Ecological Education and Digital Technologies: Pedagogical Convergences for Sustainable Citizenship
Francesca Latino, Generoso Romano, Francesco Tafuri
Abstract
In an era defined by accelerating ecological crises and the pervasive presence of digital technologies, education stands at a crucial crossroads. This article explores the intersection between ecological education and digital innovation, analyzing how pedagogical frameworks can integrate technological tools to foster sustainable citizenship. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, the paper investigates how digital environments can support ecological thinking, critical engagement, and collective responsibility among learners. It emphasizes the importance of pedagogical intentionality, teacher agency, and inclusive design in shaping educational practices that transcend instrumental uses of technology. Through a critical review of emerging approaches and case studies, the article highlights the need for education systems to cultivate not only digital competencies but also ecological awareness, ethical sensitivity, and democratic participation. Ultimately, it argues that the convergence of ecological and digital paradigms offers a unique opportunity to reimagine teaching and learning as transformative practices for a sustainable future.
Keywords
Critical Consciousness; Systems Thinking; Teacher Agency; Democratic
Education; Planetary Ethics; Transformative Learning
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Journal
of
Environmental
Education,
49(3),
180β191.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2017.1415191
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Educational Research: Toward a Complex Systems Conceptual Framework of
Learning.
Educational
Psychologist,
51(2),
210β219.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207172
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Education, 2(2), 233β238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00113-8
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age: Participatory politics and the pursuit of democratic engagement. Theory &
Research
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Social
Education,
44(1),
1β35.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2015.1132646
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development. Prentice-Hall.
Latour, B. (2017). Facing Gaia: Eight lectures on the new climatic regime. Polity Press.
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Cambridge University Press.
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people and the digital divide. New Media & Society, 9(4), 671β696.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444807080335
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diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities. Routledge.
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PublicAffairs.
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enhancing understandings of personal digital data. New Media & Society, 21(2), 419β
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Parikka, J. (2015). A geology of media. University of Minnesota Press.
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future. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 20, 1β20.
Smith, G. A., & Sobel, D. (2010). Place- and community-based education in schools.
Routledge.
Sterling, S. (2016). A commentary on education and sustainable development goals. Journal of
Education
for
Sustainable
Development,
10(2),
208β213.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408216661886
UNESCO.
(2020).
Education
for
Sustainable
Development:
A
roadmap.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374802
van der Velden, M., & Elgar, E. (2013). Sustainable ICT for education: A systemic perspective.
Information
Technology
for
Development,
19(3),
227β244.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2012.751570
Wu, H. K., & Lee, S. W. Y. (2015). Using video games to enhance science learning. Educational
Media International, 52(1), 1β16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2015.1005427
Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new
frontier of power. PublicAffairs.
