Climate activism, environmental justice and ecopedagogy – a collaboration project between FFF activists and teacher candidates in Austria

Abstract

This article contributes to political ecologies of education by connecting climate activism in Austria to questions of environmental justice and ecopedagogy. Based on a collaboration project between trainee teachers and secondary school students in Graz (Austria), the article analyses student group essays and photo reports dealing with ideas and solutions to combat the climate crisis and to enable socio-ecological transformation. Interviews with Fridays for Future (FFF) strike participants complete the analysis. I discuss propositions related to the concepts of activism, ecopedagogy, environmental and climate justice, and especially the principle of responsibility. I show that the school collaboration project and common participation in a climate strike contributed to civic engagement and research-based learning. Trainee teachers and school students exchanged ideas and co-created knowledge to fight against the climate crisis, and the collaboration opened a dialogue in a democratic classroom, arguably helping to develop participants' intrinsic motivation. While some of the ideas proposed are reformist or oppositional, for example to eat less meat, others are propositional, advocating for system change. A conclusion is that the climate movement is represented by a diversity of voices and opinions.