ENCOMPASS is the acronym of “ENgaging and orienting the young in the COMPlexity of climAte change and Sustainability to foster agency and deliberation in Societally relevant choices” and it is a new proposal financed by National Italian project PRIN PNNR2022 (Code MUR: P2022FNJXK_001; CUP: J53D23016920001). 

The proposal is coordinated by the University of Bologna (PI: Dr Giulia Tasquier) and involves, as partners, Libera Università "Vita Salute S.Raffaele" MILANO (Professor Francesca Pongiglione) and Università degli Studi di VERONA (Professor Elena Claire Ricci). Together, the partners provide a robust set of relevant expertise, capacity and vision to deliver the project. 

The project is positioned in the main strategic emerging topic Environment Quality, within Cluster 2 and Sub-Cluster 6 [LINK AL DOCUMENTO ESTERNO], and is geared towards the ambitious and long-term goal to create a more resilient, cohesive, inclusive, open, and democratic society.  

ENCOMPASS aspires to contribute to creating, through school education, a society where the young generation can respond to the current social challenges and develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will support their participation and action in our complex society and times of uncertainty.  

ENCOMPASS starts from the fact that the young generations is showing in the last years an unprecedent willingness to contribute to climate change (CC) abatement. However, forms of radical activism are taking place, and show a lack of orientation among young people, who have trouble understanding how to become agents of change. Indeed, educating school science students, our future leaders, decision-makers, and citizens, about socio-ecological challenges now is a critical and delicate aspect. The improvement of science education in schools, despite being in the UNESCO agenda for over 60 years, is still underrealized. The educational systems, however, play a crucial role in fostering learners’ ability to construct coherent pictures of the complexity of the present, and empowering them to develop transformative agency Anthropocene. However, the point is how to foster learners’ ability to construct coherent pictures of the complexity of the present, which aligns with cultivating their improved scientific literacy and empowering them with the agency to be future-aware. 

The overarching goal of ENCOMPASS is to unpack the concept of agency in the context of CC action, including both individual action and political participation, and fully incorporate it in science education programs. Specifically, ENCOMPASS guesses to explore and unfold this research goal by combining cross-cutting knowledge, expertise, and methodologies from the lenses of philosophy, economics, and science education.