An exploration of school-based climate education initiatives in primary through secondary schools in the US and the UK

Avadhanam, Rukmini Manasa, Sharma, Ashish, Radcliffe, Jonathan, Potoglou, Dimitris ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3060-7674, Rana, Omer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3597-2646, Teehan, Catherine, Kontou, Eleftheria and Anderies, John M. 2026. An exploration of school-based climate education initiatives in primary through secondary schools in the US and the UK. Discover Environment 4 (1) , 289. 10.1007/s44274-026-00801-5

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Abstract

This paper provides a narrative literature review of empirical studies on Climate Education (CE) topics for students enrolled in schools across the United States and the United Kingdom. It focuses on interdisciplinary, inquiry-based, and action-oriented approaches that extend beyond traditional didactic teaching methods. This review analyzes 12 peer-reviewed studies to examine students’ engagement, awareness, and agency regarding climate-focused topics. Three central themes emerged from this review of studies across both countries: (1) interdisciplinary, arts and humanities-based initiatives, (2) experiential/inquiry-based initiatives, and (3) action-oriented initiatives. Our findings indicate that students who engaged in storytelling, visual media production, conducted experiments, place-based projects, and community-based activities reported increased climate literacy, emotional engagement, and a stronger sense of collective responsibility. The review recommends designing future school-based initiatives that prioritize student voice, contextual connections, and interdisciplinary collaborations for advancing transformative climate education in schools in the US and UK.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Geography and Planning (GEOPL) Schools > Computer Science & Informatics
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	Springer
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	25 June 2026
Date of Acceptance:	4 June 2026
Last Modified:	04 Aug 2026 23:47
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187744

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