Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students

Increasing attention to the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) requests a reflection on the role of young people for just urban development. This study explores how upper secondary school students (age from 16 to 19) relationally learn about environmental justice issues through role-play. Ten w...

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Main Authors: Eugenia Castellazzi, Viola Hakkarainen, Christopher M. Raymond
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Ecosystems and People
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26395916.2024.2430591
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author Eugenia Castellazzi
Viola Hakkarainen
Christopher M. Raymond
author_facet Eugenia Castellazzi
Viola Hakkarainen
Christopher M. Raymond
author_sort Eugenia Castellazzi
collection DOAJ
description Increasing attention to the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) requests a reflection on the role of young people for just urban development. This study explores how upper secondary school students (age from 16 to 19) relationally learn about environmental justice issues through role-play. Ten workshops were conducted in May 2022, involving 197 students from two upper secondary schools in Helsinki, Finland. We used role-play as a learning activity to actively involve students in working with justice perceptions which emerged from discussions about the implementation of NBS in their school district. The findings are based on both participant observation and two surveys conducted before and after the activity. The study shows how the role-play positively impacted the students’ understanding of environmental justice issues related to NBS, complementing it with a higher recognition of different values for green spaces and trade-offs concerning their management. Finally, the role-play enabled students to explore new perceptions of recognition justice, expanding their sense of community to new cultures and non-human entities.
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spelling doaj-art-ad19d5b7a88e4794b517a36e22cf9a052024-12-27T07:00:22ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEcosystems and People2639-59082639-59162024-12-0120110.1080/26395916.2024.2430591Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school studentsEugenia Castellazzi0Viola Hakkarainen1Christopher M. Raymond2Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandHelsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandHelsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandIncreasing attention to the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) requests a reflection on the role of young people for just urban development. This study explores how upper secondary school students (age from 16 to 19) relationally learn about environmental justice issues through role-play. Ten workshops were conducted in May 2022, involving 197 students from two upper secondary schools in Helsinki, Finland. We used role-play as a learning activity to actively involve students in working with justice perceptions which emerged from discussions about the implementation of NBS in their school district. The findings are based on both participant observation and two surveys conducted before and after the activity. The study shows how the role-play positively impacted the students’ understanding of environmental justice issues related to NBS, complementing it with a higher recognition of different values for green spaces and trade-offs concerning their management. Finally, the role-play enabled students to explore new perceptions of recognition justice, expanding their sense of community to new cultures and non-human entities.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26395916.2024.2430591Suneetha SubramanianNature-based solutionsenvironmental justicerelational learningrole-playsustainability education
spellingShingle Eugenia Castellazzi
Viola Hakkarainen
Christopher M. Raymond
Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students
Ecosystems and People
Suneetha Subramanian
Nature-based solutions
environmental justice
relational learning
role-play
sustainability education
title Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students
title_full Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students
title_fullStr Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students
title_full_unstemmed Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students
title_short Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students
title_sort role play as a catalyst for justice awareness a relational approach to nature based solutions with secondary school students
topic Suneetha Subramanian
Nature-based solutions
environmental justice
relational learning
role-play
sustainability education
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26395916.2024.2430591
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AT violahakkarainen roleplayasacatalystforjusticeawarenessarelationalapproachtonaturebasedsolutionswithsecondaryschoolstudents
AT christophermraymond roleplayasacatalystforjusticeawarenessarelationalapproachtonaturebasedsolutionswithsecondaryschoolstudents