Actions for climate change and climate action among young

Although climate change represents a continuous pressing issue, scientists still find it hard to involve
citizens in the research process. This project aims to explore and create new ways to educate and
raise awareness in relation to climate change and climate action among young citizens. Based on self-learning principle and by using adaptive ecological footprint methodologies GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
NETWORK(GFN) will educate towards reducing ecological footprints, creating new methods to inspire and guide citizens towards a sustainable future, while supporting the digitalization of the classical education system, which is much needed in the current pandemic situation.
The approaches will be promoted as alternative dissemination methods and future financing will be
identified during the project implementation period. Strategies to assure continuity and easy
replicability of the project outcomes will be developed and disseminated especially by intense
networking.
In Romanian schools, the environmental and climate topics are treated rather tangentially and only in the seventh grade there is a topic on "environmental degradation" as a problem of the contemporary world.
Education is a critical agent in addressing the issue of climate change. In Europe, almost all of the
initiatives focus on developing knowledge and understanding about climate change, but fewer focus on issues regarding climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and impact reduction, and only a third of the initiatives also provide support for design and implementation of climate action
projects. With a self-learning approach and incentives, young citizens will be ‘’attracted ’’ to better
understand climate change, will be provided with the necessary tools and skills to suggest strategies
and actions, receiving support and visibility for their climate actions.
GFN represents a two-way bridge between science and education, providing scientific knowledge for
future generation, enhancing self-education and unsupervised methods for future research projects
that include citizen science. Evidence suggests that the overwhelming nature of climate change can provoke a sense of helplessness among children (Waldron et al. 2016) which can be addressed through initiatives that focus on solutions and collective actions as a means to decrease eco-anxiety. GFN will encourage teamwork among young citizens and also give them the opportunity to express themselves through the adaptive ecological footprint methodologies developed.
The project will use a Smart Education approach providing access to an educational management
platform, a digital solution that ensures the continuity of the education process even with the school
closed. The project aims to create new methods for raising the knowledge level and interest among young citizens and to foster developed pathways and tools to educate and empower the future adults in relation to rapid climate change and climate action. To support the overarching goals, a total of minimum 600 high school students from Romania will be engaged in the evaluation of the self-learning methodology, also assuring the adaptability of the ecological footprint tool