Conference Agenda

General description

The global climate crisis is fundamentally an ecological, political, and cultural crisis. In the Global North, this crisis is deeply interwoven with a surge of far-right movements that actively weaponize masculinist ideologies and climate denial, presenting a significant threat to democratic stability and planetary sustainability. This political antagonism is often rooted in a perceived threat to traditional masculine identity, particularly amongst men whose identities are tied to industrial modernity (Remsö et al., 2024). Research confirms that men generally exhibit lower levels of pro-environmental engagement, have larger ecological footprints, and display higher rates of climate denial compared to women (Bulut et al., 2017; OECD, 2008). This disparity is linked to the prevalent stereotype that environmental concern is a feminine attribute, thus posing a threat to masculine self-perception (Hällfritzsch et al., 2024).

At the same time, the erosion of welfare states and the neoliberal restructuring of labour markets have profoundly destabilised traditional gender norms and socioeconomic identities, particularly among young men in deindustrialised regions of the Global North. As economic prospects diminish and identities linked to industrial modernity collapse, right-wing movements have exploited these anxieties by offering regressive models of “restored masculinity” built around fossil-fuel economies, nationalism, and cultural exclusion (Daggett, 2018). This project investigates how climate change education (CCE) can respond to these reactionary tendencies by developing pedagogical approaches that critically engage boys and young men in climate justice work, particularly within vocational, rural, and working-class contexts. Existing CCE frameworks have tended to approach environmental learning as gender-neutral, overlooking how masculinity mediates ecological attitudes, values, and participation (Dos Muchangos & Vaughter, 2018).

The central research questions of the project are: How do gender norms shape political, economic and cultural responses to climate change in the USA and Scandinavia? And how can climate change education be reconceptualised to include gendered dimensions of ecological and political subjectivity?

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework synthesises insights from critical masculinity studies, environmental education and the sociology of labour. Drawing on critical social theories of climate change, the project frames the climate crisis as a product of capitalist and colonial globalization (Hickel, 2020). Within this context, the analysis relies on gender theory and the concept of hegemonic masculinity to situate male identity formation within the shifting political economies of work and care (Butler, 2002; Ridgeway, 2011). By applying an ecofeminist critique (Barca, 2024), the project investigates how masculinized labour traditions and neoliberal restructuring have precipitated a crisis of masculinity, often manifesting as climate denial (Kimmel, 2017; Cooper, 2017). From the perspective of critical environmental education, climate learning is understood as a transformative and affective process (Corrochano et. al, 2022; Galamba & Matthews, 2021), where emotional literacy and embodied care emerge as vital competencies for sustainable futures (Hultman & Pulé, 2018). Drawing on research in authoritarian populism, the project conceptualizes anti-environmentalism not merely as an epistemic failure, but as an identity-protective reaction to the perceived status loss inherent in the decline of industrial-masculinist paradigms (Anshelm & Hultman, 2014; Burrell, 2023). Through this intersectional lens, the project seeks to reimagine climate education as a site where new, caring and global justice-oriented forms of masculinity can be cultivated to counter ecofascist narratives and strengthen climate citizenship.

Youth are frequently positioned as a unified "climate generation" that will convert climate knowledge into action. While this narrative has elevated young people's voices in public discourse, it can obscure patterned differences in how students feel about climate change, what they want from climate change and sustainability education (CCSE), and whether they experience credible opportunities to influence responses within schools. These questions are urgent in poly-crisis conditions, where climate disruption intersects with social inequalities and democratic challenges, and schools are asked to prepare students for uncertain futures (Corner et al., 2015; Hickman et al., 2021; Pihkala, 2020).

This paper disaggregates youth climate engagement in school contexts by examining how gender (including gender-diverse identities) and age shape early adolescents' climate emotions, understandings of action, and perceived agency. Prior research indicates that girls and young women often report higher climate concern and responsibility than boys, alongside higher climate anxiety and lower political agency (Hickman et al., 2021; Ojala, 2012; Pihkala, 2020). However, much of the evidence base comes from activism or out-of-school contexts (Corner et al., 2015). In addition, school-based CCSE remains under-examined, and comparisons typically rely on binary gender categories that overlook gender-diverse students.

Conceptually, we adopt an ecological understanding of agency, in which agency is not an individual trait but something achieved through the interaction of learners, relationships, and institutional contexts (Biesta & Tedder, 2007; Emirbayer & Mische, 1998). This lens moves the analysis beyond whether students "care" about climate change to the conditions under which students can (or cannot) translate concern into meaningful, collective, and systemic action within school settings. It also foregrounds agency as a matter of educational justice: whose emotions and voices are recognised as legitimate, and whose participation is enabled or constrained (Biesta & Tedder, 2007).

The study addresses three research questions: (1) How do climate concern, emotional responses, and sense of agency differ by gender and age? (2) How do gender and age shape students' understandings of climate action and their perceived opportunities for engagement? (3) How do students' reported school-based learning experiences differ by gender and age, and how are these linked to their climate attitudes and competencies?

By bringing large-scale evidence from England into dialogue with an ecological agency lens, the paper contributes to environmental and sustainability education research by showing how affect, identity, and institutional recognition shape the relationship between "knowing and acting" in early adolescence (Biesta & Tedder, 2007; Ojala, 2012; Pihkala, 2020). It also speaks to current policy and curriculum debates about CCSE in England, including the role of national strategy and the feasibility of action-oriented climate curricula in schools (Department for Education, 2022; Dunlop & Rushton, 2022; Howard-Jones et al., 2021).

This study explores whether environmental and sustainability education (ESE) in early childhood education and care (ECEC) may contribute to the sustainability transformation of Finnish society and beyond. The study builds on the fact that we are living through two interconnected global crises: an ecological crisis and a care crisis. The former crisis refers to the state of the planetary environment, characterized by for instance climate change and mass species extinctions, that affect human and many other species’ survival and wellbeing. The latter crisis refers to the deteriorating societal conditions under the capitalist world system that make reproductive labour harder to perform. In ECEC, the care crisis is visible in for instance the lack of qualified workers in kindergartens, which results from low salaries and poor working conditions. How can ECEC contribute to sustainability transformation if ECEC itself is in a crisis of its own?

This study is set in the intersection of environmental and sustainability education (ESE), early childhood education and care (ECEC) and ecofeminist theorising. The study takes a holistic ecofeminist perspective on ESE and ECEC through the investigation of selected relevant literature and empirical ethnographic fieldwork in two environmentalist Finnish ECEC groups, conducted between 2022–2023.

Generally, ecofeminism interrogates interrelated oppressions, especially regarding gender, and extends the exploration from humans to the sphere of nature. However, a variety of ecofeminist positions exist. The ecofeminism(s) applied in this study include queer, vegan and Marxist lenses. Firstly, the queer lens deconstructs traditional binaries especially regarding gender and sexuality. This lens is utilised in exploring children’s gendered nature relations. Secondly, the vegan lens recognises nonhuman animals as valuable beings deserving freedom from human exploitation. This lens is utilised in the examination of ECEC practices that concern nonhuman animals. Thirdly, the Marxist lens perceives ECEC work within the larger framework of capitalism where feminised care work like ECEC is structurally undervalued. This lens is utilised in situating the experiences and actions of ECEC workers that necessarily influence the implementation of environmental and sustainability education.

Ecofeminist viewpoints have been applied in ESE yet hardly in the context of ECEC. Within the field of childhood studies, posthumanist perspectives have become increasingly common especially in reference to the Anthropocene. However, I argue that the distinct yet diverse and vibrant research tradition around ecofeminisms can reveal under-researched areas in research concerning ESE and ECEC. These areas concern, firstly, the relevance of interhuman differences, like gender, on how children and humans in general appear to appreciate the more-than-human world and nonhuman animals. Secondly, the conditions where ESE in ECEC is conducted should be acknowledged as severely contributing to how quality education and care can be implemented. These perspectives are substantial for bringing about more sustainable and just futures especially for children, reproductive workers and non-human animals.