Do digital learning environments bring us closer together to tackle climate challenges—or slowly disconnect us from each other and from nature, ultimately moving us further away from solutions?
Join this Education for Climate Community Café to explore how digital education shapes our connections to people, nature, and climate action. As digital tools become central to teaching and learning, they open new possibilities for collaboration, access, and engagement, while also raising important questions about empathy, human connection, and our relationship with the natural world.
Through interactive reflection and group discussion, participants will explore this tension and its implications for climate education. The session invites educators and stakeholders to consider how learning can foster empathy, strengthen collective responsibility, and support intergenerational fairness in a rapidly digitalising world.
We will draw on the following resources and policy frameworks:
- the European Education Area Working Group Schools – Learning for Sustainability on Digital Education (short podcast episode)
EU Digital Education Action Plan (Factsheet PDF): https://education.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document-library-docs/deap-factsheet-sept2020_en.pdf
EU Council on well-being in digital education (PDF):
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/11/28/eu-highlights-the-importance-of-well-being-in-digital-education/pdf/the EU Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness (2026)
(Online course) https://academy.europa.eu/courses/small-habits-big-impact-a-digital-wellbeing-classroom-journey
Summary
Last night, the Education for Climate community hosted a Community Café titled 'Digital Education and Climate Action: Between Connection and Disconnection', bringing together 25 participants for an interactive exchange on the opportunities and dilemmas of digitalisation in sustainability and climate education.
The session opened with a welcome and introduction to the community for newcomers, followed by an overview of the community’s 2026 priorities and focus areas, presented by Community Manager Trine Larsen.
To kickstart the discussion, participants engaged in a Slido brainstorming activity exploring both the benefits and drawbacks of digitalisation in education. The conversation highlighted how digital education can increase accessibility, foster global collaboration, expand access to sustainability knowledge, and amplify climate awareness across borders and communities. At the same time, participants reflected on the less visible consequences of increasing digitalisation, particularly the risk of growing disconnection between people, and between humans and nature.
Building on these reflections, the session introduced a central paradox: while digital tools can support climate action and sustainability learning, they may also shape behaviours and social dynamics in ways that weaken empathy, attention, presence, and our sense of connection to the natural world. This dilemma was further linked to the concept of intergenerational fairness, raising questions about how societies can protect the interests of future generations if digital environments increasingly distance us from one another and from the ecosystems we seek to preserve.
Participants then moved into five breakout rooms to debate two contrasting perspectives. Perspective A explored the view that the benefits of digitalisation outweigh its negative consequences, while Perspective B focused on the argument that the long-term social and environmental costs may outweigh the benefits. Drawing from both professional and personal experiences, participants shared concrete examples, challenged assumptions, and reflected on how digital technologies influence learning, relationships, engagement, and climate action.
The session concluded with a plenary discussion where groups shared key insights and reflections. The exchange demonstrated both the complexity and urgency of critically examining the role of digitalisation in education for sustainability, while also reinforcing the value of dialogue, collective reflection, and community learning. Participants asked for resources that had been shared in the chat by other participants to be shared on the event page. You will find them below:
- Inger Mette Stenseth (World Climate School) LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inger-mette-stenseth/ and project:
Soilify – EU funded project: https://soilify.it/ - Jens Ohlemeyer Virtual Didactics: https://www.virtual-didactics.de/
Klimawoche Bielefeld – Tag der Bildung 2026 - Marek Frankowicz
ENNE+ Project: https://www.enneplusproject.eu
Hi all, if you have time before the café, have a look at the resources mentioned in the description further up.
See you later!
Best,
Trine
It was a very nice coffee meeting. I learned that there have been very successful developments in digitalization in the last 6 years. The discussions were very productive when we were divided into groups. I'm looking forward to the next meeting. Thank you very much..
Hey everyone! Thank you for an interesting café.
The summary, resources and recording of the café can now be found in the description.
If you have a moment, please do give us feedback via this link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/CommunityCafeFeedback
Have a great Friday!
/ The Secretariat
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