Tackling climate crisis through systems thinking: PERSIST, a pilot project in an Italian high school

BACKGROUND: The climate crisis is today's most important global health threat. In Europe, the Mediterranean region represents a climate hotspot. Education plays a crucial role in preparing the population for future climate impacts on health: it provides the tools to implement social and individual attitudes for climate change mitigation; it facilitates the development of skills and attitudes for adaptation, and it stimulates critical understanding of climate change. OBJECTIVES: The PERSIST project aimed to improve awareness of the environmental emergency and provide tools to tackle the complex relationships between human activity, climate crisis and health, stimulating pro-environmental behaviours through systems thinking. Three meetings with students from a scientific high school in Rome between March and April 2023 were provided, using systems thinking, group activities and discussions. A pre- and post-intervention questionnaire was administered to measure knowledge, attitudes, and pro-environmental behaviours. The anonymously collected data were processed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Ten classes between 1st and 4th grade took part in the project. The valid responses to the pre- and post-intervention questionnaires were 222 and 211, respectively. The preliminary analysis suggests improvements in knowledge and attitudes and a broad appreciation of the intervention, with 78,1% of students who found the project engaging. There were no changes in the ecological emotions referred by the students. CONCLUSIONS: An interactive approach and the use of complex systems improves students’ knowledge and attitudes towards the climate crisis, without increasing negative ecological emotions. This pilot project can guide similar, repeatable projects in other schools and countries. KEY MESSAGES: • Education is fundamental in tackling the health impacts of climate change. • Training young people on health and climate crisis issues could improve their adaptive capacities.