The three-year project, Hopeful and Resilient Perspectives in Climate Change Education to Inspire (Promote) Action Competence (HARP), aims to examine and improve climate education practices in selected European countries. Its goal is to promote more comprehensive, inclusive, and action-oriented approaches to addressing the climate crisis.
At the same time, the project offers ways to strengthen students’ emotional resilience and their ability to engage with challenging environmental topics. The consortium brings together Masaryk University, Utrecht University, and Universität Wien.
The project is built on close collaboration between the research team and a wide range of stakeholders—including formal and non-formal educators, representatives of nonprofit organizations, students, and public officials. One of the first steps was the organization of roundtable discussions, where participants explored the current state of climate change education at secondary schools and universities, identified perceived barriers and opportunities, and discussed what an ideal integration of this topic into education at both levels could look like.
A highly successful and positively evaluated summer school titled Working with Emotions in Climate Change Education was held, bringing together a diverse group of nearly thirty students, researchers, and instructors from universities and nonprofit organizations around the world. Participants explored and practiced activities and techniques at the intersection of pedagogy and therapy, which they can use when working with students’ emotions.
In addition, we organized several lectures, workshops, and webinars. One highlight was a two-day workshop held this May in Vienna with a leading expert in environmental education, Martha Monroe from the University of Florida. Professor Monroe has long focused on climate education and on motivating young people toward sustainable behavior and climate action. Her approaches and sources of inspiration were also explored in the Climate Conversations podcast by Céline Van Der Elst from Utrecht University.
In 2026, we are planning two additional summer school programs. The first will take place in July 2026 in Utrecht and will focus on climate change impacts particularly relevant to our Dutch partners—rising sea levels and water resource management. The second will be designed for Czech educators and will be held in cooperation with the nonprofit organization LIPKA in late August. All information about upcoming events that anyone can take part in within the project is available on our website and social media channels.
The project is funded with support from Horizon Europe (Grant Agreement No. 101160082).
Read the latest installment of our series introducing colleagues from across the faculty’s departments. In each edition, we ask one person the same seven questions. This time, we spoke with Michaela Burgetová, the new Head of the Office for Studies.
In 2026, vouchers (tokens) for open access publishing remain available with selected publishers. The current number of vouchers and the conditions for their use can be found on the Open Science MU website.
