Conference Program

Climate change increasingly reveals itself as a governance and learning challenge, where local communities and institutions play a decisive role in translating global commitments into concrete action. From international climate negotiations to local implementation, the effectiveness of climate action depends on the capacity of territories to build learning processes that connect knowledge, decision-making and collective responsibility.

This contribution presents the perspective of the Italian Climate Network (ICN), drawing on both educational practices and policy-oriented communication developed through national programmes and engagement in international climate conferences (COPs). Through Missione Aria Pulita, ICN has worked with schools, teachers and students to promote climate and air quality education as a participatory, place-based and civic learning process. Schools are framed as learning communities that foster dialogue between scientific knowledge, lived experience and environmental awareness, strengthening critical thinking, wellbeing and civic engagement among younger generations.

Alongside school-based educational activities, ICN also promotes initiatives engaging local administrations, municipalities and community actors through advocacy, dissemination and capacity-building actions aimed at connecting climate knowledge with local decision-making processes. Operationally, these activities are developed through participatory methodologies such as workshops, public discussions and training sessions involving educators, local stakeholders and civil society organisations. Interactive tools, including collaborative exercises and local dialogue formats, are used to connect climate knowledge with everyday urban experiences and policy challenges, supporting shared responsibility and collective learning.

These experiences are complemented by reflections emerging from ICN’s work on cities and local governments within the COP process, where resilience is understood not as a fixed goal, but as a continuous pathway of adaptation, learning and transformation. Emphasis is placed on multi-level action, cross-sector governance and capacity building as enabling conditions for inclusive climate policies, highlighting the role of communities of practice that connect local authorities, civil society and citizens.

Expected outcomes include the engagement of students, educators and local stakeholders, the strengthening of climate literacy and civic participation, and the creation of dialogue spaces between communities and local decision-makers. These processes contribute to awareness-raising within territories and support the integration of educational and community-based perspectives into local sustainability initiatives and emerging policy discussions.

By combining climate education, youth participation and local governance perspectives, this contribution reflects on learning communities as critical infrastructures for bridging global challenges and local action. It argues that just transition processes require not only policies and funding, but long-term educational ecosystems capable of sustaining collective learning, shared responsibility and transformative action across scales.