Climate Literacy in Education

Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue

Narratives for Change: Multimodal Resources and Approaches for Climate Literacy and Climate Justice in Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Lorraine Kerslake

University of Alicante

Mª Encarnación Carrillo García

Keywords: climate literacy, climate justice, multimodal narratives, Children's and young adult literature, climate education

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Abstract

This special issue, the first monograph of Climate Literacy in Education published entirely in Spanish, places climate literacy at the center of educational debate in response to the global environmental emergency. Understood as an ecological, social, and ethical crisis that particularly affects children and youth, the climate crisis demands transdisciplinary approaches that integrate scientific knowledge with emotional dimensions, ethical values, and narrative competencies. The volume highlights the central role of children’s and young adult literature and multimodal narratives—picturebooks, comics, film, animation, video games, and digital environments—as spaces for ethical imagination and the construction of more just and sustainable futures. From a Spanish-speaking perspective and in dialogue with Global South approaches, the issue foregrounds situated knowledges and advocates for a critical, inclusive, and action-oriented climate education.