Dr. Maria Vamvalis is an educator, researcher, and a Director at The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC2), where she leads initiatives at the intersection of climate education, equity, and critical inquiry. Her doctoral research at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto) focused on holistic climate justice pedagogies that address student well-being, climate emotions, and structural transformation. Her thesis was awarded the 2024 Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies Dissertation of the Year. With over two decades of experience in public education and professional learning, Maria has supported national and international efforts to advance relational, justice-oriented approaches to pedagogy and systems change. She is also the founder of Anayennisi (regeneration in Greek), an emerging initiative exploring interdisciplinary and future-oriented responses to the ecological crisis.

Teaching for Climate Justice and Youth Well-Being: Engaging Emotions and Structural Change in Education

This talk shares key insights from Dr. Maria Vamvalis’s award-winning doctoral research on holistic climate justice pedagogies - educational approaches that address both the emotional toll and structural roots of the climate crisis. Grounded in qualitative interviews with Canadian educators and youth activists, the research outlines guiding principles for supporting youth well-being, cultivating critical consciousness, and nurturing transformative agency amid ecological and social disruption. Dr. Vamvalis will also introduce complementary work from The Critical Thinking Consortium on transformative thinking habits, alongside Anayennisi - a new initiative exploring regenerative, interdisciplinary responses to climate and cultural challenges. Together, these threads offer a compelling vision for helping young people navigate complexity with compassion, criticality, and grounded hope.