Browsing by Author "Riemer, Manuel"

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    The Youth Leading Environmental Change Project: A Mixed-Method Longitudinal Study across Six Countries
    (Ecopsychology,, 2016) Riemer, Manuel; Voorhees, Courte; Dittmer, Livia; Alisat, Susan; Alam, Nahian; Sayal, Radha; Bidisha, Sayema Haque; De Souza, Arun; Lynes, Jennifer; Metternich, Alexander; Mugagga, Frank; Schweizer-Ries, Petra
    Significant cultural transformations of the kinds that are needed to move our global society toward sustainability require youth to engage in environmental actions. These actions are more than just updating one’s personal practice (e.g., recycling). They are ‘‘intentional and conscious civic behaviors that are focused on systemic causes of environmental problems and the promotion of environmental sustainability through collective efforts’’ (Alisat & Riemer, 2015, p. 14). The current study investigated the effectiveness of the Youth Leading Environmental Change (YLEC) program, which fostered such environmental actions in six participating countries. YLEC is an 11-unit evidence-based youth engagement workshop series, with a focus on environmental justice and on building action competence. The study employed a mixed-method longitudinal comparison group designwith three follow-ups at 3, 6, and 12 months. Overall, 365 university students from Bangladesh, Canada, Germany, India, Uganda, and the United States participated in either the workshop or comparison group. Sixty-three of the workshop participants participated in semistructured qualitative interviews at the 3-month follow-up. The results suggest that most participants experienced a significant personal transformation both in regard to how they relate to environmental issues and how they perceive themselves as agents of change. Although there was an increase in environmental action in the month immediately following the workshop series, engagement seemed to revert close to baseline levels at the 12-month follow-up for many participants. Implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed
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    “We Can Keep the Fire Burning”: Building Action Competence through Environmental Justice Education in Uganda and Germany
    (Local Environment, 2018) Dittmer, Livia; Mugagga, Frank; Asiimwe, George; Riemer, Manuel
    The global dimensions of climate change necessitate a response that takes national differences – social, economic, geographic, and cultural – into account. Action-oriented education has a key role to play in advancing citizen engagement in a culture of sustainability. This paper describes research conducted with one such education programme, Youth Leading Environmental Change (YLEC), which operates in six countries and engages university-aged youth in discussion and practice related to global sustainability, systems thinking, and environmental justice. YLEC aims to advance four key competencies; this paper focuses on the goal of action competence, which involves acquiring knowledge, reflecting on experience in the context of one’s values, envisioning alternative futures, and acting individually and collectively to advance those alternatives. The present article examines the impacts of YLEC on environmental action competence in two of the countries involved in this research: Uganda and Germany. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants in both countries to examine the development of action competence during and after the programme. Findings suggest that outcomes differed in each country, reflective of participants’ different lived experiences. YLEC effectively built on the conditions faced in each country to accompany youth to a higher level of awareness and action. These findings have implications for environmental education programmes striving to work with multiple nations and diverse participants.