HSS: Climate Change Adaptation and Formal Education in Japan

Climate change education (CCE) focusses on the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares students to live with the impact of climate change and empowers them to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. Current CCE programs are relatively successful in communicating climate change information and influencing students’ attitudes and perceptions of climate change. However, changing student behaviors remains a major challenge for governments, organizations and institutions worldwide. Although a global view of climate change is important, I argue that local, relatable and observable effects of climate change are crucial to achieve positive learning outcomes and behavior changes. The literature indicates that the design of more context-specific CCE materials, tailored to the day-to-day realities of students, could be a potential pathway for more effective CCE. This presentation offers an overview of current CCE practices in Japan and calls for a shift towards a place-based approach in CCE.