Visual narratives in environmental education

Anthropocene aesthetics from the global south

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32674/dqv9yn20

Keywords:

Antropoceno, Educación ambiental, Justicia ambiental, narrativas visuales, pedagogía basada en el arte, conciencia ecológica, Anthropocene, environmental education, visual narratives, art-based pedagogy, ecological awareness, environmental justice

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between art, ecology, and education in the context of the Anthropocene, focusing on visual narratives as ethical-political devices oriented toward environmental justice. The study adopts a qualitative, interpretive approach based on a semiotic-discursive analysis of three short films produced by students in the course Art, Nature, and Ecology at the Autonomous University of Nayarit. The findings show that the process of creating these audiovisual works enabled students to construct a visual and sonic grammar through which they represent the socio-environmental crisis as a structural, everyday, and normalized phenomenon, articulated through aesthetics of devastation, slow violence, and critiques of anthropocentrism. In addition, aesthetic and narrative resources mobilize affective and sensory dimensions that foster the development of critical environmental awareness. In this sense, audiovisual production functions as a pedagogical device that not only represents ecological crisis but makes it perceptible, promoting reflection, memory, and collective responsibility. 

Author Biographies

  • Mariana Betzabeth Pelayo Pérez, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Mexico

    MARIANA BETZABETH PELAYO PÉREZ, PhD, her academic and research trajectory focuses on interdisciplinary approaches from political ecology, human geography, and environmental anthropology. Her research lines include hydrosocial territories, water, power, and socio-environmental justice; bodies, gender, and economies of life (biopolitics and necropolitics); relational ontologies, climate change, and socioecological adaptations. Email: mariana.pelayo@uan.edu.mx

  • Christian Leobardo Martínez Aguilera, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico

    CHRISTIAN LEOBARDO MARTÍNEZ AGUILERA, Mrt, his academic and research trajectory focuses on the relationships between art, poetry, and the problem of beauty from an ontological perspective. His research lines include ontology and hermeneutics, as well as existentialism. Email: chrlmaag@hotmail.com

  • Cinthya Magally Gómez Sánchez, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Mexico

    CINTHYA MAGALLY GÓMEZ SÁNCHEZ, M.I.P., her academic and research trajectory is grounded in interdisciplinary approaches that articulate quality management, tourism, and gastronomic development, and socio-environmental perspectives. Her research lines include quality management in services, sustainable development, territorial analysis and socio-environmental dynamics, and educational processes in tourism and gastronomy. Email: magally.gomez@uan.edu.mx

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Additional Files

Published

2026-05-26

Issue

Section

STEAM Education: Hearing the Voices from the Global South

How to Cite

Pelayo Pérez, M. B. ., Martínez Aguilera, C. L. ., & Gómez Sánchez, C. M. (2026). Visual narratives in environmental education: Anthropocene aesthetics from the global south. American Journal of STEM Education, 22, 132-154. https://doi.org/10.32674/dqv9yn20

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