Positive Multimodal Analysis of EU Learning Materials to Promote Ecoliteracy for Young People

In recent years, in order to promote environmental awareness and sustainability, the European Union (EU) has increased the number of action programmes and activities aimed at improving the well-being and health of its citizens. By combining the theoretical frameworks of Social Semiotics (Kress and van Leeuwen 2021) and Positive Discourse Analysis (Stibbe 2017, 2021; Bartlett 2018; Hughes 2018), the chapter aims at investigating a sample of informative and didactic materials suitable for an age range from nine to over fifteen, retrieved from the EU’s website Learning Corner. The first phase of the research was devoted to the analysis and identification of the most significant verbal and visual strategies that can contribute to encouraging positive discourses on ecology in a class of undergraduate students. Then, an empirical study was conducted with groups of students in order to observe their response to the EU resources and their capability to propose alternative local green actions.