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SHIFTting the narrative of the climate GENeration: ecology, emotions, and critical thinking in young adult contemporary climate fiction

Project description

Empowering youth through climate fiction

Today’s youth faces a profound challenge: the looming spectre of environmental catastrophe. Climate change narratives permeate their daily lives, fostering anxiety and eco-grief. Amplified by a sense of intergenerational injustice, young adults often feel helpless, portrayed as innocent victims of adult negligence. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the SHIFT-GEN project explores how young adult climate fiction can influence young minds. Spanning from 2000 to 2023, it examines whether this genre empowers youths as assertive leaders and ecological citizens. Incorporating recent eco-critical methods, the study aims to reveal if these narratives inspire ecological citizenship and creative long-term action. The findings will contribute significantly to current ecological debates.

Objective

SHIFT-GEN investigates how narratives of climate change can affect young generations, proposing the first extensive study of young adult climate fiction (YA cli-fi) in English (2000-2023; interest age: 13-19 years). Emerging studies reveal that the chronic fear of environmental catastrophe is particularly affecting young peoples daily life. Feelings of climate anxiety and ecogrief are amplified by a sense of intergenerational injustice, with the so-called climate generation often portrayed as an innocent victim that adults are failing to protect. By adopting an ecocritical perspective, my research will examine whether YA cli-fi portrays young adults as assertive leaders and protagonists, shaping their own future. Moreover, combining recent developments in ecocriticism - namely econarratology, affective ecocriticism, and empirical ecocriticism - this project will investigate whether YA cli-fi is able to prompt the development of ecological citizenship, communicate fears and hopes about the future, and inspire creative thinking and long-term action. Given its scope and purpose, the proposed research is a timely contribution to current ecological debates and can offer significant insights on the connection between the health of people, animals, and ecosystems, engaging in a One Health approach. This three-year action will be undertaken under the supervision of Prof. R. Baccolini (UNIBO) and Prof. E. James (UIDAHO), and includes a secondment supervised by Prof. M. Caracciolo (UGENT). It will comprise a transversal training and the acquisition of transferable skills, as well as a targeted program of dissemination and communication activities. The project will also undertake citizen science research engaging with university students of the Emilia-Romagna region to explore the impact of YA cli-fi on young readers climate change emotions, thus employing the theoretical categories of the project to reflect on local communities and fragile landscapes.

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 288 859,20
Address
VIA ZAMBONI 33
40126 Bologna
Italy

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Region
Nord-Est Emilia-Romagna Bologna
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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Partners (2)

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