Open AccessIncorporating Eco-Anxiety into English Language Curriculum: A Qualitative Case Study at the University of Turku in Finland
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Mental health problems like eco-anxiety were caused by the rise of climate change and constituted a major concern within higher education settings. Eco-anxiety, a chronic fear of environmental catastrophe, profoundly impacts students’ psychological well-being and academic engagement. This qualitative case study interviewed five professors teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at the University of Turku in Finland and reported how they perceived eco-anxiety and managed its integration into language education. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews, accompanied by eight-hour structured and non-participant classroom observations in five different classes over a full week. To ensure analytical rigor, a 30% independent cross-coding verification protocol was completed on the transcripts, and a matrix analysis was applied to compare stated educational beliefs with field observations. The findings revealed a marked theory-practice gap: while EFL professors demonstrated high conceptual awareness of eco-anxiety and recognized it as a valid student’s response, its active pedagogical integration remained significantly limited. Data from objective observation reported an almost total absence of explicit discourse on climate or eco-anxiety in daily teaching routines. Matrix triangulation substantiated that the goodwill of the individual educator was systematically hampered by severe institutional barriers, primarily curriculum overload, limited teaching time, and a lack of formalized institutional or financial support. When professors addressed isolated sustainability tasks through frameworks such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), students experienced an intense emotional trajectory that could temporarily heighten their affective filters and inhibit language production. However, when properly supported, these discussions fostered long-term vocabulary growth and communicative agency. These findings urge curriculum architects to design structured resources and institutional frameworks that seamlessly integrate emotional and environmental education into the core language curriculum.1. Introduction
An estimate of one billion people worldwide, including many teenagers, are dealing with mental health issues. Climate change and the fear of natural disasters are both contributing to and exacerbating mental health issues. Natural disasters such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and wildfires could cause trauma, mental illness, and anxiety. The long-term effects of climate change, such as shortages of food and water, community problems and conflicts could also harm people’s mental health (Nature, 2024). Particularly among younger generations, the growing impact of climate change has brought with it a rise in eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety, known as the chronic fear of environmental catastrophes, is now recognized as an important psychological response to the ecological crisis in question. It affects individuals’ mental well-being and shapes their views of the future as well as their engagement with the world. Recent scientific studies have emphasized that climate anxiety is particularly prevalent among young people, who experience feelings of anxiety, sadness, helplessness, and panic related to environmental issues (Schmidt, 2023). Owing to the perceived lack of actions by policymakers and older generations, the psychological impact of climate change is further exacerbated and contributes to intergenerational distress, mentioned by Van Susteren in Schmidt (2023)’s citation. As young people’s emotions, awareness, and knowledge are being shaped as they prepare to face global challenges, this phenomenon is particularly important in educational settings. Simply being aware of the threat of climate change could lead to psychological problems, as reported in recent surveys. Some people develop a persistent fear of environmental disaster, which is called eco-anxiety. Apart from eco-anxiety, climate anxiety and climate grief are some of the other terms used for this type of anxiety. A 2021 survey questioned 10,000 people aged 16 to 25 in 10 different countries. Almost 60% of the people surveyed were concerned about climate change, and more than 45% said their concerns affected their daily lives, such as their ability to work or sleep (Nature, 2024).
Climate-related factors, such as rising temperatures, sea levels, and extreme weather events like floods or droughts (top row of circles), lead to mental health effects (bottom row of circles), including new cases of mental illness, emotional distress, and heightened vulnerability to physical illness or even death for individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions. As shown the Figure 1, these impacts occur both directly and indirectly, as shown along a spectrum. On the left (shaded box), direct experiences like exposure to extreme heat or losing a home to a wildfire contribute to mental health issues. In contrast, on the right (shaded box), indirect experiences, such as learning about these events through the media, could also exert their effects.
In universities, addressing eco-anxiety is essential to foster students’ understanding of climate issues and their emotional resilience. The role of education, especially in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes, extends beyond language skills. EFL classrooms are educational spaces for learning language skills and places where students with global and cultural perspectives engage. EFL students are uniquely positioned to discuss and understand environmental and international issues as global citizens. By integrating environmental education, climate change, and environmental anxiety into the EFL curriculum, educators could promote critical thinking, problem solving, and emotional intelligence among students. Furthermore, discussions about eco-anxiety in the EFL classroom could help students process their fears and anxieties about the environment while developing their language skills. The EFL classroom becomes a place for collaborative dialogues on global sustainability, equipping and empowering students to act at the local and international levels. The University of Turku, a higher education institution in Finland, is known for its progressive and forward-thinking approach to education. It is interesting to examine how professors of English language address the growing issue of eco-anxiety in their classrooms. This paper aims to explore the perspectives of EFL professors at the University of Turku, focusing on how they integrated the topics of eco-anxiety and climate change into their language teaching. It also aims to understand the strategies that the professors adopted to address their challenges and the impact of these discussions on students’ emotional well-being, engagement, and language acquisition. Exploring the intersection of climate change and language education in a Finnish context may provide valuable insights for other education systems attempting to address eco-anxiety in their classrooms.
This research focused on the main objective, which is to investigate the extent to which Finnish English language professors at the University of Turku perceived and addressed eco-anxiety in their teaching practices.
Some of the aims of this research include i) investigating awareness of eco-anxiety among EFL professors at the University of Turku; ii) examining methods and strategies, where applicable, to integrate environmental issues and eco-anxiety into the EFL classroom; iii) understanding the challenges and opportunities that the professors face when tackling eco-anxiety in the classroom, where applicable; and iv) analyzing how dealing with eco-anxiety impacts students’ engagement, emotional well-being, and English language acquisition.
This research attempts to provide answers to the following research questions:
RQ1: To what extent are EFL professors at the University of Turku aware of eco-anxiety and its impact on students in English classes?
RQ2: What strategies do they use to include environmental topics and eco-anxiety in their lessons?
RQ3: What challenges and opportunities arise for these professors when discussing eco-anxiety with students?
RQ4: How do EFL professors at the University of Turku perceive the impact of addressing eco-anxiety on students’ emotional well-being and language learning outcomes?
This research is critical given the increasing global emphasis on environmental education and sustainability, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This research enables better understanding of how EFL professors help students develop psychological resilience and environmental awareness. Furthermore, this scientific research could inspire professors to develop effective teaching practices that encompass not only language skills but also environmental awareness and well-being. The study aligns with Finland’s commitment to sustainability and educational innovation for the University of Turku, demonstrating how eco-anxiety is addressed in higher education. The actionable findings provided insights for curriculum architects and policymakers, bolstering the university’s position as a leader in incorporating mental health and environmental sustainability into academic environments.
2. Review of the Existing Literature
Incorporating discussions of eco-anxiety into teaching of EFL requires a strong theoretical foundation that addresses both language acquisition and the psychological factors that influence students’ engagement. This study was strengthened by the application of sociocultural learning theories, language acquisition frameworks, affective factors in education, and critical eco-pedagogy. These perspectives contributed to the legitimacy of EFL classrooms as spaces for meaningful discussions about climate change, where language learning intersected with emotional regulation, critical thinking, and global citizenship. Finnish education, which is often praised for its holistic and learner-centered approach, has integrated the SDGs into the national curriculum, hence promoting environmental awareness and sustainable practices (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2016). Professors in EFL classes could engage students in discussions about global issues, such as climate change, as part of the language learning process. Incorporating environmental topics into language education not only improves students’ language skills but also raises awareness of global issues. However, few studies have investigated how Finnish educators specifically address eco-anxiety in the classroom. This study aims to fill this gap by examining how EFL teachers in Finland perceived eco-anxiety and how they used social and emotional learning (SEL) to help their students. Eco-anxiety has become a pressing issue in recent years, as environmental concerns have gained ground in the media and academia. “Eco-anxiety” is defined as a “negative emotional response to the perceived threat of environmental degradation”. Studies have shown that younger generations are particularly vulnerable to eco-anxiety due to their awareness of the uncertain future caused by climate change (Clayton & Karazsia, 2020; Pihkala, 2020). Research has also emphasized the importance of addressing eco-anxiety in educational settings, linking it to emotional well-being and resilience (Hickman et al., 2021). Beyond documenting the prevalence of eco-anxiety, researchers are increasingly looking into how young people deal with climate-related stress. Ojala & Bengtsson (2019) discovered that constructive coping strategies, particularly those based on open communication with parents and peers, were associated with pro-environmental behavior and increased psychological adaptation. Rather than alleviating concerns about climate change, supportive social interactions aided in the transformation of anxiety into meaningful engagement and action. These findings imply that educational environments can play an important role in promoting positive emotional coping, making classrooms valuable spaces for discussing environmental issues while also supporting students’ well-being and resilience.
Older generations often react negatively to young people’s climate concerns because they lack the tools to understand and address this type of anxiety. Climate anxiety is a normal response to the very real threat of climate change and trying to alleviate it could be harmful. Instead, we should prioritize raising awareness and providing accurate information about climate change (Hurley et al., 2022).
Vygotsky (1978)’s sociocultural theory emphasizes that learning occurs through social interaction and is facilitated by linguistic and cultural tools. According to this theory, knowledge is constructed through collaborative dialogue, with teachers and peers serving as facilitators in the learning process. In the context of eco-anxiety and language education, this theory proposed that EFL classrooms offer an important space for students to process their concerns about climate through discussion, peer interaction, and guided reflection. According to research, students who participate in collaborative learning in foreign language settings improve their language competence as well as their emotional resilience. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), a central concept in Vygotsky’s theory, stresses the role of support in learning. Instructors could structure discussions about climate by providing linguistic support, in order to allow students to engage cognitively and emotionally without feeling overwhelmed. Vygotsky’s concept of mediation also applies to how language is used to create meaning. When students discuss climate issues in an environment, they not only learn language structures, but also engage in critical thinking and problem solving, which strengthens their ability to cope with eco-anxiety constructively (Clayton & Karazsia, 2020).
Krashen (1982)’s input hypothesis states that language acquisition occurs when learners receive comprehensible input that is slightly above their current level of proficiency. This principle is particularly important when incorporating climate discourse into EFL teaching. Discussing complex environmental issues in the EFL classroom could provide valuable input, allowing students to learn new vocabulary, sentence structures, and discourse strategies. However, for students with eco-anxiety, high-stakes discussions about climate change could increase affective filters, which are emotional barriers that hinder language learning. To address this, teachers need to create climate-related lessons that provide practical information while maintaining a low-anxiety learning environment (Horwitz et al., 1986). Strategies for reducing affective filters in discussions about environmental anxiety include:
- Simplifying difficult vocabulary related to climate change;
- Using real-world examples and storytelling to render complex environmental concepts understandable; and
- Encouraging collaborative learning by allowing students to express their concerns about climate in a supportive and low-risk environment.
The relationship between eco-anxiety and foreign language anxiety (FLA) is critical to understanding how emotional factors influence students’ participation in climate-related discussions. Horwitz et al. (1986) defined FLA as a combination of communication anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety, all of which could be exacerbated when discussing complex and emotionally charged topics such as climate change.
The interaction of FLA and eco-anxiety among students results in increased challenges to effective communication and engagement. Those who experience high levels of eco-anxiety often have difficulty articulating their ideas in a foreign language, thus exacerbating their overall anxiety. Concerns about mispronouncing ecological terms or conveying thoughts with insufficient clarity often inhibit active participation in class. Furthermore, negative experiences related to language proficiency and emotional exposure could foster disengagement from environmental discourse. To deal with these issues, educators could adopt affective learning theories to encourage self-expression through activities such as journaling, role-playing, and intimate group dialogues. They could also create a supportive and nonjudgmental environment that reframes mistakes as valuable learning opportunities and deploy multimodal resources such as visual aids, videos, and narratives to strengthen both language competence and emotional resilience. By incorporating affective learning strategies, instructors could assist students in processing language challenges and emotions related to climate, to ensure that discussions about eco-anxiety are supportive and not overwhelming.
Eco-pedagogy, based on Freire (1970)’s critical pedagogy, argued that education should prepare students to engage with real-world issues, question existing power structures, and take social action. This approach treats language learning as a tool for environmental activism, allowing students to engage in local and global discourse on climate.
Language classes should follow eco-pedagogical principles, which include:
Inspiring students to critically analyze environmental policies, media discourse, and climate debates in the target language;
Encouraging civic participation including service-learning projects, sustainability initiatives, and multilingual advocacy campaigns; and
Promoting cross-cultural awareness by allowing students to discover how different cultures perceive and respond to climate change.
According to empirical research, students who participated in eco-pedagogical approaches not only improved their language skills but also developed a stronger sense of agency in addressing environmental concerns (Bright & Eames, 2022). This is especially vital for students who experience eco-anxiety, as turning concern into action could be a coping mechanism (Lawrance et al., 2022). Implementing eco-pedagogy in EFL contexts presents significant challenges that educators and institutions need to consider carefully. Many professors lack formal training in incorporating sustainability topics into language lessons, which hinders effective integration. Institutional barriers, such as overloaded curricula and a strong emphasis on assessments, often limit opportunities for meaningful environmental discussions. Furthermore, students’ resistance could stem from cultural diversity and differing views on climate issues, hence further complicating classroom dynamics. However, prior research demonstrated that climate discussions designed as part of EFL programs not only enhanced language proficiency, but also increased social awareness. This enabled students to contribute to global environmental conversations (Pihkala, 2020). Research examining media narratives about young people and the climate crisis also shows that young people’s responses are often defined through activism, vulnerability, and the search for meaningful climate action, highlighting the importance of supportive adult responses to young people’s ecological concerns (Benoit et al., 2022).
An article in Nature (2024) investigated the relationship between climate change and mental health, spotlighting how a warming planet is exacerbating psychological distress, particularly among vulnerable populations. It stressed that climate-induced events, such as heat waves, droughts, and wildfires, caused trauma and mental illness, while long-term climate impacts, such as food insecurity and community disintegration, also contributed to poor mental health. This growing phenomenon of “eco-anxiety” is affecting people all over the world, particularly younger generations who are concerned about their future (Hickman et al., 2021). Researchers emphasized the importance of ensuring visibility of the issue by developing comprehensive methods to assess the impact of climate change on mental health. Despite increasing anecdotal evidence of people seeking help for eco-anxiety, much of the psychological impact is unknown and understudied. The article supported collaboration among climate scientists, mental health professionals, and policymakers to better understand how climate change affected mental health. Furthermore, mental health professionals were calling for additional training and resources to address this emerging issue (Nature, 2024). There is great concern about the inadequacy of mental health services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where resources are limited and the effects of climate change are most severe. With only one psychiatrist available for every 200,000 people in some areas, many cases of climate-related distress remain undiagnosed. Better data collection and monitoring systems are required to track milder forms of distress, such as eco-anxiety, which do not meet clinical diagnostic criteria (Nori-Sarma et al., 2022). Finally, the article highlighted how the inaction of global leaders exacerbated feelings of powerlessness and betrayal, especially among young people. It argued that collective and governmental action was critical not only to combat climate change, but also to alleviate the psychological burden it placed on communities around the world. Individual and community-based actions to combat climate change could help alleviate eco-anxiety, resulting in a “double win” of improved mental health and environmental resilience.
Although progress has been made in recognizing the effects on physical health as a result of climate change, its psychological impact has been described as “invisible injustice”. Our analysis revealed an alarming lack of research and awareness about this issue. To assess relative knowledge and awareness, we searched the academic journal database PubMed and the New York Times for mentions of climate change and mental health, both individually and together. While these are basic indicators, the scarcity of findings on the relationship between these topics reflects the reality of this field and may explain the lack of action on the issue. For example, mental health has never been discussed in an official side event of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP). This especially worths our concern, given that cases of psychological trauma from disasters outnumber physical injuries by a factor of 40 to 1 (Hayes et al., 2018), as cited by Lawrance et al. (2022).
In Figure 2, there is a comparative illustration of the coverage examining the link between climate change and mental health, in contrast with the coverage of climate change and mental health as separate subjects, across various contexts that represent different levels of knowledge and awareness.
The PubMed database was searched from 2010 to 2020 as a measure of academic research and knowledge generation. While PubMed focuses primarily on biomedical literature and may not fully cover climate change as a separate topic, it does provide useful information about how frequently climate change and mental health are studied together. On 2 February, 2021, the following search terms were used: "mental health" + MeSH terms, "climate change" + MeSH terms, and "mental health" AND "climate change" + MeSH terms. Additionally, a search of the New York Times from 2010 to 2020 was used to represent media coverage and public perception. The search terms used were "mental health" (articles containing), "climate change" (articles containing), and "mental health" AND "climate change" (articles containing), with a search date of 02/02/21 (Lawrance et al., 2022).
The rising prevalence of eco-anxiety, particularly among younger generations, reflects growing awareness and concern about climate change and its potential impact not only on the environment but also mental health. According to research, eco-anxiety is a natural and valid emotional response to ongoing environmental degradation and an uncertain future, but it is under-addressed in both educational and societal contexts. The Finnish education system lays a solid foundation for incorporating SDGs and environmental topics into the curriculum, in order to provide a potential path to raising awareness and reducing eco-anxiety. However, the specific role of emotional and social learning (SEL) in addressing eco-anxiety in EFL/English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classrooms has been understudied, thus emphasizing the need for more research in this area. Using a holistic and ecological approach to understanding anxiety, as proposed by Kasbi & Elahi Shirvan (2017), educators could provide optimal support to students’ emotional and cognitive development in a dynamic learning environment. Furthermore, in view of increasing concerns about climate-related mental health, educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers should collaborate to develop effective strategies to combat eco-anxiety. This study aims to contribute to the related discourse by exploring how EFL/ESP professors at the University of Turku perceived and managed eco-anxiety, as well as providing insights into the bigger challenge of integrating climate change awareness into educational practices.
3. Methodology
The current study employed a qualitative research approach to investigate the awareness of eco-anxiety among EFL professors at the University of Turku and how they incorporated environmental issues into their teaching methods. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were used to gather data for a deep understanding of the participants’ experiences, strategies, and challenges.
Five EFL English language professors from the University of Turku were specifically chosen for their experience and relevance to the research topic. Though the sample size was small, it was sufficient for a thorough qualitative investigation, with data saturation in a specific context.
Each participant attended a semi-structured interview that lasted 45–60 minutes. The interviews followed a flexible guide that aimed to elicit the professors’ awareness of eco-anxiety, the way they integrated environmental topics into their instruction, the challenges they encountered, and their perceptions of the related impact on students. This method allowed the collection of extensive and detailed data, while also encouraging participants to express their experiences in their own words. Second, classroom observations by non-participants were conducted throughout the semester to witness eco-pedagogy in real time, so detailed field notes were taken during each session. Critically, these observations revealed a striking divergence from the interview data. There was an almost total absence of explicit discourse of climate change or eco-anxiety in daily teaching routines. Rather than invalidating the study, this lack of observational data served as a critical analytical layer, to expose a distinct theory-practice gap between what educators believe they do (or want to do) and what curricular constraints allow them to implement. To triangulate the self-reported interview data, classroom observations by non-participants were systematically conducted throughout the course in a full week. A total of 5 different classrooms were observed, with each observation session lasting exactly 90 minutes, resulting in 8-hour field observation.
The present study utilized a structured observation protocol focusing on specific operational indicators:
- Explicit use of environmental vocabulary or direct references to climate crises, eco-anxiety, and the SDGs by the instructor or students;
- Students’ levels of engagement, emotional expressions, or hesitations (affective filters) during the discussion of global topics; and
- Integration of sustainability-related tasks into standard grammar, vocabulary, or speaking exercises.
After data collection, raw descriptive field notes were compiled into chronological summaries. These observation logs were directly compared with interview transcript codes using matrix analysis to determine discrepancies between professor’s stated educational beliefs and their actual classroom constraints.
Qualitative data were analyzed using a multi-step thematic analysis framework. First, interview transcripts underwent initial open coding and generated detailed labels for students’ raw feelings and pedagogical barriers. In the second stage, these initial codes were structurally grouped into narrower subthemes based on conceptual similarities such as grouping “family planning concerns” and “classroom disengagement” under the Emotional and Behavioral Impact subtheme. These subthemes were synthesized into overarching themes, directly linking to the main research questions.
To ensure analytical rigor and minimize individual subjectivity, the lead researcher completed the initial coding, which was then shared with an independent academic colleague who verified approximately 30% of the transcripts. Discrepancies in code applications were discussed and resolved through iterative consensus meetings, to ensure strong inter-coder reliability.
This study strictly adhered to the regulations on research ethics in social sciences in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). All participants under study received formal documentation detailing the objectives of the study, along with the scope and the data protocol, and they subsequently returned their informed consent voluntarily via electronic means. Participation in the study was entirely voluntary; anonymity and absolute confidentiality were guaranteed at every stage to mitigate institutional friction. Raw datasets were securely stored, and findings were presented strictly in a summarized and anonymized format to prevent individual identification.
The researcher acknowledged prior interest in sustainability and education, which might affect interpretation. Reflective awareness was maintained throughout the analysis.
4. Results
This section exhibits findings from semi-structured interviews with five EFL professors at the University of Turku in Finland.
Table 1 summarizes the demographic and professional characteristics of the five participating EFL professors, as well as their previous involvement in sustainability and environmental education. Although all participants expressed some interest in sustainability-related topics, the level of involvement varied greatly, ranging from limited integration due to course constraints to systematic incorporation of the United Nations SDGs and environmental issues into their teaching practices. This variation provided a useful context for interpreting the interview results presented in the following sections.
Participant ID | Types of English Course | Previous Involvement in Sustainability/Environmental Education |
Instructor 1 (I1) | English as a Foreign Language (EFL)/Language Acquisition/Teacher Education English | Moderate. Regularly integrates environmental and climate-related topics into English classes through essays, discussions, development of vocabulary, and themes of institutional responsibility though not always systematically planned. |
Instructor 2 (I2) | English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Business English, English Communication | Moderate. Uses sustainability and environmental issues as discussion and writing topics, particularly in business communication, crisis communication, and corporate responsibility contexts, but constrained by curriculum and limited instruction time. |
Instructor 3 (I3) | English for Academic Purposes (EAP), Sustainability-focused English Courses | High. Sustainability is a central component of teaching. Students research the SDGs, climate action, environmental challenges, and solutions to sustainability using student-led inquiry throughout coursework. |
Instructor 4 (I4) | Academic Writing, Presentation Skills, Medical English Support | Limited to Moderate. Does not routinely integrate sustainability because of the course focus but supports discussing sustainability and believes SDGs should be embedded across university curricula, where appropriate. |
Instructor 5 (I5) | ESP for Engineering and Social Sciences | Very High. Systematically integrates the UN SDGs, circular economy, examples of environmental engineering, sustainability projects, research articles, and reflective activities into nearly all courses. |
Table 2 summarizes the major themes and subthemes identified through thematic analysis of the interview data, as well as representative quotations and interview code references. The analysis identified six overarching themes: eco-anxiety, sustainability and environmental issues, student well-being, language and communication, implementation barriers, and integration opportunities. These themes form the analytical framework for the detailed presentation of findings in the following subsections.
Major Theme | Subtheme | Sample Quote | Code Reference (Interview) |
Eco-anxiety | Definition and awareness | “The concept makes more sense... giving an idea of being concerned about the environment.” | I1:1 |
Causes of eco-anxiety | “A lot of them will get prickly because... there should be institutional changes.” | I1:4 | |
Students’ reactions | “They get educated and... the more negative they feel... but they leave with hope.” | I3:2 | |
Emotional and behavioral impact | “They have worries... do I even want to have kids?” | I1:8 | |
Impact on well-being | “Eco-anxiety affects students’ well-being and engagement in classrooms.” | I2:3 | |
Sustainability and environmental issues | Integration into curriculum | “Sustainability is incorporated into English communication studies.” | I1:2, I2:4 |
Challenges to integration | “The challenge is incorporating this into an already full curriculum.” | I2:7, I5:8 | |
Corporate and institutional responsibility | “We should talk more about institutional and corporate responsibility.” | I1:4 | |
Teaching methods | “Students choose one SDG and explore its implications.” | I5:4 | |
Students’ well-being | Emotional journey | “Students experience an emotional roller coaster but leave optimistic.” | I3:2 |
Support mechanisms | “We have health services for students to manage any kind of anxiety.” | I5:3 | |
Impact of environmental issues on mental health | “Students feel overwhelmed by the scope of climate issues but ultimately find optimism.” | I3:11 | |
Language and communication | Vocabulary growth | “Vocabulary grows as students engage with environmental issues.” | I3:12, I5:12 |
Language teaching strategies | “Environmental issues should be part of language acquisition.” | I3:4 | |
Barriers to implementation | Design of the curriculum | “Incorporating sustainability into curricula is difficult due to limited time and overloaded programs.” | I2:7, I2:8 |
Political and institutional constraints | “Political will and limitations of funding impact integration.” | I3:5, I4:6 | |
Opportunities for integration | Sustainability as a cross-cutting theme | “Sustainability could be applied across various disciplines, including engineering and business.” | I3:4, I5:4 |
Use of SDGs in learning | “SDGs are used as a framework for students’ projects.” | I5:6 |
Interviews revealed that participating instructors had a clear conceptual understanding of eco-anxiety, recognizing it as a valid psychological phenomenon among young students. Instructor 1 (I1) noted that the terminology provided clarity, as he stated that “the concept makes more sense… giving an idea of being concerned about the environment.” The professors attributed the root causes of this anxiety not only to environmental degradation, but also to a deep sense of institutional betrayal and inertia. This was evidenced by the observation of Instructor 1 that students often became “annoying because… there needs to be institutional change”, indicating that inaction at the macro level directly fueled classroom anxiety at the micro level.
The emotional burden of the ecological crisis was clearly manifested in the daily lives and long-term perspectives of students, profoundly affecting classroom dynamics. Professors reported that students had carried severe existential anxieties that affected important life choices. For example, I1 highlighted the depth of these concerns by citing a student who asked, “Do I want to have children?” I2 clearly linked these concerns to immediate classroom performance, noting that “eco-anxiety impacts students’ well-being and engagement in the classroom”. This emotional foundation produced an unstable learning trajectory, which I3 characterized as an “emotional roller coaster”, by which students should navigate a space where they were simultaneously overwhelmed by global data but in search of a clear path forward.
When attempting to move from awareness to actual practice, professors used targeted pedagogical strategies but faced significant institutional barriers. One key approach involved frameworks: I5 noted that “students choose an SDG objective and explore its implications” as a way to connect language acquisition with sustainability. This structural integration aimed to foster vocabulary growth and improve communication skills. However, these efforts were often fragmented. I2 identified a major structural barrier, reporting that “the challenge is to incorporate this into an already comprehensive curriculum”. As a result, without clear programmatic support, professors felt trapped in institutional paralysis, thus leaving sustainability initiatives to be treated as isolated and short-term tasks rather than ongoing and organic language learning.
5. Discussion
The findings of this qualitative case study provided essential insights into the interaction of eco-anxiety, EFL teaching and students’ well-being within higher education at the University of Turku, Finland. By examining the data through the lens of specific research questions and defined theoretical frameworks, a complex portrait of contemporary language education emerged. First, in relation to RQ1 (conceptual awareness), the semi-structured interview data revealed that EFL professors had a clear and sophisticated understanding of eco-anxiety as an emerging psychological phenomenon. Rather than viewing it as a clinical pathology, the professors recognized it as a legitimate and highly adaptive emotional response to environmental degradation in the real world. However, as illustrated by the verbatim in the Results section, this awareness was deeply intertwined with socio-political critiques at the macro level. Professors noted that students’ anxiety was exacerbated by a perceived sense of institutional betrayal and systemic inertia. For example, the feeling that students were anxious because “institutional change needs to happen” suggested that classroom anxiety was directly driven by a lack of climate accountability at the macro level. Second, with respect to RQ2 and RQ4 (pedagogical strategies and impacts on students’ well-being), the findings partially supported Vygotsky (1978)’s sociocultural theory. Professors who systematically implemented structured frameworks such as assigning specific United Nations SDGs to collaborative projects recognized significant increases in technical vocabulary and communicative competence. This supported the premise that environmental discourse offered a rich and contextualized linguistic input. However, the emotional trajectory of students navigating these topics resembled what instructors described as an “emotional roller coaster”. When complex data about environmental degradation were introduced without emotional support, it could lead to severe existential distress, triggering students to contemplate on deep life choices, such as family planning (“Do I want to have children?”). According to Krashen (1982)’s contribution, such intense emotional exposure raised the “affective filter”, which could paralyze communication and temporarily hindered language acquisition. Conversely, the data showed that when professors provided safe and low-risk spaces for collaborative dialogue, this initial anxiety could be channeled into a sense of agency, hope, and increased participation in the classroom. This dual emotional outcome underscored the necessity of managing both FLA and eco-anxiety simultaneously within English language settings. Third, addressing RQ3 (challenges and opportunities), the study discovered a strong divergence between theoretical intent and empirical reality. While professors eagerly projected an eco-centric professional identity during interviews, a rigorous 8-hour non-participant observation protocol in 5 distinct classrooms exposed an almost total lack of explicit environmental discourse or active mitigation of eco-anxiety in daily routines. Matrix analysis used to compare descriptive field logs with interview transcripts found that the goodwill of individual educators was routinely thwarted by severe institutional constraints. Curriculum overload and the lack of formalized programmatic support left instructors feeling trapped in “institutional paralysis”. As a result, climate education and language acquisition were treated as separate and compartmentalized tasks, hence preventing sustainability from becoming an organic and enduring element of everyday English language learning.
The thematic analysis pointed out a deep tension between the professors’ high conceptual awareness of eco-anxiety and its low practical application in everyday language. This structural divergence is categorized below.
EFL professors at the University of Turku assessed eco-anxiety as a psychological reality that affected students’ well-being and life choices, such as family planning (I1:8). This was further identified by the professor as a clear emotional journey of the student who was struggling with hope overload (I3:2, I3:11) as it is shown in Figure 3. However, this empathy remains stuck in an ideological limbo, as suggested by the interpretation of the observation data. Professors were stuck in a state of institutional paralysis. They could not find structural support to turn environmental issues into part of language acquisition due to overloaded curricula (I2:7) and the lack of “political will and funding” (I3:5). When environmental issues were incorporated into language classes, such an integration was limited to high-risk tasks and ongoing dialogue. I5 used the SDGs primarily as a framework for project-based activities rather than as an integrated component of daily teaching (I5:6). This explained why classroom observations did not report any active discussion of eco-anxiety during standard lectures. Climate education and emotional education were treated as separate and compartmentalized tasks, rather than as organic elements woven into everyday English acquisition. Since the English curriculum did not explicitly and consistently support these emotionally charged topics, student engagement remained localized and low.
The contrast between interviews and field notes showed a slight presence of social desirability bias during data collection. Since the University of Turku is globally known for its sustainability policies, the professors are highly aware of what needs to be done. In the interviews, they eagerly project an eco-centric professional identity (I1:2, I5:4). However, the objective observation data acts as a reality check, proving that individual goodwill cannot be superimposed on a rigid and overloaded academic curriculum.
6. Conclusions
This qualitative case study demonstrated that, while EFL teachers at the University of Turku apparently recognized eco-anxiety as a powerful variable influencing students’ well-being and classroom engagement, its active integration into the curriculum remained inconsistent. A rigorous multi-methodological approach combining semi-structured interviews with systematic classroom observations revealed a significant theory-practice gap. Educators encountered a structural impasse where personal pedagogical purpose was consistently undermined by an overloaded curriculum, limited teaching time, and a lack of formalized institutional or financial support. The findings highlighted that when environmental issues were appropriately supported through frameworks such as EFLs, they offered excellent opportunities for increasing vocabulary, critical thinking, and communicative competence. However, because these discussions were emotionally volatile, they could burden students’ affective filters if left unmanaged, thus causing disengagement or worsened existential distress. Ultimately, addressing eco-anxiety in higher education is not a challenge that individual language professors could solve in isolation. Moving from simple conceptual awareness to authentic and systemic action in the classroom requires curriculum architects and university policymakers to jointly develop structured pedagogical resources, provide targeted training for teachers, and intentionally incorporate emotional and environmental education directly into the core language learning curriculum.
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
The data used to support the research findings are available from the corresponding author upon request.
The author expresses gratitude for the academic environment and research support provided by the University of Turku in Finland. The previous version of this research was checked and saved on the Turnitin system at the University of Turku in 2024.
The author declares no conflicts of interest.
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