Climate Agency Meets Physics Education: TRACE at GIREP 2026

The TRACE project was presented at the international GIREP 2026 Conference in Crete. As a conference devoted to research in Physics Education, GIREP provided a particularly meaningful setting in which to reflect on the role of science education in the climate crisis.

The presentation introduced the project as a whole, with particular attention to the theoretical models underpinning the Self-Reflection Tool. The tool connects the Stages of Change with different forms of climate agency, organised along the individual–collective and private sphere–public sphere dimensions.

Its purpose is not to classify students, but to open a space for reflection on what makes action possible, difficult or meaningful: knowledge, motivations, emotions, perceived barriers and self-efficacy.

Presenting TRACE at a Physics Education conference also raised a broader question: what kind of physics education is needed in a world shaped by the climate crisis? Understanding phenomena and models remains essential, but it is not enough. Scientific knowledge should also help young people interpret complex systems, assess possible responses and recognise where, with whom and under what conditions they can act.

The exchange with the international GIREP community therefore offered a valuable opportunity to reaffirm the role of Physics Education not only in understanding the world, but also in building possibilities for inhabiting and transforming it.