Engaging youth in the local environment: Promoting sustainability action competence in Danish high school teaching through citizen social science

Many young individuals experience asense of disconnection from their immediate environment, which adversely affects their engagement in civic activities. This article outlines experiences with asustainability actionable approach in aDanish high school, and how it influenced young people’sunderstanding of the local environment. The study entails athree-month collaboration with ateacher and 17 high school students in Copenhagen who were being trained as citizen social scientists. They investigated and proposed youth-friendly sustainable changes in the neighbourhood, which enhanced their sustainability action com-petence. The article discusses how an action-oriented framework may inspire high school teachers to incorporate citizen social science in planning education for sustainable development that supports youth civic engagement.