Update and new article accepted

An update: Two out of three planned data collections in the project are now finalized. The survey study with senior high-school students and a follow up interview study. We perform data analyses and write articles for the moment. Interesting results are on their way! The project will continue until at least February 2022.

In addition, I have performed yet another small data collection (pilot study) with university students.

I also collaborate with a post doc, Malin Anniko, who is financed by Örebro University’s strategic research area Food and Health. We have written an article that is based in theoretical thoughts about young people, ambivalence around climate friendly food choices, and different ways of dealing with that ambivalence (me) and some analyses of the pilot data (Malin).

This article is now accepted for publication!

Ojala, M., & Anniko, M. (2020). Climate change as an existential challenge: Exploring how emerging adults cope with ambivalence about climate-friendly food choices. Psyche og Logos (accepted)

Some popular scientific presentations

I have held many popular scientific presentations during the last couple of years of which most are about my other work with young people and coping with climate change. However, some have also touched upon the work in this project about food activism and climate friendly food choices and ambivalence. Some examples:

Sept 2020. Ungas klimatoro – hoppfullt eller hopplöst? Fenomenalen Science Center, Visby, Gotland, September, 8, 2020

Feb 2020: Klimatpsykologi. Klimatstudenterna, Örebro Universitet, Örebro. February, 25, 2020

Feb 2020: Klimatoro som drivkraft till handling eller handlingsförlamning? Klimatfrågan ur ett beteendevetenskapligt perspektiv. Ljud och Bildskolan. Kreativa Gymnasiet, Linköping, February 4, 2020

April 2019: Klimatoro som drivkraft till handling eller handlingsförlamning? Klimatfrågan ur ett beteendevetenskapligt perspektiv. Klimatkommunernas årsmötesdagar, Örebro

October 2018. Panel discussion with Gustav Fridolin, Minister for Education and spokeperson for the Green Party (Miljöpartiet) in Sweden, about young people and climate change. In Örebro on October 30, 2018. Café Grön

Oral presentation at the scientific conference EARA 2020

In September I presented some preliminary results from the survey study with senior high-school students at an invited symposium at the conference: EARA 2020, Porto, Portugal. Chair for the session was Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro, University of Helsinki.

Unfortunately, I was not visiting Porto since the conference was online due to Covid-19. Since I was not in Porto, I will instead illustrate this post with a picture from a visit to Visby, Gotland in September

Ojala, M., & Anniko, M. (2020). Ambivalence about climate friendly food choices and coping among emerging adults. Part of invited symposium: ”Climate change and young people” Chair: Prof. Katariina Salmela-Aro at EARA 2020, Porto, Portugal, September 2-5, 2020 (online conference due to Covid-19)

New article about trust in climate change science

A new article about young people’s trust in climate change science is now published in the scientific journal Children’s Geographies.

In this article I theorize around the role that trust in climate change science play in, on the one hand, how young people cope with climate change and, on the other hand, how they cope with conflicts in relation to, for example, climate friendly food choices. Trust is seen as a relational and emotional phenomenon that is important for young people’s identity development.

Deciding which behavioral option that is most sustainable is a complex and difficult task for both lay-people and experts, because of different trade-offs that have to be considered in light of environmental, social, and health aspects. This makes an in-depth investigation of the role of trust in science, scientific knowledge claims, and specific experts important, not least because trust is often seen as something that reduces social uncertainty and complexity

Therefore, trust in science most probably play an important role in everyday youth climate engagement, for example in prefigurative practice/politics in relation to climate friendly food choices.

Ojala, M. (2020). To trust or not to trust? Young people’s trust in climate change science and their climate change engagement. Children’s Geographies https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2020.1822516https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14733285.2020.1822516

Practices of possibility in Nottingham

Visiting Sarah Amsler, Associate Professor in Education at University of Nottingham, to learn more about her exciting work about, for instance, prefiguration, critical pedagogy, practices of possibility and hope. Great discussions! Lots of inspiration for my new project. Sarah has written one of the most brilliant and inspiring books that I have ever read: The Education of Radical Democracy. Strongly recommended!

Just before the visit I also bought the book Social Sciences for an Other Politics: Women Theorizing Without Parachutes edited by Ana Dinerstein, where Sarah has written an interesting text about hope. What a good subtitle of a book! Cannot wait to read the rest of the chapters. In addition check out this exciting blog about a research hub involving a lot of interesting persons (not only researchers) and projects: Gesturing toward decolonial futures https://decolonialfutures.net/

 

Starting the project…

After a period of teaching the project finally is in its starting phase. On March 20th I held a presentation in Oslo, Norway (as plenary speaker) about my research, including an overview of this project. This presentation took place in a very interesting workshop arranged by the research group SIG COSER (Challenges of Sustainability in Educational Research).

The intention is to submit a paper to a special issues of the journal “Acta Didactica” (Editors Marianne  Ødegaard and Elin Saether at Oslo University) where the theoretical framework of the project is presented and practical implications for learning and for teacher education is elaborated upon. I am going to connect this to the concept of “critical emotional awareness”, which I have written about in some earlier papers (see the publication section of this blog).

I am writing on an ethics application, hopefully the application will be accepted and the interview study with young food activist can start in May. Right now I am in Nottingham visiting Associate Professor Sarah Amsler to, among other things, learn more about her work on practices of possibility and hope.  More on this later.

Första blogginlägget

In the beginning of 2018 I will start my new research project: “Prefiguring sustainable futures through food activism: How young people deal with border tensions between the sustainable and unsustainable in everyday life”. This project is financed by The Swedish Research Council Formas and will be run during the period 2018-2021. In this blog I will share project updates but also information about other research related activities.

The project has already gotten some media attention. For instance, articles in: Svenska Måltider: http://svenskamaltider.se/2017/11/24/att-bli-mataktivist-skulle-kunna-hjalpa-mot-hopploshetskanslorna/. Extrakt: http://www.extrakt.se/minskad-klimatpaverkan/mataktivism-en-kalla-till-hopp/. Livets Goda: http://www.livetsgoda.se/hon-ska-studera-unga-mataktivister. Örebronyheter: http://www.orebronyheter.com/hon-ska-studera-unga-mataktivister/. Örebro Universitet homepage: https://www.oru.se/nyheter/forskar-om-ungas-mataktivism/. An interview in the regional news on Swedish television was also broadcasted in November, 2017.