Gather STEAM: - fostering environmental awareness using participatory media and arts

The environmental challenges of society today necessitate educational approaches that
motivate learners toward careers in science and foster creativity and innovation. The urbanization
of society with many children growing up with little opportunity to experience nature in their daily
lives has created a need to reconnect with nature, especially for children and youth, in ways that
can also make natural sciences meaningful to them. This paper presents the first phase of a
research and development project that explores the potential of participatory media to promote
greater environmental awareness in children and adolescents. In the first phase of the qualitative
study, the project has collaborated with three schools, and designed interventions where students
and their teachers employed narrative, role-play and digital media in an interdisciplinary approach
to science classes. The project has developed and tested a combination of integrative learning
designs, including video production and role-play scenarios as well as exploring nature using
scientific methods. The research methods combine observations, interviews, and qualitative
surveys. The results from the first phase of the project are promising but also indicate that further
research in the field is needed. There is a need to further explore the development of creative
learning designs that have the potential to support the development of environmental awareness.