New paths in climate change education: Drama as a key to change?

Given the pressing challenges of climate change, education is increasingly seen as a key to transformative adaptation to a changing environment. A study, conducted in collaboration between the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and the University of Victoria (Canada), takes a closer look at an innovative approach: the use of drama in climate change education.

The study, published in the Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, explores the possibilities of dramatic expression as a tool to promote creative problem solving and social change in the context of climate change. The team of researchers evaluated a methodological framework in a workshop where participants explored the challenges of floods and droughts through theatrical staging and developed adaptive scenarios.

"Our research highlights the importance of dramaturgy as an effective teaching method to communicate not only the scientific aspects of climate change, but also the social, emotional and psychological dimensions," explains Juliano Borba, lead author of the study and researcher at ZALF.

The results of the study not only provide insights into the effectiveness of the dramatic approach in climate adaptation education, but also provide a pedagogical framework and theoretical basis for teachers, educators and educational institutions wishing to improve their approaches to climate education.

The study underlines the urgency of new educational approaches in the face of the increasing risks of climate change and shows how dramaturgy as a methodology to raise awareness, promote positive attitudes towards the future and develop concrete strategies to adapt to climate change. It is part of a series of studies on art-based methods for transformative research, a collaboration between the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and the University of Victoria (Canada).