Children’s engagement with climate activism encompasses both individual and collective actions. Such efforts can be supported and constrained by institutional and structural forces. Both children and the climate change action movement can benefit when children are actively involved in the process. Factors motivating and/or supporting children as environmental activists are perhaps less understood than factors influencing adults. Potential factors identified through recent research include family, teachers and a personal belief in behaviors having desired outcomes.

Review of the literature calls for further investigations and the development of theories outlining the formation of nature connectedness

This systematic review of the literature aimed to identify key concepts that predict and help explain the development of connectedness to nature and to provide future directions for research. Key concepts identified through the review were categorized into three themes: (1) situational contexts associated with connectedness; (2) individual difference predictors; and (3) internal psychological states. Overall findings highlight the need “for theories delineating the formation of connectedness, a greater focus on process, and increased differentiation between similar antecedents of connectedness.”
Lengieza & Swim, 2021. The paths to connectedness: A review of the antecedents of connectedness to nature.
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More nuanced studies are needed to understand the link between nature experiences and pro-environmentalism

This review found that, while the literature generally supports a positive association between experiences in nature and pro-environmentalism, some studies report contradictory results. This concern, along with the complexity of related issues, highlight the need for further research. Future studies should include rigorous research designs, use more reliable measures of environmental behaviors, and assess experiences in nature and pro-environmentalism at different time-points over time.
Rosa & Collado, 2019. Experiences in nature and environmental attitudes and behaviors: Setting the ground for future research. 
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Family plays an important role in environmental activism, with parents and children influencing each other

This literature review included 22 papers focusing on adolescents in the context of environmental activism. Findings indicate that concepts and theories from family studies can be applied to the environmental field and that doing so can lead to new ways of solving environmental issues. While targeting adults may be more beneficial in addressing urgent environmental problems, targeting children might be better for long-term issues. In either case, both parents and children are impacted.
Aghayeeabiabeh & Talebi, 2020. Environmentalism in families.
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Improving access to and contact with nature may promote pro-environmental behaviors

Data from a nationally representative sample of more than 24,000 people (age 16-65) living in England showed that the more individuals visited nature for recreation and the more they appreciated the natural world, the more likely they were to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. The data also showed that urban residents with high neighborhood greenspace tended to engage in more environmentally friendly behaviors than those in low greenspace neighborhoods.
Alcock et al. 2020. Associations between pro-environmental behaviour and neighbourhood nature, nature visit frequency and nature appreciation: Evidence from a nationally representative survey in England. 
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Outcome expectancy is key to understanding the link between childhood exposure to nature and children’s pro-environmental behavior

Outcome expectancy refers to a belief about a behavior leading to a specific outcome. This study found that the link between contact with nature and pro-environmental behaviors was stronger for children with low rather than high outcome expectancy. This unexpected result may suggest that children with a strong belief that their behaviors can be beneficial for the environment may need less nature contact to motivate them to engage in pro-environmental behaviors.
Collado & Evans, 2019. Outcome expectancy: A key factor to understanding childhood exposure to nature and children’s pro-environmental behavior. 
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Appreciative outdoor activities during childhood promote connection to nature and environmental-citizenship behaviors

A study differentiating between types of outdoor activities – appreciative, consumptive, and abusive – allowed researchers to consider the nature of the activity (not just time outdoors) in determining possible connections to pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Of these, only appreciative activities – such as hiking and nature photography – were positively linked to children’s connection to nature. Appreciative activities were also positively linked to children’s environmental-citizenship behaviors.
Hoover, 2021. Children in nature: Exploring the relationship between childhood outdoor experience and environmental stewardship.
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Climate change educators did not identify outdoor experiences during childhood as having a major influence on their environmental work

This study asked 85 adults involved in climate change education and mitigation to identify both significant life experiences and “formative influences” leading to their environmental work. Nature-related experiences – while important influences for some of the respondents – were not a major formative influence for the group as a whole. Social justice concerns were more motivating for action than concerns about the non-human environment.
Howell & Allen, 2019. Significant life experiences, motivations and values of climate change educators. 
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Emotional confrontation may play an important role in addressing environmental problems

A “Nature in Your Face” (NiYF) workshop includes art and eco-visualization activities designed to move people out of their comfort zone and increase the possibility of identifying innovative solutions to community-based problems. NiYF workshops used with 86 students in Norway focused on environmental problems linked to the use of plastics. The participating children experienced eco-anxiety, denial, self-efficacy, and cognitive dissonance. They also identified some practical solutions to the harmful use of plastics.
Löfström, Klöckner, & Nesvold, 2020. Nature in your face – Disruptive climate change communication and eco-visualization as part of a garden-based learning approach involving primary school children and teachers in co-creating the future.
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Environmental attitude and behavior form around age 7, increase until age 10, level off until age 14, and then decline

This study examined ways in which children’s environmental attitude and behavior unfolded and consolidated from first grade through early adulthood. Assessments completed four different times during the participants’ childhood and adolescent years showed a decline in environmental attitude and behavior from around age 10 until young adulthood. Results also showed that environmental behavior starts to stabilize from age 10 as an enduring trait; whereas, environmental attitude remains in flux from childhood to early adulthood.
Otto et al. 2019. The development of children’s environmental attitude and behavior.
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Positive childhood experiences with nature can promote continued nature engagement and pro-environmental attitudes in adulthood

Can nature engagement (NE) help college students deal with stress? A study addressing this question found that being outside in nature was exceeded only by talking to friends or family as an avenue for stress relief. Overall results, however, did not support the assumption that college students with more NE would have lower stress levels. Results did show that undergraduates with high NE during their middle childhood years tended to be more engaged with nature and held more pro-environmental attitudes than other study participants.
Sachs et al. 2020. The potential correlation between nature engagement in middle childhood years and college undergraduates’ nature engagement, proenvironmental attitudes, and stress.
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The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlights the need for education to play a major role in working towards an environmentally sustainable future. Not all teachers, however, have the necessary knowledge or skills to make sustainable development a part of their curriculum. Emerging research offers some promising ideas on how education might be more effective in helping students become meaningfully involved in work for the environment. Such ideas include using participatory and arts-based approaches to education for sustainable development and engaging students as co-researchers in the process.

Teachers in Norway rarely linked their outdoor teaching practices to sustainable development

Whether or not outdoor education addresses sustainable development (SD) often depends on the teachers’ experiences and attitudes about the meaning and purpose of outdoor teaching and learning. This study investigated how 5th–10th-grade teachers in Norway use the natural environment in their teaching practices, with special attention to sustainable development. While the participating teachers embraced natural environments in their teaching in various ways, references to SD were minimal.
Aksland & Rundgren, 2020. 5th-10th-grade in-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for sustainable development in outdoor environment.
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Involving children as co-researchers in climate change education could generate a new field of educational experience and inquiry

A government-sponsored climate change education research project in Australia gave children and youth a platform for sharing their views about the climate change debate and their associated education. Their responses call for a change in not only the content, but also the process, of curriculum which includes a shift away from anthropocentric and scientific modes of education.
Cutter-Mackenzie & Rousell, 2018. Education for what? Shaping the field of climate change education with children and young people as co-researchers.
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Youths’ everyday climate crisis activism can make important contributions to a more sustainable future

Youths’ everyday climate crisis activism, as described in this theoretical paper, involves “interrupting and altering one’s own – and influencing others’ – actions according to their perceived climate impact.” The paper explains and discusses the value of a bottom-up (vs. top-down) approach to the involvement of youth in the creation of a more sustainable future. The bottom-up process can be empowering for youth, operate as an antidote to despair, and lead to both micro- and macro-level social change.
Trott, 2021. What difference does it make? Exploring the transformative potential of everyday climate crisis activism by children and youth.  
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Climate change activism can simultaneously address human health and the health of the planet.  Some climate change mitigation efforts with these dual benefits in mind include involving children in urban agriculture, developing green schoolyards or school parks, and increasing the biodiversity and naturalness of open space where children live, play and learn.

Increasing the biodiversity of urban green spaces can promote urban climate adaptation

This review of the literature analyzed the relationships between public urban green space characteristics and human well-being components. A total of 153 articles published since 2009 were analyzed. Green space characteristics found in the included articles were divided in four groups: structure, biodiversity, naturalness and others. While the structure-related variables of green space were seen as essential for promoting human benefits of green space, the importance of biodiversity and naturalness were also noted.
Reyes-Riveros et al. 2021. Linking public urban green spaces and human well-being: A systematic review.
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Urban agriculture has the potential to simultaneously provide multiple benefits to people and the planet

Nature-based solutions are actions to protect and sustainably manage ecosystems in ways that simultaneously address human well-being and a healthy biodiverse environment for the future. Three case studies indicate that urban agriculture functions as a nature-based solution (NBS) in different communities in Australia. Identified benefits include “connecting people with nature, fostering equitable social connections, and actively mitigating and adapting to climate challenges.”
Kingsley et al. 2021. Urban agriculture as a nature-based solution to address socio-ecological challenges in Australian cities.
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School parks can simultaneously promote urban heat island adaptation and human health

Researchers exploring potential relations between school parks in low-income communities, temperatures, and child health observed children positioning themselves under trees during periods of high heat index. This study – in addition to showing that school parks can serve as a tool for urban heat island adaptation and human health promotion – introduces methods that can be used “to inform the redesign of greenspaces in the face of climate change and health inequities.”
Lanza et al. 2021. Effects of trees, gardens, and nature trails on heat index and child health: Design and methods of the Green Schoolyards Project.
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