Children, citizenship and environment: nurturing a democratic imagination in a changing world

This book sets out an inspiring new agenda for citizenship and environmental education which reflects the responsibility and opportunities facing educators, researchers, parents and community groups to support young citizens as they learn to 'make a difference' on the issues that concern them. Controversial yet ultimately hopeful, political scientist Bronwyn Hayward rethinks assumptions about youth citizenship in neoliberal democracies. Her comparative discussion draws on lessons from New Zealand, a country where young citizens often express a strong sense of personal responsibility for their planet but where many children also face shocking social conditions. Hayward develops a 'SEEDS' model of ecological citizenship education (Social agency, Environmental Education, Embedded justice, Decentred deliberative democracy and Self transcendence). The discussion considers how the SEEDs model can support young citizens' democratic imagination and develop their 'handprint' for social justice.