Getting Started
To inspire ideas about how to integrate ecomedia literacy into the media classroom, start with these short articles: “Bringing Ecomedia Literacy into the Classroom” and “Ecomedia Literacy: Principles and Practices” are short articles that offer some ideas.
Special co-edited issue of The Journal of Media Literacy and Journal of Sustainability Education on Ecomedia Literacy. Over 20 articles on ecomedia literacy, including case studies and teaching examples.
Video interview with Antonio Lopez on ecomedia literacy with Pamela Pereyra’s Media Savvy Citizens vlogcast. Offers a good overview for media literacy educators.
Video interview with Antonio Lopez for ClimateLit about how ecomedia literacy provides a framework for exploring media’s impact on the environment and how it can be used as a pedagogical tool for understanding systems thinking and ecology.
Academic Programs
Linnaeus University‘s Mediations of Climate and Ecological Emergency (MEDEM) program is a transdisciplinary platform for research, education and action related to the mediation of climate and ecological emergency.
Tools and Resources for Curriculum Development and Teaching
Media and Environment Education Resources
Websites that feature resources and curricula for classroom ideas and curriculum development
Badvertising Campaign to stop adverts fueling the climate emergency.
Climate Lit offers resources to teach about climate change with literature, film, and other media for young people.
Climate Literacy in Education publishes practical, teacher-oriented content on all aspects of climate literacy education at all grade levels and across all subject areas (primarily K-16, but including teacher education and professional development).
Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education A great resource for learning the basics for all disciplines.
Common Sense Media: 6 Free Tools for Teaching About Climate Change, Climate Change Resources for Students and Teachers, How to Address the Climate Change Debate in Your Classroom, Excellent Ecology and Environmental Science Apps, Games, and Websites.
designlife-cycle.com Features infographics and charts that document the lifecycle of everyday objects and technology. A work-in-progress project by design undergraduate students at the University of California, Davis Department of Design. Each of these entries is a group project undertaken by students in DES 40A: Energy, Materials and Design Across Time.
Digital Detox An initiative that helps participants to reflect on and re-evaluate the role technology plays in their lives and how digital learning and technologies impact the Earth and our relationship with it.
From Climate Denial to Ecojustice A website devoted to the Climate Denial Inquiry Model (CDIM). The CDIM helps confront climate denial and advance ecojustice. Based on the work in the book, How to Confront Climate Denial: Literacy, Social Studies, and Climate Change by James S. Damico, Mark C. Baildon.
Lens on Climate Change (LOCC) A project engaging Colorado middle and high school students in film production documenting the effects of climatic and environmental changes on their lives and in their communities.
Our Climate Our Future An award-winning video experience that educates young people on the science of climate change and empowers them to take action. See the Lesson Plan page for teaching resources.
Project Look Sharp have created a rich collection of media literacy materials related to topics such as climate change, water, food and agriculture. Their professional development trainings and curriculum materials are the most comprehensive media and sustainability curricula available (see STEM/environment media literacy lessons).
Proven Sustainable is a free educational resource that offers “dialogue codes” consisting of short quotes and images and questions from 176 individuals within 22 distinct communities. These peoples have proven enduring and resilient over time and have resisted domination by outside cultures while refraining from colonizing other peoples.
UCLA’s Critical Media Literacy library research page has a devoted section to climate change and ecojustice.
Wiki resource site for the book, Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference, by Richard Beach, Jeff Share, and Allen Webb.
Wiki resource site for the book, Youth Created Media on the Climate Crisis: Hear Our Voices edited by Richard Beach and Blaine E. Smith.
Online Training and Seminars
Environmental Journalism (Thomas Foundation) Free courses, seminars, and resources to build environmental journalism and professional development skills from anywhere.
Story Maps and Multimedia Sites for Environmental Awareness
Tools and examples of multimedia storytelling for the climate
Crystalball is a a fully open-source mapping platform created by Brian Holmes. See Stop Line 3 for and example of its application to climate activism.
DD 5.8 Design Justice An exploration of how design might be led by marginalized communities, dismantle structural inequality, and advance collective liberation and ecological survival.
Environmental Ideology Map An interactive multimedia website that allows you to explore different environmental ideologies and meanings.
STAND-LA Virtual Toxic Tour An interactive tour through LA’s urban oil drilling sites and their impact on the children, families, and Angelenos who live near them.
Taking Environmental Issues Local using Virtual Reality and Immersive Storytelling There is a plethora of new media and technology becoming available to us everyday. This resource explores the impact that new media, such as virtual realty, can have on helping us create meaningful local connections to and better understand complex environmental issues.
StoryMaps A tool used for telling stories with custom maps to create awareness, assisting storytellers to give narratives a strong sense of place, illustrate spatial relationships, and add visual appeal. Their simple map maker can be used to create custom maps by adding text, photos, and videos to existing ArcGIS web maps.
Worldmapper Offers a collection of world maps called cartograms, where territories are resized on each map according to the subject of interest. Featuring an assortment of climate environmental impact maps, the range of maps is continuously extended and updated.
Academic research about teaching media, technology, disinformation, and environment
Articles
Bass, C., Mayo, R., & Rodesiler, L. (2022). Because 99 Is Not 100”: Teaching critical media ecoliteracy. English Journal, 111(4), 84–91.
Beach, R., & Smith, B. (2023). Youth production of digital media to address the climate crisis. Climate Literacy in Education, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v1i2.5349
Carbonell-Alcocer, A., Romero-Luis, J., Gértrudix-Barrio, M., & Borges-Rey, E. (2022). Educating for a sustainable future through the Circular Economy: Citizen involvement and social change. Comunicar, 30(73). https://doi.org/10.3916/C73-2022-02
Damico, J. S., Panos, A., & Myers, M. (2018). Digital Literacies and climate change: Exploring reliability and truth(s) with pre-service Teachers. In Best practices in teaching digital literacy (Vol. 9, pp. 93–107). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2048-045820180000009007
Hilderbrand, L. (2020). Cinema and media pedagogy in the streaming era. In Streaming Media’s Environmental Impact, Media+Environment.
López, A. (2016). Deconstructing Chipotle: Media as environmental education. Teaching Media Quarterly, 4(3).
López, A. (2020). Ecomedia: The metaphor that makes a difference. Journal of Sustainability Education.
López, A. (2020). Ecomedia literacy: Educating with ecomedia objects and the ecomediasphere. Digital Culture & Education, 12(2).
López, A. (2021). Ecomedia literacy: Decolonizing media and the climate emergency. Peace Chronicle, Spring.
López, A. (2023). Seeing microplastic clouds: Using ecomedia literacy for digital technology in environmental education. Journal of Environmental Education, 54(2).
López, A., & Share, J. (2020). Fake climate news: How denying climate change is the ultimate in fake news. Journal of Sustainability Education, 23.
Lowan-Trudeau, G. (2023). Digital technologies and environmental education. The Journal of Environmental Education, 54(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2022.2152413
Macgilchrist, F., Potter, J., & Williamson, B. (2021). Shifting scales of research on learning, media and technology. Learning, Media and Technology, 46(4), 369–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1994418
Miller, J., Rost, L., Bryant, C., Embry, R., Iqbal, S., Lannoye-Hall, C., & Olson, M. (2021). Media literacy in the age of COVID and climate change. The Science Teacher, 88(6).
Oziewicz, M. (2022, January 14). Why children’s stories are a powerful tool to fight climate change. YES! Magazine.
Redmond, T. (2019). Media literacy as eco-justice pedagogy. MEDIA EDUCATION: Studi, ricerche, buone pratiche, 10(1), 69-90.
Encyclopedia
López, A. (2019). Ecomedia literacy. In R. Hobbs & P. Mihailidis (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy, 2 Volume Set. Wiley-Blackwell.
Book Chapters
Guldin, R., & Bybee, C. (2024). Reclaiming Media Education for the Environment. In S. Gennaro, N. Higdon, & M. Hoechsmann, Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy (pp. 109–120). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003375555-11
López, A. (2015). Ecomedia literacy for environmental sustainability. In J. Singh, A. Grizzle, S. J. Yee, & S. H. Culver (Eds.), Media and information literacy for the sustainable development goals (Vol. 1–Book, Section). Nordicom.
López, A. (2017). Using Infographics to Put Environmental Communication into Practice. In T. Milstein, M. Pileggi, & E. Morgan (Eds.), Environmental communication and pedagogy (Vol. 1–Book, Section, pp. 244–247). Routledge.
López, A. (2017). Developing Visual Literacy Skills for Environmental Communication. In T. Milstein, M. Pileggi, & E. Morgan (Eds.), Environmental communication and pedagogy (Vol. 1–Book, Section, pp. 112–127). Routledge.
López, A. (2021). Expanding ethics to the environment with ecomedia literacy. In D. Frau-Meigs, S. Kotilainen, M. Pathak-Shelat, M. Hoechsmann, & S. R. Poyntz (Eds.), The handbook of media education research. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119166900
López, A. (2023). Decolonising knowledge systems in media education with ecomedia Literacy. In S. Gennaro, N. Higdon, & M. Hoechsmann (Eds.), Transformative practice in critical media literacy: Radical democracy and decolonized pedagogy in higher education. Routledge.
López, A. (2023). Climate writing across media: Scribing new stories to live by. In B. E. Smith & R. Beach (Eds.), “Hear our voices”: Youth creating media on the climate crisis in the classroom. Routledge.
López, A. (2022). Ecomedia literacy: Decolonizing media and the climate emergency. In B. S. De Abreu (Ed.), Media literacy, equity, and justice. Routledge.
López, A. (2022). Ecomedia literacy: Ethics, ecojustice, and the climate emergency. In B. S. De Abreu (Ed.), Media literacy for justice: Lessons for changing the world. ALA Neal-Schuman.
López, A., Share, J., & Redmond, T. (2022). Ecomedia literacy: Ecojustice and media education in a post-pandemic world. In Y. Friesem, U. Raman, I. Kanižaj, & G. Y. Choi (Eds.), The Routledge handbook on media education futures post-pandemic (pp. 463–470). Routledge.
López, A. (2023). Ecomedia video essays. In J. Share (Ed.), For the love of nature: Ecowriting the world. Peter Lang.
López, A. (2024). Ecomedia literacy: Bringing ecomedia studies into the classroom. In A. López, A. Ivakhiv, S. Rust, M. Tola, A. Y. Chang, & K. Chu (Eds.), Routledge handbook of ecomedia studies (pp. 99–107). Routledge.
López, A. (2024). Decolonizing knowledge systems in media education with ecomedia literacy. In S. Gennaro, N. Higdon, & M. Hoechsmann (Eds.), Transformative practice in critical media literacy: Radical democracy and decolonized pedagogy in higher education. Routledge.
Books on Ecoliteracy, Ecopedagogy, Environmental Literacy, and Teaching Media
Beach, R., Share, J., & Webb, A. (2017). Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents (Rethinking Schools). Routledge.
Beach, R., & Smith, B. E. (Eds.). (2023). Youth created media on the climate crisis: Hear our voices. Routledge.
Bowers, C. A. (2012). The way forward: Educational reforms that focus on the cultural commons and the linguistic roots of the ecological/cultural crises. Eco-Justice Press.
Brereton, P. (2018). Environmental literacy and new digital audiences. Routledge. Buckingham, D. (2019). The media education manifesto. Polity.
Bruhn, J., & Salmose, N. (2024). Intermedial ecocriticism: The climate crisis through art and media. Lexington Books.
Damico, J. S., & Baildon, M. C. (2022). How to confront climate denial: Literacy, social studies, and climate change. Teachers College Press.
Garrard, G. (Ed.). (2016). Teaching ecocriticism and green cultural studies. Palgrave Macmillan.
Golley, F. B. (1998). A primer for environmental literacy. Yale University Press.
Iheka, C. N. (Ed.). (2022). Teaching postcolonial environmental literature and media. Modern Language Association of America.
Jandrić, P., & Ford, D. R. (Eds.). (2022). Postdigital ecopedagogies: Genealogies, contradictions, and possible futures. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97262-2
Kahn, R. (2010). Critical pedagogy, ecoliteracy, & planetary crisis: The ecopedagogy movement. Peter Lang.
Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2019). The critical media literacy guide: Engaging media and transforming education. Brill Sense.
Lupinacci, J., Happel-Parkins, A., & Turner, R. J. (Eds.). (2023). Ecocritical perspectives in teacher education. Brill.
López, A. (2014). Greening media education: Bridging media literacy with green cultural citizenship. Peter Lang.
López, A. (2021). Ecomedia literacy: Integrating ecology into media education. Routledge.
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
Milstein, T., Pileggi, M., & Morgan, E. (2017). Environmental communication and pedagogy. Routledge.
Misiaszek, G. W. (2023). Freire and Environmentalism: Ecopedagogy. Bloomsbury Academic.
Orr, D. W. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. State University of New York Press.
Patterson, R. (2015). Greening africana studies: Linking environmental studies with transforming Black experiences. Temple University Press.
Shepardson, D. P., Roychoudhury, A., & Hirsch, A. S. (Eds.). (2017). Teaching and Learning about Climate Change: A Framework for Educators. Routledge.
Share, J. (Ed.). (2022). Ecowriting in every classroom. DIO Press.
Sterling, S. (2004). Sustainable education: Re-visioning learning and change. Green Books.
Stibbe, A. (Ed.). (2009). The handbook of sustainability literacy: Skills for a changing world. Green Books.
Tishman, S. (2017). Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation. Routledge.