Climate Literacy as an Emerging Concept in Science Education

Climate change represents one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2023) predicts considerable risks for global communities in the coming decades. In this context, education is regarded as a pivotal source of hope. Both the ability to mitigate the consequences of climate change and the adaptation capabilities of students should be strengthened. To achieve this objective, it is essential to promote diverse knowledge dimensions, as well as different skills and attitudes with regard to climate change. This conglomerate of characteristics is summarized under the term climate literacy. This dissertation shows that climate literacy is gaining importance in the field of science education and beyond. Furthermore, the term climate literacy is further conceptualized, and the development of an assessment instrument is outlined. Additionally, the significance of the energy concept for climate literacy, as well as the development of data analyzing skills as a sub-competency of climate literacy in the higher grades of secondary schools, is shown. Finally, the role of climate literacy in the field of science education is discussed, and recommendations for its promotion in schools are derived.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Year

2026

Author dc:creator

• Gellermann, Dirk

Contributors dc:contributor

• Harms, Ute
• Fortus, David

• Climate literacy
• Science education

Repository record source_url

https://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/macau_mods_00008860

OAI record oai:identifier

https://macau.uni-kiel.de/servlets/OAIDataProvider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=xMetaDissPlus&identifier=oai%3Amacau.uni-kiel.de%3Amacau_mods_00008860