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The interactions of climate change and soils (ICCS) are scarcely examined in Climate Change Education (CCE). Analyzing the pre-conceptions of secondary school students (n = 421) reveals a high number of missing answers (48.2%), while residual participants responded with either medium (33.3%) or low (11.5%) complexity levels. The natural and the human sphere are scarcely interconnected and mentioned positive feedback effects indicate students' spatial distance to the ICCS that occur in Alpine regions. In order to bridge these gaps with more elaborated and regional concepts, a careful consideration of ICCS content is urgently recommended for CCE.

This follow-up study presents a design-based research (DBR) setting implemented over a three-year project called 'eKidZ – Teach Your Parents Well' which uses research-based learning and follows the four phases of DBR. In an iterative cycle, 20 teenagers aged 14–16 took on the role of researchers and investigated intergenerational learning and the multiplier effects of students participating in the Climate Change Education project 'k.i.d.Z.21 – Competent into the Future' on their parents, using the complete research process. Simultaneously, scientists implemented and tested the DBR setting to validate student research findings and to evaluate the quality of the educational setting. In this fully integrated DBR, using multiple methods (quantitative and qualitative), educational and scientific perspectives are brought together to evaluate students' findings and draw conclusions regarding their learning effects. These research results demonstrate that not only did students generate valid and reliable research, but – when changing perspectives – teenagers also contribute to the discussion about closing the gaps in science education and practice. By examining young people's research on Climate Change Education and recognising their contribution in scientific discourse, this paper offers a host of new insights. Teenagers take on the role of researchers and perform reliable and valid research results on intergenerational learning and multiplier effects in Climate Change Education, by completing all phases of research-based learning. Design-based research is an effective method to combine science and education and thus delivering novel insights into science education and practice. High-quality Climate Change Education fosters constructive cooperation among all participants with inter – and intragenerational learning and multiplier effects. Constructivism, transdisciplinarity and research-based learning form the basis for effective design-based research and Climate Change Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The project k.i.d.Z.21-Austria is aimed at raising climate change literacy among teenagers. As the participating teenagers had different weaknesses regarding climate change literacy before the project, the project evaluation places emphasis on how the project manages to compensate for these conditions by focusing on the specific weaknesses. Therefore, the preconditions were detected by means of a pre-survey (N = 392). Based thereon, a t-test for paired samples tested the teenagers' development within the project. The results show that the weaknesses were mostly addressed and that focusing on a target group and weakness specification in evaluating environmental education can be beneficial.

Climate change and the associated glacier retreat lead to considerable enlargement and alterations of the proglacial systems. The colonisation of plants in this ecosystem was found to be highly depending on terrain age, initial site conditions and geomorphic disturbances. Although the explanatory variables are generally well understood, there is little knowledge on their collinearities and resulting influence on proglacial primary succession. To develop a holistic understanding of vegetation development, a more interdisciplinary approach was adopted. In the proglacial area of Fürkele-, Zufall-, and Langenferner (Martell Valley/Eastern Italian Alps), totally 65 plots of 5 × 2 m were installed to perform the vegetation analysis on vegetation cover, species number, and species composition. For each of those, 30 potential explanatory variables were collected, selected through an extensive literature review. To analyse and further avoid multicollinearities, 26 of the explanatory variables were clustered via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to five components. Subsequently, generalised additive models (GAM) were used to analyse the potential explanatory factors of primary succession. The results showed that primary succession patterns were highly related to the first component ('elevation and time'), the second component ('solar radiation'), and the third component ('south-eastness') as well as snow free freeze-thaw days, and landforms. In summary, the analysis of all explanatory variables together provides an overview of the most important influencing variables and their interactions, and thus a basis for the debate on future vegetation development in a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GAIA: Ecological Perspectives for Science & Society is the property of Oekom Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of GAIA: Ecological Perspectives for Science & Society is the property of Oekom Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The interactions of climate change and soils (ICCS) are scarcely examined in Climate Change Education (CCE). Analyzing the pre-conceptions of secondary school students (n = 421) reveals a high number of missing answers (48.2%), while residual participants responded with either medium (33.3%) or low (11.5%) complexity levels. The natural and the human sphere are scarcely interconnected and mentioned positive feedback effects indicate students' spatial distance to the ICCS that occur in Alpine regions. In order to bridge these gaps with more elaborated and regional concepts, a careful consideration of ICCS content is urgently recommended for CCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GAIA: Ecological Perspectives for Science & Society is the property of Oekom Verlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)