Environmental Citizenship and Youth Activism

Abstract

The exercise of Environmental Citizenship is strongly associated with a citizen’s capacity to act in society as an agent of change (ENEC 2018), and this depends on the development of a person’s willingness and competence for a critical, active and democratic engagement in preventing and solving environmental problems. There is a call for a citizenry that is well informed and empowered to take appropriate actions on the seriousness of the environmental problems affecting our world (Gray et al. 2009; Hodson 2003). However, many citizens do not feel empowered enough to participate in decision-making processes regarding socio-environmental issues, and, at the same time, the faith and trust in politicians have decreased, and political apathy is gaining ground (Hodson 2014). Throughout the past decade, the surge in authoritarian government practices, the failure of popular movements to replace undemocratic regimes and the increase in populist movements all over the world are fuelling concerns about a possible ‘democratic recession’ (Diamond 2015). Part of the success of this movement has been credited to the failures in mobilising young people’s political participation (Schulz et al. 2018; Jackson et al. 2016).