Utopia and climate change education: modes of utopian knowledge in times of climate crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT High expectations are placed on Climate Change Education (CCE), ranging from emotionally and practically preparing young people for the changes ahead, to supporting them in becoming climate-friendly actors. To address these challenges and inspire new approaches, this paper introduces a typology of utopian knowledge into the practice of CCE. It starts by linking utopia and the climate crisis noting that both are oriented to complex futures which are uncertain and simultaneously open to desires for alternatives. We describe forms in which learners can get to know themselves and their worlds in utopian ways – in ways that are informed by the desire for a better way of living. To render the theoretical elaboration more vivid, we present exemplary reflections on how the modes of utopian knowledge might be practiced in CCE. The result are new perspectives on living in the climate crisis, and, hopefully, new ways of being.