PERSIST: Climate School Educational Intervention on Youth Climate Emotions

Background

Italy is considered a hotspot for climate change in Europe and is affected by numerous extreme weather events and severe and frequent heat waves, registering an excess mortality of 18,000 deaths in 2022 due to high temperatures (Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, 2023). Italian young people are experiencing a rapidly changing world, with natural, political, and economic instability (Ballester et al, 2023).

The aim of the PERSIST project is to pilot and measure the impact of a school educational intervention on youth climate-related emotions and to assess its efficacy in strengthening literacy on the climate crisis, applying pro-environmental behaviours, and promoting systems thinking in high school students in Italy. The project involved 273 students in ten different classes attending between grades 1 and 4 and aged between 13 and 18 at a scientific high school in Rome, Italy. These students engaged in three, two-hour sessions, with seasoned researchers, delving into an interactive educational model to enhance their understanding of the climate crisis. The sessions covered the causes and impacts of the crisis on human health, incorporating interactive elements such as brainstorming, games inspired by complex systems, and debates.

Description of intervention

PERSIST Program in Rome, Italy, of a game that used complex systems for elementary and middle school students (Photo courtesy of PERSIST team)

The intervention comprised three 120-minute sessions facilitated by public health residents, who had received prior training for this specific type of intervention. These sessions were conducted in ten high school classes, aiming to impart knowledge to students regarding the causes of the climate crisis, the human role in it, and its impacts on health. The teacher-centric approach was minimised, with a preference for group work, active discussions, complex systems-based games, and a question-oriented methodology. Through guided discussions, students could deduce answers, utilising complex systems models, brainstorming, and group activities.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, a questionnaire was deployed to gauge climate crisis literacy, climate-related emotions, and pro-environmental behaviours, while also gathering feedback on the overall appreciation of the program. The assessment of climate crisis literacy included questions about climate-related emotions (worry, fear, outrage, hope, and guilt) and pro-environmental behaviours, drawing from surveys conducted by Rooney-Varga et al. (2018) and Hickman et al. (2021). Additionally, a set of specifically crafted and validated questions was used to explore knowledge about the correlation between the climate crisis and human health, most of which required Likert scale responses, while others necessitated yes/no/do not know responses.

The survey was administered both before the intervention and at the conclusion of the last session to establish a baseline and measure any changes following the three lessons, thereby assessing the efficacy of the methodology. Of the administered questionnaires, 136 pairs of pre- and post-questionnaires were deemed valid, accounting for some missing pairs. Notably, mean knowledge scores regarding climate change impacts increased after the intervention (p<0.001; Cohen’s d = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.23 – 0.55). Similarly, mean knowledge scores concerning the health impacts of climate change demonstrated improvement with a medium effect size (p<0.001; Cohen’s d = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.57 – 0.99). Interestingly, there were no discernible differences in climate-related emotions between the pre- and post-intervention periods. This finding is noteworthy as it suggests that employing a specific methodology can enhance climate crisis literacy and foster positive attitudes without amplifying negative climate-related emotions.

Potential for this intervention to support climate-related mental health impacts

PERSIST Program in Rome, Italy, of a game that used complex systems for elementary and middle school students (Photo courtesy of PERSIST team)

Young people are facing natural, political, and economic instability with no action taken by decision-makers to mitigate or adapt to the climate crisis. This can lead to a loss of hope, eco-anxiety, or one of many other climate-related emotions. They are aware of the negative impacts of the climate crisis; this knowledge can often come with significant affective responses, such as psychological distress, anger, or despair. The results of our study showed that awareness can be increased without improving negative emotions with a controlled and interactive approach. Despite the limited sample, we believe that this kind of approach could be a way to empower the young generation.

Key insights and lessons learned

• Education is fundamental in tackling the health impacts of climate change as it empowers individuals with the knowledge and awareness necessary to adopt informed and sustainable practices, mitigate risks, and contribute to collective efforts in addressing the complex challenges posed by climate mental health issues. Training young people on health and climate crisis issues could improve their adaptive and resilience capacities.Utilising an interactive, systems thinking-based approach to comprehend crucial facets of the climate crisis, such as "carbon footprint" or "the Anthropocene," as well as its effects on the biosphere and human health, has the potential to enhance climate crisis literacy and awareness without intensifying negative emotions.The adoption of a systems thinking approach has the potential to foster creative thinking among students and illuminate the interconnectedness of events, exemplified by the Butterfly effect—a notion that small actions can have nonlinear impacts on a complex system, symbolized by a butterfly's wing flap potentially causing a typhoon. While this study didn't delve into this aspect, future research could explore whether the application of systems thinking might enhance individuals' sense of agency in positively addressing the climate crisis by fostering a heightened perception of connection not only within local communities but on a global scale.

Recommendations

Preliminary descriptive analysis suggests important improvements in knowledge and attitudes without increasing negative climate-related emotions. The success of the PERSIST project raises the hope that it will be implemented in other secondary schools and ultimately included in school curricula as part of civic education teaching, to train citizens who are aware and motivated to preserve the health of our planet and to raise pro-environmental behaviours in youth without generating or increasing negative emotions. As this project was a pilot project with a limited number of participants, a study with a greater cohort is desirable. It would also be of great value to have a control cohort.

Preliminary descriptive analysis indicates significant enhancements in both knowledge and attitudes, without escalation of negative climate-related emotions. The outcomes observed in the PERSIST project instil optimism regarding its potential replication in other secondary schools and eventual integration into formal educational curricula, particularly within the context of civic education. This initiative aims to cultivate an informed and motivated community dedicated to preserving the planet's health and fostering pro-environmental behaviours in youth, all while avoiding the generation or amplification of adverse emotional responses. Given the pilot nature of the project and its limited participant pool, a more expansive study with a larger cohort is recommended, along with the inclusion of a control cohort, to further validate and refine the findings.

References

Eight National Communication under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Italy. (2022). https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Italy%20Eigth%20National%20Communication.pdf

Ballester, J., Quijal-Zamorano, M., Méndez Turrubiates, R.F. et al. Heat-related mortality in Europe during the summer of 2022. Nat Med 29, 1857–1866 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02419-z

J. N. Rooney-Varga, J. D. Sterman, E. Fracassi, T. Franck, F. Kapmeier, V. Kurker, E. Johnston, A. P. Jones, K. Rath. Combining role-play with interactive simulation to motivate informed climate action: Evidence from the World Climate simulation. PlosOne. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202877

Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, E., Mayall, E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & van Susteren, L. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey. Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863-e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3

Written by

Team made up of four residents in Public Health of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome: Alessio Perilli, Gaia Surya Lombardi, Lorenza Nachira and Doris Zjalic. The team has been working on the topic of education in Planetary Health for both high school students and university students since 2021 and it is implementing a similar project on a national basis, in collaboration with the Psychology Department of Università degli Studi di Firenze. The team was supervised by Chiara Cadeddu, team chair of Planetary Health at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Additional materials

Zjalic, D., Nachira, L., Perilli, A., Lombardi, G.S., Cadeddu, C (2023). Tackling climate crisis through systems thinking: PERSIST, a pilot project in an Italian high school. European Journal of Public Health. 33 (Issue Supplement_2). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckad160.1172