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Abstract How do young people conceive of their ability to meaningfully contribute to climate change action? Adopting a social-ecological perspective, and situated in the understudied context of regional Australia, this Case Study research explores how students at a Catholic high school make sense of climate change and their agency to respond. Thematic analysis of focus group discussions, involving 37 participants, revealed that place-based and relational factors were key influences that strengthened or diminished students’ developing sense of climate agency. Educational and social experiences shaped how they viewed their agentic potential, and the kinds of climate action they perceived as meaningful. Importantly, participants valued opportunities for dialogue, and for socially connected activities pursuing tangible environmental benefits. These insights contribute a contextualised, youth perspective on climate agency, highlighting a need to support young people in developing a repertoire of action that reflects their values and social realities. Implications for climate change education policy and practice are discussed.
Tanja Russell (Tue,) studied this question.