Background / Literature

Climate change education is often limited to factual instruction, yet research shows that awareness requires emotional engagement, relevance and agency (Shepardson et al., 2017). Many students understand climate change conceptually but feel distant from its consequences, which reduces motivation to act (Ojala, 2016).

Studies on VR-based learning indicate that immersive environments can enhance presence, empathy and situated understanding in sustainability education (Markowitz & Guckian, 2018; Fauville et al., 2021). VR does not replace traditional instruction, but offers a contextual and experiential layer that helps learners connect knowledge with lived experience.

At the same time, research highlights increasing levels of eco-anxiety and emotional overload among young learners (Pihkala, 2020). Climate education therefore needs to move beyond cognitive outcomes and support students’ emotional resilience, promoting what Ojala (2012) calls constructive and critical hope—an approach linked to action and responsibility.

Recent literature emphasizes that teacher guidance and pedagogical framing are essential when integrating immersive technologies (Parong & Mayer, 2021). Without a clear curriculum link and teacher involvement, technology alone does not guarantee meaningful learning. Hence, VR-supported teaching must be pedagogically designed, co-created with teachers and aligned with curriculum priorities.

VISTA builds on these insights by integrating immersive VR experiences with curriculum-based teaching practices. The project seeks to explore how technology, pedagogy and climate awareness can converge to support meaningful learning and future-oriented thinking.

Project Objectives

The VISTA project is a design-based research initiative that aims to enhance lower-secondary students’ awareness of climate change and its global consequences. It has two main objectives:

• O1. To comprehend Norwegian lower-secondary school students’ awareness of climate change and its global consequences.
• O2. To design, implement and evaluate a VR-based intervention to enhance students’ awareness of climate change, its global consequences and possible responses.

Research questions

• What is the current level of awareness among lower-secondary students about climate change, its global consequences, and possible responses?
• What are the practices, benefits, and challenges of current climate change education in schools, and how can they be enhanced?
• How can VR-based interventions be designed to effectively foster students’ awareness of climate change while remaining pedagogically feasible?
• What is the effect of VR-based interventions on students’ awareness, engagement, and intentions to take action compared to traditional teaching methods?
• What principles can be derived from this research to guide future designs and practices of VR in climate change education?