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Youth Climate LAB 4 | Fourth session summary and recording

valeria napoli @ESN • 17 July 2026
in group Youth Group
8 comments

Yesterday, we met for the fourth session of this edition of the Youth Climate LAB on eco-anxiety and resilience in education. With the support of William Finnegan, we have addressed the role that education both formal and non-formal play in coping with emotional resilience. In his presentation, he highlighted:

  • Education is usually seen as a place where teachers dump knowledge to learners, who are "empty vessels waiting to be filled with knowledge". However, this is not the reality.
  • In sustainability education, three key components are recognised to work in a dynamic relations: (1) head representing the cognitive aspect of education, (2) heart representing the social component that education has (impact and adaptation/representation to realities), and (3) hand representing the behavioural component that education has, which leads to positive impact in society. 
  • The Hope Wheel shows pedagogies of hope when it comes to climate change education and it is based on concepts like "constructive hope" of Maria Ojala. It is a reference point for teachers, educators and trainers to address climate change education. Some teachers may be worried of addressing this topic because of the emotional or political dimensions or because they believe they are not experts in the topic. In this perspective, the Hope Wheel provides reference points on what is needed.
  • The Hope Wheel includes elements like honesty, awareness, space holding and action. it also specified things to avoid such as anxiety, apathy, misinformation. 
  • Museum of Climate Hope is an online experience developed in UK and based on research. 

Please listen to the full presentation here:

Following the presentation, participants engaged in three discussion rounds addressing the role of educations in balancing facts and emotional processing in their teaching and practical examples of what educators can do to build resilience. Participants also engaged in a wider discussion brainstorming on effective ways that educational settings can embed more participation practices to give students decision-making power and support in balancing facts with emotional processing. 

By the end of the session, participants have created a list of potential activities, methods to propose in the practical recommendations or embed in the creative exercises.

Comments (8)

Foteini Katsampani • 2 months ago

One of my key takeaways from this session was the importance of balancing knowledge, emotions and action in climate education. I particularly appreciated the Hope Wheel as a practical framework that can support educators in creating safe learning environments where students feel informed, emotionally supported and empowered to participate. The discussion also highlighted how meaningful participation can help young people build resilience while becoming active contributors to a more sustainable future.

Me
Yasir Elhasan • 2 months ago

Education is an integral part of raising community awareness about the climate risks. The importance of education lies in its presence at all ages, and it can be extend throughtout life.
It is the first line of attack in the battle to raise awareness and disseminate information, and also the first line of defense against anxiety and resisting eco-anxiety.
Thanks for this great session!!!

Elif Kaçmaz • 2 months ago

Thank you so much for yesterday’s wonderful session! It was incredibly eye opening to explore how formal and nonformal education can help us build emotional resilience against eco-anxiety.
Learning about new frameworks, especially the balance between the head, heart, and hand, as well as the concept of the Hope Wheel, was fascinating. It showed us how we can turn our climate worries into constructive hope and real action. Thank you everyone who contributed to this inspiring session!

Marie Roelens • 2 months ago

it was really nice to hear more about education related to sustainability and the (sometimes) difficult balance it can be for teachers regarding those topics. Thanks for the presentation and the discussion rounds!

Photo of a girl with big Phasmatodea insect hanging from her arm. Image was taken during SiSB in PMF Zagreb.
Eila Jurak • 2 months ago

Thank you a lot for this presentation, it gave a lot of interesting insides and played a big role in understanding and brainsorming ideas for todays discussion. Themes you touched really connected this whole week and made education, media and psychological aspects interconnect and come together.

Adriana Vigna • 2 months ago

The fourth session was exceptionally inspiring, as it thoroughly examined the fundamentals of sustainability education. The standout concept for me was the Hope Wheel, which provides a fascinating visual representation of how to foster a proactive and forward-thinking mindset.

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