Psychological studies on climate change have predominantly focused on individuals’ role as consumers, neglecting their roles as citizens; and on psychological barriers to action, neglecting how these interact with social- structural and institutional barriers, some of which reflect the value choices guiding climate policymaking. The collectively defined (and contested) meanings, rights, and duties of what constitutes a “good environmental citizen” are highly consequential, influencing how climate action and citizenship are understood and performed. Young people can be pivotal in challenging these definitions, as exemplified by the 2018-2019 youth climate strikes. However, knowledge about how youth engages with climate action and defines the “environmental citizen” is still limited. Few socio-psychological works have thus far approached environmental citizenship (EC) or have empirically interrogated green political theory’s models of EC. Looking at how EC is defined within the consensual/everyday, the reified/institutional universes and in their interaction, this project combines socio-psychological constructionist approaches with green political theory for (1) identifying the meanings of EC mobilized in the Portuguese institutional sphere, through the analysis of 4 youth-relevant climate/environmental laws and policies, and 20 parliamentary debates; (2) examining how, in Portugal, young people with different types/levels of engagement with climate action – activists & skeptics – construct and renew EC and negotiate its meanings with likeminded and challenger peers, by analyzing their positions and types of dialogue through interviews and focus groups; (3) analyzing the interplay between the meanings of EC mobilized in everyday discourses and institutional ones, taking notice of their continuities and clashes regarding each other.

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environmental citizenship,youth,institutions,social psychology,climate change