Abstract This study examines how climate change education (CCE) initiatives in Philippine basic education shape learners’ climate-related knowledge, awareness, behaviours, and perceptions of environmental well-being through the interconnected influences of families, schools, and communities. While many CCE initiatives focus on school-based knowledge and awareness, less attention has been given to how environmental practices are sustained across everyday socioecological contexts. Guided by action competence, intergenerational learning, and socioecological perspectives, the study integrates a systematic review of 109 Department of Education (DepEd) and government issuances with key informant interviews involving teachers and school-level programme implementers. Findings show that DepEd initiatives – such as YES-O, WASH programmes, and school-based greening activities – serve as critical entry points for environmental engagement but do not consistently lead to sustained behavioural change. The continuity of environmental practices depends on the degree of alignment across school, home, and community systems. Inconsistent family routines, limited local government unit (LGU) support, infrastructural constraints, and programme discontinuities weaken learners’ capacity to internalise environmental practices. Conversely, experiential learning, family modelling, lived experiences of climate risks, and active community participation strengthen children’s action competence and resilience. The study advances a socioecological alignment framework that conceptualises CCE as a relational and multi-level process shaped by structural, cultural, and institutional conditions. It argues that strengthening intergenerational learning, community engagement, and governance continuity is essential for cultivating sustained climate action. These insights offer implications for rethinking climate education in the Philippines and other climate-vulnerable and resource-constrained contexts.
Espinosa et al. (2026) studied this question.