The role of CCI in supporting children’s engagement with environmental sustainability at a time of climate crisis

Abstract

Today’s children will live life navigating the impacts of climate change triggering new questions about their environmental education and how we can prepare them to take active roles that shape our ecological futures. The aim of our paper is to reflect on the role that the Child–Computer​ Interaction (CCI) community can play to this end. We do this by analysing thirteen years of HCI research concerned with the application of children’s digital technology to environmental sustainability (ES). Content analysis of the 25 papers identified shows that climate change is not a motor theme, with half of the papers using ES as an application area that drives other aims. Our analysis contributes a novel research agenda proposing to expand the domains, theories and user groups researchers have thus far focused on. Examining the distinctive design properties of previous research, we advance new insights into the role technology can play for children’s ES.