning sites but also pose challenges for education due to their visible responses to rising temperatures. Place-based education offers a framework for connecting learners to meaningful real world locations, and fostering learning through direct engagement with high mountain environments. However, there is limited research on which elements of those environments support place-based learning.MethodsThis study aims to (1) explore how high school students perceive high mountain environments and (2) identify the environmental, social, and emotional elements that contribute to their sense of place. Adopting a multi-method approach, the high school students (n = 43; aged 14–16 years) expressed their perceptions on a field trip to the case study area, the Gaisberg Valley, Tyrol, Austria. Data were collected through focus group discussions, peer-to-peer interviews, and a photo-hike.ResultsThe results show that the high school students hold particular interest in physical features, environmental changes related to climate change, and ecological elements. Their perceptions also revealed a strong desire to interact with the area through different perspectives, as well as emotional responses ranging from curiosity and joy to feelings of risk.DiscussionOverall, the results highlight key elements of high mountain environments that can support educators in designing field trips and teaching climate change through place-based learning.

Material and non-material contributions provided by mountain ecosystems intersect with and support the well-being and quality of life of both local communities and visitors. Climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures are severely impacting these environments, underscoring the urgent need for transformative change. To enable such change, multiple perspectives must be included, and the plural values of nature, particularly those held by different user groups in mountain environments, have to be recognized and incorporated into the process. While the plurality of nature's values has received growing scholarly attention, young people remain underrepresented in this research area, particularly as visitors to mountain environments. Thus, our study applies the Nature Futures Framework to explore how visiting young people (n = 68; 14–16 years old) perceive and value mountain nature in the Gaisberg Valley (Austria). The participants collected 464 photographs and accompanying short narratives on nature perceptions. We coded the narratives and synthesized these to visualize the distribution of intrinsic, relational, and instrumental values. Our results reveal that visiting young people predominantly emphasize intrinsic (e.g., glaciers and geomorphological features) and relational values (e.g., personal associations and memories), while instrumental values (e.g., water provision and energy production) remain comparatively underrepresented. This distribution suggests that visiting young people's value perspectives focus on the unique natural features of mountain environments and their personal connections. Moreover, they might not identify with or value the broader ecological and societal functions that sustain local communities and population in surrounding lowlands. These findings highlight how visiting young people perceive and value mountain nature and demonstrate an innovative, indirect use of the Nature Future Framework.

The urgency of cutting carbon emissions and the lagging implementation of transformative, climate-friendly measures has been firmly expressed by climate scientists. In this context, schools are called upon to organise processes which can lead to more climate-friendly schools. In search of solutions to this challenging task, high school students, teachers and the research team in the transdisciplinary project k.i.d.Z.21_aCtiOn2 sought to reduce carbon emissions in partner schools in Germany and Austria. The collaboration built on the young people having previously been involved in a climate change education programme which prepared them to become agents of change in their schools. Alongside the project's attempts to transform the schools into more climate-friendly organisations, various hindering aspects have been identified through Situational Analyses, a qualitative approach building on Grounded Theory which made use of participants' and researchers' mappings of situations. The mappings captured all involved actors, their roles in the transformation processes, carbon emission sources, the students' proposals and to what extent these were considered or implemented. Overall, this situated, participatory approach identified 15 types of barriers. Building on previous organisational research on schools, a coupling theory approach has been adopted to analyse the extent to which the interrelations of involved actors contributed to these barriers. The study provides detailed descriptions of how barriers to carbon reduction measures arise in schools. Other initiatives of creating climate-friendly educational institutions can build on the outlined importance of capturing all involved actors and their couplings in order to understand, and potentially prevent, barriers.

Urban growth and densification increasingly limit children's and young people's access to natural environments. Since they spend a considerable amount of time within school grounds and their immediate surroundings during their childhood, daily encounters with nature are often closely linked and restricted to these environments. Research shows that exposure to nature on school grounds fosters well-being and resilience, and even a green view from the classroom window supports stress recovery. However, little research has focused on how young people (aged 14-16 years) visually perceive nature in this particular environment and how these perceptions reflect their understanding of nature itself. This study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining visitor-employed photography walks with young people (n = 58) on school grounds and their surroundings in Austria and Germany, with a quantitative survey. A total of 570 photographs and accompanying written log book entries were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Correlational analyses were conducted to identify the relationships between quantitative responses and visual perceptions. Our findings reveal that young people's perceptions of nature are multifaceted, ranging from detailed observations of specific natural elements, such as blossoms and flowers, to landscape scenes that encompass multiple natural components. Participants who rank nature as less important tend to photograph landscape scenes rather than detailed natural elements. Additionally, the results highlight young people's perceptions of anthropogenic influences, for example, littering, recreation and sports grounds (e.g. volleyball courts and football fields). These observations reflect young people's understanding of, on the one hand, the negative impact of humans on nature and, on the other hand, the opportunities school grounds and their surroundings offer for recreation and social interaction. This study demonstrates the potential of school grounds and their immediate surroundings to serve as accessible natural spaces that support daily experiences of nature. By integrating existing natural elements, for example, vegetation, specific plant species and water bodies, into formal education, educators can foster environmental awareness, well-being and social interaction among young people. More broadly, the findings provide evidence to inform urban planners and policymakers in designing multifunctional school grounds that meet the diverse needs of young people.Read the free for this article on the Journal blog. Urbanes Wachstum und Verdichtung schr & auml;nken den Zugang von Kindern und Jugendlichen zur Natur zunehmend ein. Da sie einen Gro ss teil ihrer Kindheit auf dem Schulgel & auml;nde und in dessen unmittelbarer Umgebung verbringen, sind ihre t & auml;glichen Ber & uuml;hrungspunkte mit der Natur oft eng mit diesem Umfeld verkn & uuml;pft oder sogar auf dieses beschr & auml;nkt. Studien zeigen, dass Kontakt und Zugang zur Natur auf dem Schulgel & auml;nde das Wohlbefinden und die Resilienz f & ouml;rdern. Selbst ein Blick ins Gr & uuml;ne aus dem Klassenzimmerfenster kann die Stressbew & auml;ltigung unterst & uuml;tzen. Dennoch gibt es nur wenige Publikationen dar & uuml;ber, wie Jugendliche im Alter von 14 bis 16 Jahren Natur in diesem Umfeld visuell wahrnehmen und wie diese Wahrnehmung ihr Verst & auml;ndnis von Natur widerspiegelt. Diese Studie nutzt einen Mixed-Methods-Ansatz, der Fotospazierg & auml;nge mit Jugendlichen (n = 58) auf ihrem Schulgel & auml;nde und in dessen Umgebung in & Ouml;sterreich und Deutschland mit einer quantitativen Umfrage kombiniert. Insgesamt wurden 570 Fotos und dazugeh & ouml;rige Logbucheintr & auml;ge mittels qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet. Erg & auml;nzende Korrelationsanalysen ermittelten Zusammenh & auml;nge zwischen den quantitativen Antworten des Fragebogens und den visuellen Wahrnehmungen auf den Fotos. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Jugendliche Natur auf vielf & auml;ltige Weise wahrnehmen, von detaillierten Beobachtungen einzelner Naturmerkmale, wie Bl & uuml;ten und Blumen, bis hin zu Landschaftsszenen, die mehrere Naturmerkmale umfassen. Teilnehmende Jugendliche, die die Natur f & uuml;r sich pers & ouml;nlich als weniger wichtig einstufen, neigen dazu, vermehrt Landschaftsszenen als detaillierte Naturmerkmale zu fotografieren. Dar & uuml;ber hinaus verdeutlichen die Ergebnisse die Wahrnehmung Jugendlicher hinsichtlich anthropogener Einfl & uuml;sse auf die Natur, etwa in Form von M & uuml;llablagerungen, Freizeitaktivit & auml;ten und Sportpl & auml;tzen (z. B. Volleyballpl & auml;tzen und Fu ss ballfeldern). Diese Beobachtungen spiegeln das Verst & auml;ndnis Jugendlicher wider, einerseits die negativen Auswirkungen des Menschen auf die Natur zu erkennen, andererseits aber auch die M & ouml;glichkeiten, die das Schulgel & auml;nde und seine Umgebung f & uuml;r Freizeitaktivit & auml;ten und soziale Interaktion bieten. Die Studie unterstreicht das Potenzial von Schulgel & auml;nden und ihrer unmittelbaren Umgebung als zug & auml;ngliche Naturr & auml;ume, die t & auml;gliche Naturerfahrungen erm & ouml;glichen. Durch die Integration bestehender Naturmerkmale, wie etwa bestimmter Pflanzenarten oder kleiner Gew & auml;sser, in die formale Bildung k & ouml;nnen Lehrpersonen Umweltbewusstsein, Wohlbefinden und soziale Interaktion unter Jugendlichen f & ouml;rdern. Im weiteren Sinne liefern die Ergebnisse Erkenntnisse, die Stadtplaner:innen und politischen Entscheidungstr & auml;ger:innen bei der Gestaltung multifunktionaler Schulgel & auml;nde unterst & uuml;tzen k & ouml;nnen, die den vielf & auml;ltigen Bed & uuml;rfnissen Jugendlicher gerecht werden.

Die Heizung oder die Klimaanlage ist 30 Jahre alt und hat langsam, aber sicher ausgedient. Doch Neuanschaffungen sind teuer, fünf- bis sechsstellige Investitionen nicht selten. Daher lohnt ein Blick auf die Alternativen: In den vergangenen Jahren haben sich neben dem Kauf weitere Konzepte wie Miete, Leasing, Mietkauf oder Contracting am Markt etabliert. Welche Lösung zu welcher Situation passt und wo die Unterschiede liegen, erläutert der nachfolgende Artikel.

This follow-up study presents a design-based research (DBR) setting implemented over a three-year project called 'eKidZ - Teach Your Parents Well' which uses research-based learning and follows the four phases of DBR. In an iterative cycle, 20 teenagers aged 14-16 took on the role of researchers and investigated intergenerational learning and the multiplier effects of students participating in the Climate Change Education project 'k.i.d.Z.21 - Competent into the Future' on their parents, using the complete research process. Simultaneously, scientists implemented and tested the DBR setting to validate student research findings and to evaluate the quality of the educational setting. In this fully integrated DBR, using multiple methods (quantitative and qualitative), educational and scientific perspectives are brought together to evaluate students' findings and draw conclusions regarding their learning effects. These research results demonstrate that not only did students generate valid and reliable research, but - when changing perspectives - teenagers also contribute to the discussion about closing the gaps in science education and practice. By examining young people's research on Climate Change Education and recognising their contribution in scientific discourse, this paper offers a host of new insights.HighlightsTeenagers take on the role of researchers and perform reliable and valid research results on intergenerational learning and multiplier effects in Climate Change Education, by completing all phases of research-based learning.Design-based research is an effective method to combine science and education and thus delivering novel insights into science education and practice.High-quality Climate Change Education fosters constructive cooperation among all participants with inter - and intragenerational learning and multiplier effects.Constructivism, transdisciplinarity and research-based learning form the basis for effective design-based research and Climate Change Education.

Im vorliegenden Artikel wird das österreichische Forschungsprojekt makingAchange dargestellt, das effektive Klimaschutzstrategien durch innovative Bildungsformate fördert. Im Rahmen von makingAchange werden aktivierende Lernmethoden wie Peer-to-Peer-Lernen und Projektunterricht hinsichtlich der Wirkung auf Bewusstsein und Handeln im Kontext des Klimawandels untersucht. Mehr als 5 000 Schüler*innen sowie über 160 Lehrer*innen aus 95 Schulen in ganz Österreich testeten verschiedene Bildungsformate, einschließlich Klima-Peer-Ausbildung, CO2-Bilanzierung und Klimawoche. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Bildungsformate wie der fächerübergreifende Projektunterricht das psychische Wohlbefinden, Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen und aktive Bewältigungsstrategien verbessern können, was für eine effektive Klimabildung von großer Bedeutung ist.

High expectations are placed on Climate Change Education (CCE), ranging from emotionally and practically preparing young people for the changes ahead, to supporting them in becoming climate-friendly actors. To address these challenges and inspire new approaches, this paper introduces a typology of utopian knowledge into the practice of CCE. It starts by linking utopia and the climate crisis noting that both are oriented to complex futures which are uncertain and simultaneously open to desires for alternatives. We describe forms in which learners can get to know themselves and their worlds in utopian ways - in ways that are informed by the desire for a better way of living. To render the theoretical elaboration more vivid, we present exemplary reflections on how the modes of utopian knowledge might be practiced in CCE. The result are new perspectives on living in the climate crisis, and, hopefully, new ways of being.

Although the relevance of emotions for motivating climate change action is acknowledged in research, it lacks recommendation how to include emotions in Climate Change Education (CCE). This study draws on selected theories of emotions (the control-value theory according to Schutz and Pekrun (2007) and the wheel of emotions according to Plutchik (2001)) and applies them in a CCE context. It then discusses emotions and their antecedents (value and control appraisals) experienced by secondary school students (N = 297) participating simultaneously in the Austrian CCE program k.i.d.Z.21 and in Fridays For Future (FFF) during the 2019/2020 school year. Results of quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that FFF participants differ from other students (OS) in their emotions and their value and control appraisals. Characteristic findings are their predominant attribution of internal control (74.6%) and their extrinsic values (68.7%), as well as a high proportion of positive emotions (79%) compared to negative emotions (21%). For learning in CCE, the selected theories of emotions are recommended, as they provide a nuanced picture of the dominant emotions and their value and control appraisals within learners.

Schools are central to climate change education and climate-friendly transformations both as places which actually produce CO2 emissions and, above all, as educational institutions. Following a new materialist, transdisciplinary approach, we research here some of the entanglements that constitute schools as whole institutions. As part of the research-education-cooperation k.i.d.Z.21_aCtiOn2 (Austrian Climate Research Program), our innovative approach meant that the situational analyses were conducted both by young people and collaborating researchers. The experiences and accounts were captured in situational maps that illustrate the entangled agencies of people, discussions, places and matter relevant to CO2 reductions and transformation attempts. The analysis of those maps led to new perspectives on the intra-actions between the material and the discursive in schools. In particular, the caretakers' entanglements with areas relevant to climate-friendly transformations are revealed as critical to transformative climate change education. We conclude with an outlook on schools becoming transformative, climate-friendly places by building on these kinds of entanglements and explicitly incorporating non-pedagogical aspects as part of a whole-school approach.

Bridging the gap between climate change knowledge and climate-friendly behavior remains one of the biggest challenges in the twenty-first century. Traditional approaches to behavior change have tended to focus on expanding evidence-based knowledge, with limited translation into action. New methods to increase action must be explored, and self-regulation in encouraging climate-friendly behavior presents an interesting approach. We applied the Risk, Attitudes, Norms, Ability, and Self-regulation (RANAS) model, a systematic approach to facilitate behavior change, to the context of climate-friendly behavior. Determinants of climate-friendly actions among high school students (n = 386) from Austria and Germany were investigated. From the data collected, Everyday- and Proactive Action (PA) was identified as two types of climate-friendly action. To gain further insights into the role of self-regulation in facilitating these types of action, the subfactors of self-regulation of the RANAS model were used and tested for their construct validity. These subfactors showed a positive correlation with Everyday- and Proactive Action. Using a two-level linear model including control variables, we show that Action Planning (AP), Action Control (AC), and Commitment are significant for Everyday Action (EA). For PA, AP and Commitment show a significant effect. Overall, self-regulation is worthy of further investigation in context of climate-friendly behavior.

Within the education-research cooperation AustrIndia-4QOL, 102 teenagers from Austria and India jointly conducted research on the topics ‘quality of life' and ‘sustainability'. While the collaboration was mainly carried out via social media, some of the teenagers took part in an additional one-week face-to-face collaboration. This chapter offers insights into the effects of the collaboration on students' concepts of the quality of life perceptions of teenagers from different socio-cultural backgrounds and on their awareness of the importance and impact of environmental aspects on quality of life and their willingness to act towards more sustainable lifestyles. Social media enables learning experiences that cannot be facilitated within classical educational settings and should therefore be afforded greater attention in formal education. However, examination of the AustrIndia-4QOL project shows that social media collaborations have their own limitations and that the total removal of the opportunity for live face-to-face interactions is questionable.

* herbert.pichler@univie.ac.at, Schulzentrum Ungargasse & Universität Wien ** thomas.jekel@univie.ac.at, Universität Duisburg-Essen *** kol@ph-linz.at, PH Linz **** marcel.vorage@aps.salzburg.at, MS Bergheim & PH Salzburg ***** christian.fridrich@phwien.ac.at, PH Wien ****** stefan.hinsch@abendgymnasium.at, Abendgymnasium Wien ******* paul.hofmann@ph-tirol.ac.at, BG/BORG St. Johann & PH Tirol ******** carina.chreiska-hoebinger@phwien.ac.at, Praxisschule der PH Wien ********* lars.keller@uibk.ac.at, Universität Innsbruck

Zusammenfassung Dieses Kapitel baut auf Literatur zu Bildung und Wissenschaft (BUW) für nachhaltige Entwicklung und Klimawandel auf. Dabei wird auf Konzepte fokussiert, die Bildung in den Vordergrund stellen. Wissenschaft wird als Zusammenspiel von Forschung und Lehre gesehen. Insofern werden auch Aspekte von Forschung für ein klimafreundliches Leben aufgegriffen, wobei dies bewusst nicht der Schwerpunkt des Kapitels ist.Auch die Bewertung der Frage, welche Dimension der Rolle der Strukturen von BUW für ein klimafreundliches Leben zugeschrieben werden kann, bleibt ungeklärt. Insbesondere scheinen es die “Strukturen in den Köpfen” der beteiligten Menschen zu sein, die letztlich Denk- und Handlungsmuster erzeugen, die Nachhaltigkeit und Klimafreundlichkeit behindern oder begünstigen.

Zusammenfassung Ziel des Teils ist die umfassende Diskussion von Strukturen in Österreich, die ein klimafreundliches Leben fördern oder behindern bzw. für den Aufbau klimafreundlicher Strukturen als relevant erachtet werden. Strukturen, die beispielsweise im Recht, im politischen System, in der Wirtschaft oder der Raumordnung verankert sind, wirken auf verschiedene Sektoren und gesellschaftliche Aktivitäten gleichzeitig – wenn auch in unterschiedlicher Weise. Das Gemeinsame der folgenden Kapitel ist die Perspektive mit Fokus auf die oft unterschätzte Wirkmächtigkeit von Strukturen. Damit soll der Bericht in diesem Teil einen zusätzlichen Erkenntnisgewinn vor allem in Bezug auf die Umgestaltung und den Aufbau neuer Strukturen ermöglichen und handlungsrelevante Erkenntnisse zu Tage fördern, wie und mit welchen Maßnahmen bestehende Strukturen – im Sinne eines wirkungsvollen Klimaschutzes – verändert werden können.