[IRN] Deadline: Call for submissions for Symposium on ‘Educational perspectives on emotions in teaching and learning for sustainability – Conceptualisations, methodological questions, empirical insights, and pathways for future research’

On behalf of the WERA International Research Network EMESER (Emotions in Environmental and Sustainability Education Research), we are pleased to share this call for submissions for the symposium ‘Educational perspectives on emotions in teaching and learning for sustainability – Conceptualisations, methodological questions, empirical insights, and pathways for future research’ taking place online on April 10-11, 2025.

Abstract submission deadline: 31 December 2024

Communication of review status: 31 January 2025

To submit an abstract, send an email to Sissy Kreid at sissy.kreid@ur.de. For questions regarding the symposium, contact Emma Heikkilä at emma.heikkila@helsinki.fi.

For more information, visit the EMESER page.

Description

Emotions are an increasingly important focus within the research field of environmental and sustainability education (ESE). Learners and educators experience a wide range of emotions when they enter into learning environments, while dealing with controversial and existential issues of (un)sustainability or as a result of education processes. The connection between emotions and (un)sustainability are manifold. On the one hand, the multiple developments and crises of (un)sustainability are provoking different emotional reactions (like climate anxiety) or responses (outside-in perspective). On the other hand, emotions are a main driver for engagement, for example when learners are transforming their sustainability-related rage into concrete actions (inside-out-perspective). Educational organizations can create room for recognising and dealing with emotions and thereby empower individuals and groups to take action. Nevertheless, there is only little systematic knowledge on how to deal with or address emotions in ESE. Additionally, the question of how to address learners’ and/or educators’ emotions (including emotions of the public, researchers etc.) goes along with fundamental ethical questions (for example, how to avoid using emotions instrumentally). There is a growing number of studies on eco-emotions, climate anxiety, or grief mostly from a psychological perspective. Nevertheless, the state of research on emotions in the context of ESE is still insufficiently systematized and other disciplinary perspectives (e.g., sociological, feminist) are currently underexplored. Key questions are too rarely discussed, like:

• Which conceptualizations of emotion from other fields of research are best suited for ESE?
• Which research methods are used and might be beneficial in the future to conduct in-depth research into sustainability-related educational processes?
• How have emotions been addressed in ESE practice to catalyze transformation for sustainability? What should didactic methods for working with emotions look like and what role do educators play?
• What are implicit (normative/disciplinary/ideological/political) assumptions in addressing emotions in ESE research?
• What are aims and pathways for future research regarding emotions in ESE?

With the symposium we want to contribute to advancing the growing research field on emotions and ESE and create space for reflection and discussion between multiple perspectives. The symposium is part of the activities of an International Research Network called EMESER, which brings researchers with an interest in emotions in ESE together and thereby broadens and strengthens research on emotions in ESE through encouraging discussion and collaboration. The symposium is free of charge. We invite abstracts for theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions in line with this call.

We welcome scholars at any level of their academic career to contribute. A group of researchers from the network will select the contributions based on the quality and the fit to the core questions of the symposium. All submissions should deal with all three aspects: emotions, sustainability, and education.

Abstracts should have a length of 500 words (excluding references)

• Abstract submission deadline: 31st of December, 2024
• Communication of review status: 31st of January, 2025

Submissions can be sent to Sissy Kreid, sissy.kreid@ur.de

Questions regarding the symposium can be sent to Emma Heikkilä, emma.heikkila@helsinki.fi