Enhancing Sustainability Education Using Animated Cartoon Videos

Abstract Book of the 10th World Conference on Research in Education

Year: 2026

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Enhancing Sustainability Education Using Animated Cartoon Videos

Anupam Mehta, Ann-Christine Frandsen

ABSTRACT:

This project aims to enhance sustainability education by developing an innovative pedagogy integrating animated real-life case studies into business education. We will transform traditional text-based case studies into engaging, animated video content using Ruscombe Artisan Food & Drink Ltd., a UK-based SME navigating financial and environmental sustainability challenges. This approach addresses cultural, linguistic, and engagement barriers, making complex sustainability decisions more accessible and interactive.
Our objectives include:
We aim to provide a pedagogic format within higher education to engage students in sustainable education, both individually and in group work. The animation we suggest is familiar to many students today and provides an engaging, collaborative, and creative environment to communicate sustainability competence and decision-making.
Methodology
The project builds on turning an earlier Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) funded work where real case studies were turned into cartoons (Metha and Frandsen, 2025), extending into creating animated videos. Cartoons are an art where the key syntactical feature is time as space on the page (Chute and DeKoven, 2006: 769). This format and their key benefit are slightly different to the animated, where space is translated into time as distinct movements. However, both forms should consider a narrative start and endpoints. With two innovative formats, we hope to build a platform for new and innovative pedagogy that attracts students’ attention, imagination, and engagement. In this way ‘scenes’ are needed for the plot intended and how each moving scene jump to the next.
Developing high-quality animated videos and an instructor manual to guide effective classroom integration.
Conducting student-focused evaluations through surveys and focus groups to assess engagement and learning outcomes.
Findings
We have conducted focused group interview with students from Singapore, Dubai and the UK campus. The primary findings shows keen interest in the innovative pedagogical approach we used for Animated Vidoes.

Keywords: Sustainability Education, Business Education, Animated Case Studies, Student Engagement, Pedagogical Innovation