Films as a Tool for Climate Education: A Quasi-Experimental Intervention amongst Middle School Children from the Indian Himalayan Region

The study investigates the potential role that films may play in raising awareness and motivation to act for climate change mitigation. The study was conducted amongst middle school children based in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, India ( n = 135). The selected students were classified into higher and lower exposure groups based on their level of exposure to climate vulnerabilities. All the participants were given an educational intervention through a short film designed to enhance the student’s understanding of climate change issues. Data were analysed using GLMM with fixed effects of time, exposure and their interaction. Knowledge increased significantly from pre- to post-test on all items (McNemar’s tests, all p < 0.001). Although both groups improved, gains were consistently larger in the high-exposure group. Model-predicted probabilities rose from 38.1%→52.5% in the lower-exposure group and from 33.1%→69.3% in the high-exposure group, a statistically significant 21.8 percentage-point greater gain for high-exposure students. The study demonstrates that film-based interventions have significantly improved climate knowledge among the middle-school students, with larger gains observed in those with higher lived exposure to climate vulnerabilities.