Education research facing a future marked by climate emergency: analysis of recent scientific production

Abstract

Climate change is one of the main challenges we must face to achieve a sustainable future. In this context, education is an essential element of the response to this complex problem at an individual and cultural level, which should prepare current students for change, facilitate their resilience, and encourage sustainable actions. The objective of this chapter is to analyze the academic production on climate change in the educational field in journals included in the databases of the Web of Science Core Collection from 2001 to 2020 in order to explore its evolution, identify the main themes that articulate the field of knowledge, recognize its main references and the network of collaborations between researchers and universities around the world, and reveal its implications for research. The results obtained show that it is an emerging research line with numerous challenges to address. Hence, the analysis reveals three main lines that require further study: people’s knowledge of this systemic problem and its anthropogenic causes, the study of their stances regarding this environmental problem, and the quest of new educational strategies that bring us closer to sustainable lifestyles that adapt to the new circumstances caused by climate change.