Youth Climate Activism and Sustainable Civic and Political Engagement

Dear Colleagues,

Youth civic and political engagement, the factors and processes that expain why and how young people mobilise to address social issues in their local communities, as well as more global issues (e.g., climate change) have been topics of considerable interest and have been addressed from a range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives and using different methodological approaches (quantitative, qualitative, etc.), including civic and citizenship education interventions. However, while youth climate activism have been increasing in quantity and scale, we know little about young people’s voices, political agency and knowledge around climate change, their motives for participating, and the emotional aspects related to their engagement. This Special Issue aims to collect theoretical and empirical contributions, as well as evaluations of participatory interventions, focusing on “sustainable” youth engagement and participation. Two aspects of the concept will be considered: (a) youth civic and political engagement on sustainability issues (e.g., environmental issues, climate change, social justice) and (b) what factors and processes make youth civic and political engagement and activism “sustainable” (sustainability of the process of participation, in terms of its quality and impact on the participants and on external conditions, e.g., social change). We are interested in contributions addressing different forms and means of participation (individual, collective; online and ICT-supported engagement; etc.) that can illuminate the factors and processes that explain youth engagement with environmental and climate-change-related issues and its persistence, as well as its impact on internal and external conditions. We encourage contributions using mixed methods and following interdisciplinary and participatory approaches.

Prof. Dr. Elvira Cicognani
Guest Editor

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