Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-021-00720-2 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION Social Responsibility and the World of Nature: an interdisciplinary environmental studies course for inspiring whole system thinking and environmental citizenship Lee Frankel‑Goldwater 1 Accepted: 4 August 2021 © AESS 2021 Abstract Environmental educators face many challenges in university settings, including improving students’ capacity for systems thinking, the efective use of educational technology, and supporting a sense of agency for participation in social change. This article presents a model for teaching “Social Responsibility and the World of Nature,” an undergraduate-level civic engagement course designed to address these challenges in a context of interdisciplinary environmental studies. The model draws upon strategies from the authentic learning sciences to support co-created, collaborative learning, formative evalu- ation, and a personally relevant, “afective awareness” of environmental issues. These strategies are combined with case studies on environmental ethics, ecological sciences, and social entrepreneurship to inform a social-ecological design project through which students can express a personal defnition of environmental citizenship. A key in application is implement- ing a refective teaching practice that questions the role of absolute knowledge in the classroom. The analysis draws upon a case study approach, informed by four semesters implementing and refning the model, to illustrate its use in practice while examining student outcomes to elicit insights on efectiveness. The results support trends in the learning sciences that can transform the teaching and learning of environmental studies in higher education, particularly, the role of personally relevant learning experiences in developing a sense of agency for social and environmental change. This study contributes to these trends, while ofering forward-looking insights for environmental educators and researchers in a variety of learning settings. Keywords Environmental education · Higher education · Whole systems thinking · Authentic learning · Educational technology · Project-based learning Introduction “If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom… then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow.” - Rachel Carson (2011, p. 56) Environmental educators and advocates recognize that humanity is faced with a growing pressure to fnd collabo- rative solutions to global-scale social and environmental challenges, including climate change, biodiversity conser- vation, and social inequity (Disinger 1990; Dobson 2007; Scott 2009). Yet, teaching to these large-scale issues can be difcult while maintaining relevance for the contemporary undergraduate. For many, the idea of participating directly in global change is perceived as being too distant, trouble- some, or difcult to understand, leading to a limited internal compass to guide action (D. Lombardi and Sinatra 2012; Lorenzoni and Pidgeon 2006; Payne 2006). This represents a signifcant challenge for university-level environmental edu- cators as helping students form personal connections with the topics, in addition to acquiring knowledge and taking action, is essential for achieving long-term, environmentally oriented behavior change (Barth et al. 2007; Helicke 2014; Hungerford and Volk 1990; Littledyke 2008; Palmer 2002; Pooley et al. 2000). The question at hand, therefore, is how to inspire students with a sense of agency, the belief that one can make a diference for the environment and one’s com- munity without ofering prescriptions as solutions? A key is to awaken a sense of personal and collective empowerment, without providing absolutes or creating * Lee Frankel-Goldwater Lee.FG@colorado.edu 1 University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA