ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we consider ways to support a diverse school climate strike generation, as they learn the skills of democratic citizenship for troubled times. Discussion asks, how can we support the capability of young citizens who must confront not only the risks of chaotic climate change but also work to transform the diverse, underlying social and economic drivers of injustice and suffering? Today’s climate crisis is also a deeply political crisis. In thinking about how to support children and youth to face entwined environmental and social challenges, the chapter introduces a SEEDS model of ecological citizenship in which the democratic capabilities and skills of young citizens are nurtured through a communitarian approach to Social agency, Environmental education, Embedded justice, Decentred deliberation and Self-transcendence. The SEEDS of ecological citizenship are contrasted with a thin environmentalism of SMART citizenship which emphasises Self-help, Market engagement, A priori justice, Representative democracy and Technological innovation. Discussion argues that the SMART emphasis on individual action is no longer sufficient to support young citizens who are facing an existential, collective climate crisis. Moreover, as adults we have an obligation to address the FEARS of children struggling with a sense of Frustrated agency, Exclusion, Authoritarian decision-making, Retributive justice and Silenced political imagination.
