Sustainability Aspects and Educational Relevance on Social Media Influencers for Children and Adolescents

Abstract

In a society faced with climate change, environmental crisis, growing rates of civilisation diseases and their consequences, it is of utmost importance to sensitise young people to nutrition, consumption, and correlations thereof towards a sustainable and ecological food and consumption system. Consumption and nutrition awareness in the context of sustainability must be a claim to education of all children in our democratic society, as core competences in these areas are among the premises of a reflected, self-determined, and responsible life design.

In this systemic complex, social media–in particular influencers, who constitute attractive multipliers for marketing strategies–evolve a massive impact on consumer behaviour. The EKo-K.I.S.S. project addresses this issue through the central question: (How) do Influencers affect the reality of young people’s life in terms of nutrition and consumer literacy, and which are the challenges arising with regards to gender sensitive, intersectional media didactics? The research project comprises a multi-stage design incorporating perspectives of Styrian pupils and schoolteachers as well as University students and University College lecturers of teacher education.

The article briefly describes the project and considers first results from the quantitative survey of Styrian pupils on influencers and social media with regard to sustainable development goals. It will be shown that the study pursues not only the SDGs for inclusive and equitable education of high quality and gender equality, it also provides a contribution to support healthy lives and promote well-being, as well as responsible consumption in regard to sustainability.