Publications
Speculative Futures: Digital Eco-Stories from an Environmental Humanities Teacher Training Program in Europe
Title: Speculative Futures: Digital Eco-Stories from an Environmental Humanities Teacher Training Program in Europe
Date of Publication: December 2025
Publisher: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari Venice University Press
e-ISSN: 2785-2709
Amitav Ghosh’s declaration of “a crisis of the imagination” with regard to the current period on our planet is the venture point for our paper to present digital Eco-Storytelling as a speculative participatory approach useful for stimulating cultural imaginations of futurities and hence counteracting this crisis. Guided by ecopedagogy, which aims at constructing learning towards increased social and environmental justices, we will present and analyze findings from the EcoStories International Teacher Training Program carried out in 2025 with students from the University of Malaga, Ca’ Foscari University Venice, and University of Graz.
Shifting Temporal Perspectives in Eco-Linguistics: A Comparative Study of Future Representations in Climate Change Discourse at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences
Title: Shifting Temporal Perspectives in Eco-Linguistics: A Comparative Study of Future Representations in Climate Change Discourse at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences
Date of Publication: November 2025
Publisher: University of Bamberg Press
DOI:10.20378/irb-110940
The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and communication around it has evolved into a “booming industry” over recent decades (Nerlich et
al., “Theory and Language” 97). Language, in particular, influences how individuals
perceive and respond to environmental challenges. Specific linguistic constructions
– such as temporal framing – shape perceptions of urgency, responsibility, and impact, particularly as they relate to the climate crisis (see Weinrich). Thus, this chapter
explores the complex relationship between climate change communication, language, and temporal perspectives, focusing on representations of the concept of futurity in media coverage surrounding the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) and the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference
(COP28). Through an analysis of English-language media outlets across diverse regions, this study seeks to uncover patterns in how language, particularly with respect
to futurity, may shape public perceptions of the ongoing climate crisis. Despite its
relevance, the topic of how the climate crisis is represented has only recently attracted attention within ecolinguistic research, a field traditionally centered on human-nature relationships within language (Fill and Penz). Therefore, this chapter
aims to bridge that gap by examining the role of future-oriented discourse in climate
communication. By investigating how temporal language is used to frame climate
issues in media, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how ecological
and linguistic perspectives intersect. This analysis is crucial not only for advancing
climate change communication within ecolinguistics but also for enhancing public
understanding of environmental issues. By examining how language frames climate
discourse, this interdisciplinary approach demonstrates how strategic linguistic
choices in media can encourage a more informed and proactive public response to
the climate crisis.
Entanglements, Narratives, and the Environment:
Inter-American Perspectives
Title: Entanglements, Narratives, and the Environment: Inter-American Perspectives
Date of Publication: December 2024
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9781666968279
Entanglements, Narratives, and the Environment: Inter-American Perspectives provides an interdisciplinary ecocritical reading of narratives and environmental entanglements from an Inter-American perspective, predominantly providing literary, film, and cultural analysis of texts from the Americas. In light of Amitav Ghosh’s (2016) exploration of “a crisis of the imagination” in the face of climate change and environmental degradation, this book addresses the potential of literature, history, and politics in comprehending the profound dimensions and violence of these challenges. The chapters show, among others, that the Anthropocene demands fresh narratives and theoretical perspectives, particularly within the framework of Inter-American Studies, which can offer a new venue to discuss pressing issues and to provide intersectional and inter-regional considerations. Thus, drawing on Inter-American perspective with its hemispheric perspectives opens the possibilities for an ecocritical reading of the complexities and relationalities of the climate crisis in the humanities as well as the social sciences. As a result, the book includes historical and political analysis, as well as literary, cultural and film analysis of texts from the Americas. The chapters engage in deconstructing popular myths, de-centering Western approaches, and eventually show through these critical engagements how the climate crisis demands multi-dimensional readings.
Edited by Cristina Baldacci, Shaul Bassi, Lucio De Capitani and Pietro D. Omodeo
What does Venice look like when observed from the perspective of climate change, environmental collapse, and human-animal relations in an age of industrialization and mass extinction? That is, as a privileged observatory of the Anthropocene?
This guide, composed of several voices, forms a new, illuminating and disturbing mosaic of Venice and its Lagoon. What does the Venetian School of Painting tell us about our relationship with the environment and animals? What do peripheral places in the Lagoon like Porto Marghera and Pellestrina reveal about the advent and impact of modernity? What stories of extinction lie behind local delicacies like baccalà mantecato? What does the centuries-old relationship of Venetians with water tell us about other cities threatened by an increasingly hostile climate?
Multiliteracies and Global Citizenship in Language Education
Title: EL.LE (Educazione Linguistica. Language Education)
Volume: 13, Number 3
Date of Publication: November 2024
Publisher: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, Venice University Press
e-ISSN: 2280-6792
This issue of EL.LE: Educazione Linguistica. Language Education, composed of multiple voices, brings together diverse perspectives to explore the connections between language education, global issues, and digital innovation. Designed for educators and researchers,this volume offers ideas and reflections to support the development of global skills and address the realities of a digital age in language education.