Everyday Activism Performances and Liminal Political Positionings of Early Youth in Bulgaria: Learning to Be Environmental Subjects

Abstract

Research on climate activism has predominantly focused on affluent regions of the Global North, often emphasizing public participation and protest while overlooking the experiences of youth in other contexts. This study addresses this gap by exploring everyday environmental activism and eco-literacy among young people in Bulgaria, a post-communist society. It challenges the prevailing top-down political frameworks that marginalize diverse forms of political participation. This study argues that young people’s environmental awareness, shaped by their lived experiences, reflects their engagement with consumerism and climate change and is expressed through various modes of participation, including the victim, voter, rejecter, and interpreter forms of agency. Drawing on ethnographic data from interviews, mapping activities, and short essays, this research examines how environmental identities are enacted in mundane ways that reflect young people’s levels of eco-literacy, focusing on a cohort from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in both urban and rural contexts. The findings reveal the performances of everyday environmental activism and shed light on the liminal political positions youth navigate in their daily lives. This research contributes to education studies by offering insights into how young people’s everyday environmental activism and eco-literacy, rooted in their subjectivities, transcend traditional educational frameworks and provide a deeper understanding of how they learn to become environmental subjects in under-represented contexts.

1. Introduction

In the late modern era, young people face uneven consequences of environmental crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss (IPCC, 2021). These challenges are compounded by the pervasive influence of consumer capitalism, which accelerates ecological degradation (Marques, 2020). Simultaneously, digital media and popular culture often overshadow traditional education, leaving many youths as passive bystanders amid growing ecological instability (Mustola et al., 2018; Firinci Orman, 2022). They experience various emotions tied to climate change and its injustices as these issues traverse interconnected “online” and “offline” spaces (Chiew et al., 2024). However, the impacts of these crises on young people differ, shaped by their unique social, economic, and geographic contexts. In this landscape, learning and education emerge as a critical site for examining and addressing how young people navigate, resist, or are shaped by the intersecting forces of climate crises, consumerism, and digital culture, primarily through their experiential knowledge, which reflects their political positioning and eco-literacy.

While youth responses to climate instability are frequently examined through the lens of mass mobilization, this perspective reflects significant biases in the literature. Much research focuses on affluent, Global North contexts, neglecting the experiences of marginalized youth from underprivileged regions (Neas et al., 2022; Karsgaard & Shultz, 2022). The emphasis on Western geographies and figures like Greta Thunberg limits our understanding of youth climate activism. As Neas et al. (2022) note, studies disproportionately center on wealthy communities, overlooking youth in socioeconomically disadvantaged positions whose political participation and environmental identities evolve under different conditions.

A key gap in the literature is the limited research on youth climate activism in post-communist societies, particularly in non-wealthy contexts. In Europe, these transitional countries, shaped by democratization and EU integration, continue to bear socialist legacies such as institutional mistrust, social inequalities, and regional disparities, all of which significantly influence young people’s political participation. While some studies have explored youth agency in alternative non-Western regions—such as Brazil (Börner et al., 2021), the MENA region (Ortiz et al., 2024) and Taiwan (Chang, 2022)—post-communist Eastern Europe remains underexplored. These countries face unique challenges in addressing environmental issues due to the high material costs of climate protection and limited innovation (Drieschova, 2024). Yet, grassroots environmental activism is emerging, particularly around urban development, labor rights, and minority issues, with environmental concerns gaining prominence (Henry et al., 2024).

This article addresses critical gaps in the literature by exploring how Bulgarian youth, shaped by their post-communist sociopolitical context, engage in everyday environmental activism. This study adopts the “performative citizenship framework,” which allows for an analysis of environmental citizenship formation from the bottom up. It also unpacks youths’ subjective capacities through their lived experiences, reflecting the youthful ways of being and becoming (Firinci Orman, 2022, 2023; Firinci Orman & Demiral, 2023). The rationale for this approach is grounded in three key considerations.

First, the limited number of existing studies on climate activism in post-communist societies often rely on political culture frameworks (e.g., anti-corruption protests) (see Damyanova, 2023), which overlook informal and non-formal forms of youth participation—crucial for understanding early youth engagement. Second, while youth research in Bulgaria frequently incorporates intersectionality and identity politics, particularly concerning minority groups (e.g., Roma youth) (see Stoytchev, 2023), it rarely addresses activism within the context of climate change. This gap limits our understanding of how Bulgarian youth navigate and respond to environmental issues in their specific sociopolitical environment. Third, while the literature on youth climate activism incorporates intersectional and justice-oriented frameworks, it often emphasizes large-scale mobilizations (e.g., Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion) (see Della Porta & Portos, 2023). This emphasis overlooks the everyday forms of activism that, though less visible, are vital for understanding how young people perform and negotiate their environmental identities and eco-literacy.

However, everyday activism, distinct from large-scale mobilizations, highlights the mundane yet significant ways young people express and perform their environmental identities in daily life (Firinci Orman, 2022; Trott, 2021; Skovdal & Benwell, 2021; Navne & Skovdal, 2021; Ojala, 2020). Drawing on partial data from a larger multisite ethnographic research project on youth environmental citizenship, this study explores how young people in Bulgaria navigate consumerism and climate action in their everyday lives while living in a rapidly transforming society.

Bulgaria’s post-communist welfare regime provides a complex backdrop for studying youth activism. As a semi-consolidated democracy, Bulgaria continues to grapple with democratic challenges, reflecting broader regional tensions between democratic and autocratic influences (Smeltzer & Karppi, 2024). Although the country benefits from European Union funding that maintains a semblance of institutional stability, these structures often mask deeper political and economic problems (Rone & Junes, 2021).

Youth political participation in Bulgaria, similar to other Eastern and Baltic countries with a communist past, is generally low due to historical detachment and skepticism toward politics. This skepticism refers to the formal and institutional aspects of governance and public affairs, reflecting a historical distrust of or disengagement from these systems. However, Bulgaria shows relatively higher levels of electoral participation compared to countries like Portugal and the UK (Lello & Bazzoli, 2023). Economic and social inequalities, however, negatively impact young people’s participation in democratic life (Brestnichka, 2022; Zahariev & Yordanov, 2023). Recent mass protests in Bulgaria reflect emerging grassroots environmental activism addressing specific issues, such as biodiversity loss due to construction projects, mining and illegal logging, and degradation of protected natural areas against private business interests and investments (see Mihaylov, 2020; Bogdanova, 2024), among other concerns. These movements are largely organized via social networks, which enhance youth engagement and government outreach, particularly through social media tools (Pastarmadzhieva & Sakal, 2021).

Despite increased interest in climate change education, many youths remain marginalized from the conversation, as the research is still primarily situated in the Global North (see Firinci Orman, 2024; Karsgaard & Shultz, 2022). Although fields like civic and environmental education exist in Bulgaria, there is a lack of literature on how these programs impact young people as environmental citizens (Manov & Keranova, 2019). A national survey indicated that young people engage in citizen science initiatives mainly out of a desire to care for nature, contribute to conservation, and learn about the natural world (Tsvetkova et al., 2022).

The first section of this article reviews the limited literature on everyday environmental activism and builds on the lived and performative framework of youth environmental citizenship. This framework facilitates an exploration of youth eco-literacy at the nexus of consumerism and climate change and examines the modes of participation and political agency of young people. This article then addresses methodological considerations, including participant characteristics, the empirical stages of this study, and the ethical principles guiding this research. Following this, the results highlight how participants enact their environmental identities through various forms of political participation and how this relates to their eco-literacy. The discussion centers on the liminal positioning of youth identities, shaped by formal and informal educational contexts as well as urban and rural environmental experiences. Finally, the conclusion examines how these everyday actions reflect and perform youthful environmental identities, emphasizing their role in expressing and shaping their subjectivities.

2. Everyday Activism Through the Lenses of Performativity and Eco-Literacy

2.1. Theoretical Basis and Analytical Framework

This study builds on a multisite project that incorporates relational ontologies through an interdisciplinary lens on youth political agency, drawing from youth geographies, environmental education, and citizenship studies. It critiques adult-led green values and environmental ideologies while proposing bottom-up methodological approaches to studying the youthful aspects of environmental citizenship formation. Particularly informed by performative citizenship (Isin, 2008), I propose an analytical framework based on the multifaceted forms of youth political participation (Firinci Orman, 2022). This framework captures the complexity and plurality of young people’s political positioning in the context of everyday activism through four intersecting, interchangeable, and coexisting categories: victim (e.g., exposure to consumerist culture and/or other structural inequalities), voter (e.g., boycotting or “buycotting” goods, services, companies, or countries as green or ethical consumers and/or voting in school parliament for a more sustainable school environment), rejecter (e.g., climate change activism through public civic participation), and interpreter (e.g., the politicization of everyday life choices that are ethically, morally, or politically inspired, creatively practiced in mundane ways, and reflecting green lifestyles) (Firinci Orman, 2022). These categories reflect relational modes of political participation embodied in youths’ everyday lives (Firinci Orman, 2021). Such practices are particularly evident in environmental contexts (Firinci Orman, 2024), and the categories serve as analytical lenses in the current study.

To further elaborate, victim agency is characterized by limited critical awareness, resignation, feelings of hopelessness, and inaction. In the context of this study, it is often shaped by exposure to consumerist culture and adult-led ideologies. More broadly, it can be understood as a form of engagement within a political system or major event where young people have little to no agency or voice. Voter agency involves a sense of civic duty and trust in democratic processes, including environmentally responsible consumer choices. However, both categories tend to be shaped by macro-level influences and adult-led structures (Firinci Orman, 2023). As a child-led category, rejecter agency represents resistance against dominant ideologies, advocating for radical change and challenging the status quo, as exemplified by youth climate activism, such as school strikes (see Thomas et al., 2019). Lastly, interpreter agency combines elements of both the voter and rejecter positions, enabling young people to creatively reinterpret environmental ideologies. This agency promotes reflexivity, direct forms of everyday activism, and the adoption of green lifestyles that challenge top-down environmentalism (Firinci Orman, 2022). Interpretive agency merges consumer practices with collective efforts for sustainability, framing green choices as politicized actions for social change (see Schlosberg, 2019).

2.2. Literature Review

To situate the analytical framework within the broader literature, I will focus on three foundational concepts that shape this study: youth environmental citizenship, everyday environmental activism, and eco-literacy.

Youth environmental citizenship encompasses both formal, public political engagement (big-P politics) and informal, everyday political practices (little-p politics) (Kallio & Häkli, 2013). This duality is essential, as it acknowledges that youth navigate global and local realities, which intertwine in the micropolitics of daily life (Katz, 2004). Citizenship studies further emphasize the performative dimensions of citizenship through “acts of citizenship” (Isin, 2008), highlighting the embodied, lived experiences of youth as political actors (Firinci Orman, 2022; Kallio, 2016; Kallio et al., 2020).

Within this context, critical scholarship on youth geographies explores how environmental subjectivities and identities are shaped through spatial and relational processes. Bartos (2013) and Wood (2012) highlight that young people’s everyday politics emerge through socialization within family, peer networks, and local communities. Skelton (2013) further emphasized the role of mobility in shaping youth agency, linking environmental engagement to lived spatial experiences. Other accounts underscore the significance of youth, relationality, spatiality, and civic engagement (Worth, 2024; Gordon et al., 2016), introducing geographical approaches that align with lived experiences.

Kallio et al. (2020), in their review, further conceptualize lived citizenship, defining it through four key dimensions—spatial, intersubjective, performed, and affective—and demonstrating its relevance to childhood and youth studies. This framework examines how young people experience and enact citizenship in their everyday lives, extending beyond formal political participation. Influenced by Ruth Lister (2008), it challenges the exclusion of children based on age or economic dependence. Research on lived citizenship highlights how citizenship is expressed through everyday actions and relationships in both private and public spaces, emphasizing agency and resistance (Lister, 2008; Bartos, 2013; Olsson, 2017). Building on these critical perspectives, the present study examines young people’s everyday activism as it is lived and performed in their daily lives.

Although there is a growing body of work on environmental activism and green lifestyles, the literature on everyday environmental activism remains limited, particularly concerning young people. Skovdal and Benwell (2021) describe research on youth climate activism as underdeveloped, although emerging studies have begun addressing independent youth agency (see Collins, 2020), the temporalities of activism (Nissen et al., 2020), and the spatial and mundane dimensions of everyday climate activism (Börner et al., 2021; Navne & Skovdal, 2021). These studies suggest that young people’s environmental activism is multifaceted, deeply embedded in lived experiences, and shaped by their political agency in daily life (see Firinci Orman, 2022).

Everyday environmental activism refers to activities and practices aimed at addressing social, political, and economic issues through changes in personal and collective behavior (Ojala, 2015). This activism can take many forms, from collective responses such as alternative food and energy systems (Schlosberg & Coles, 2016) to more individualized actions such as anti-consumption behaviors reflecting environmental values (Black & Cherrier, 2010). As Collins (2020) highlights, young people, closely integrated into family and peer networks, play a pivotal role in driving environmental behavior change. They serve as connectors between their families and larger political issues, influenced by emotional connections to their surroundings and possessions, shaping perspectives on issues like waste management and conservation in their consumption practices. Youth often express their environmental citizenship through both individual and collective actions, which blur into their everyday lives and intersect with social identities, including gender, class, and ethnicity (see Firinci Orman & Demiral, 2023).

The literature also explores different forms of activism, distinguishing between direct protest and quieter forms of social or collective action. These quieter forms often lack formal organization, focus on local issues, and are rooted in the daily lives of ordinary citizens (Sundstrom et al., 2022; Polese et al., 2018). Similarly, Bherer et al. (2023) argue that informal participation prioritizes concrete action over discussion or deliberation, distinguishing it from traditional activism. They highlight concepts like quiet activism and implicit activism, which emphasize subtle, everyday engagement rather than vocal or visible protest. As noted earlier, activism is sometimes perceived negatively or associated with privileged, urban contexts (Bell, 2020; Walker, 2021). Thus, there is growing recognition of the need for intersectional perspectives that consider the diverse backgrounds and experiences of young activists (Walker & van Holstein, 2024).

Beyond the urban context, only a limited number of studies have explored rural youth activism—though not specifically in the context of environmental activism—while highlighting differences in socio-spatial engagement (e.g., Suppers, 2023; Baylina & Rodó-Zárate, 2020; Petrović & Čikić, 2021). For example, Suppers’ (2023) study in rural communities in Germany finds that rural youth engage in ad hoc, part-time activism, demanding systemic change through actions like raising awareness and making consumer choices. Their activism, often linked with volunteering, takes place in diverse spaces such as online platforms, local municipalities, schools, and everyday settings like supermarkets. Another study on Serbian rural youth (involving ten villages in Vojvodina) (see Petrović & Čikić, 2021) concludes that young people in villages are aware of the challenges they face but remain politically passive, feeling their actions are ineffective and experiencing a sense of social powerlessness.

Regarding eco-literacy, the scholarship underscores how young people’s environmental awareness shapes their activism. Eco-literacy, which involves understanding the relationships between ecological systems and human activity, plays a critical role in informing environmentally responsible behavior (Piscitelli & D’Uggento, 2022). Youth with high levels of eco-literacy are more likely to connect personal actions, such as consumer choices, to broader environmental issues like climate change (Firinci Orman, 2024). This connection reflects the critical-thinking and decision-making skills young people employ as they navigate the intersection of consumerism and environmental responsibility in their daily lives. An eco-literate person understands the world and actively contributes to sustainability through intellectual, emotional, and practical efforts (McBride et al., 2013), demonstrating reflexivity, agency, and a readiness to participate in daily activism and embrace an eco-friendly lifestyle. An important exploration comes from Dunkley (2018) and van Herten and Perez (2022), highlighting the spatial and temporal aspects of eco-literacy, emphasizing the need for learning experiences that connect nature and culture within specific socio-ecological contexts. Dunkley (2018) shows that such space–time-aware encounters are central to developing eco-pedagogy and eco-literacy, regardless of the setting.

Accordingly, many young people learn about climate change both online and offline (at school, home, or other contexts) through social interactions and lived experiences. Eco-literacy has been studied in terms of school environments (e.g., Zulfa & Sari, 2024), intergenerational learning (e.g., Ismawati et al., 2024) and social media (e.g., Abdullah, 2023), among others, predominantly within the environmental education scholarship. However, when it comes to the discourse around climate activism, it has often been dominated by youth movements communicated through protests and media. While Greta Thunberg’s influence has mobilized many, her prominence overshadows research showing inequalities in climate activism and its relational nature. For example, one study highlights how intersecting educational and socioeconomic inequalities shape environmental–political participation among young Londoners, limiting their agency (Arya & Henn, 2023). Thaker (2024) notes that despite comparatively limited media coverage of climate change in poorer and developing countries, citizens in these areas perceive climate change as a greater risk and are more willing to protest than those in developed nations. This reflects the structural limitations in environmental–political agency present across different contexts.

3. Materials and Methods

Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from geography, sociology, environmental studies, and related fields, this study employs the geo-social methodology, which provides a relational ontological approach that enriches traditional qualitative methods (Creswell, 2013). It examines the interplay between social dynamics and spatial contexts, with a focus on subjective experiences within these settings. Furthermore, it reconceptualizes socialization by integrating intersubjective, spatial, and political dimensions, as highlighted by scholars such as Elwood and Mitchell (2012), Kallio (2018), and Joronen (2016).

This research focuses on the everyday experiences of young people in Bulgaria. By applying an analytical and performative framework to study their environmental identities through political participation modes (Firinci Orman, 2022, 2023), it explores the social, spatial, and politicized dynamics that shape their environmental actions, reflecting the geo-social nature of the data (Kallio, 2020). By incorporating narratives of daily life, this study reveals how everyday environmentalism intersects with views and actions on climate change, illustrating the levels of eco-literate worldviews that emerge at the nexus of their consumption- and climate-related behaviors (Firinci Orman, 2024).

The researcher utilized a pragmatic sampling approach, underpinned by an intersectional framework, to select 13 youth participants aged 12–19 from diverse regions across Bulgaria, leveraging existing academic networks. Participants were purposively chosen based on their leadership roles within schools or communities, primarily through civic engagement or institutional involvement in a range of activities, including charity events, school competitions, club activities, and sports/music-related leisure pursuits. The sample was intentionally designed to reflect diverse social positions, encompassing the dimensions of gender, ethnicity, religion, and class. The majority of participants were of Bulgarian descent, with additional representation from the Turkish, Armenian, and Roma ethnicities. One participant identified as Muslim, and four participants had cross-cultural parentage (Bulgarian–Greek, Bulgarian–Jewish). The gender distribution included five participants identifying as male and the remainder as female. Socioeconomically, the participants represented a broad spectrum: two from lower-income families, three from upper-income families, and the majority from middle-class backgrounds. Two participants were placed in foster care. The sample also captured diverse mobility experiences, with most participants having relocated between different neighborhoods or cities, except for one. Geographically, participants hailed from varied regions, including northeastern Bulgaria, the Black Sea coast, mid-western Bulgaria, and southwestern Bulgaria, with the majority (nine participants) at the time residing in urban areas and four in semi-rural settings, one of whom lives in a small village. The participants attended a variety of schools, including general secondary schools, foreign language schools (French and German), schools with advanced STEM education, and private institutions. Notably, none of the participants were engaged in global youth climate activism; however, one participant was involved in a local grassroots environmental initiative within Bulgaria. Although the sample may appear relatively small and limited in scope, it remains rich and in-depth, aligning with this study’s objective of exploring the subjectivities and identity formation of the participants, reflecting diversity in terms of the socio-cultural, geographical, and spatial dimensions.

Geo-social data were collected through a combination of online mapping, interviews, and essay-writing activities. Each participant began with an online mapping exercise on Padlet, where they marked significant locations—neighborhoods, cities, and regions—reflecting on their climate-related lived experiences. Participants used colors to represent emotional responses, creating a semi-public space for sharing perspectives and fostering a collective understanding of climate action and consumerism. This mapping exercise, grounded in Kallio’s (2021) topological approach, explored subjectivity, spatial attachments, and the political dimensions of climate experiences (see Firinci Orman, 2024).

After the mapping exercise, semi-structured online interviews were conducted, focusing on participants’ everyday lives, consumption habits, and climate-related actions. The mapping notes informed the interviews, deepening the exploration of participants’ lived experiences, particularly in relation to eco-literacy and political awareness. Guided by the geo-social methodology, the interviews examined the social, spatial, and political dimensions of participants’ climate actions. All the interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed to gain insights into young people’s relational worlds.

The final data collection stage involved an essay-writing task, where participants reflected on their roles as environmental citizens and consumers. The essays, which varied in length and were free-form, encouraged participants to critically evaluate their consumption practices and the research experience, promoting self-awareness and deeper engagement with climate issues.

The analysis generated geo-social profiles for each participant by triangulating data from the mapping, interviews, and essays. The criteria for generating individual reports involved analytical layers of the geo-social methodology, building on a threefold conceptual baseline: social relatedness, spatial relationality, and experience-based politics (Kallio, 2020). Due to the relatively small sample size, this process was performed manually. By comparing and contrasting the data, this study examined the subjectivities of young people, highlighting how social relationships and spatial dynamics influenced the participants’ environmental identities. This study also explored the key people, places, and events that shaped their views (see Kallio, 2018; Firinci Orman & Demiral, 2023), mainly on climate change and consumption. Additionally, performative aspects of youth environmental citizenship (see Firinci Orman, 2022) were used to examine various lived experiences in the context of everyday consumer practices and climate change actions, considering different modes of political participation among young people (e.g., victim, voter, interpreter, rejected) (Firinci Orman, 2023). Finally, as the data provide rich information and details on participants’ consumption habits and everyday decision-making related to climate actions, participants’ eco-literacy was observed based on whether they link their personal actions, such as consumption, to broader issues like climate change (McBride et al., 2013), with a focus on their everyday performances and contributions to sustainability through intellectual, emotional, and/or practical efforts.

Ethical Principles Guiding This Study

This study is dedicated to upholding the participation rights of children and young people, framing climate and environmental change as a critical long-term threat to these rights. It emphasizes collaboration with young people to provide insights into youth environmental citizenship, aiming to foster a more sustainable future. The researcher strictly adhered to ethical standards to ensure the protection of all participants throughout this study.

The research posed a minimal risk, relying on qualitative interviews that prioritized participants’ well-being and empowered them to guide the process while fostering eco-literacy and sustainable behaviors. This study created a safe, judgment-free environment where participants could freely express themselves throughout the interviews. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants, including parental consent, with clear communication of this study’s purpose and participants’ rights, including the right to withdraw at any time.

Confidentiality was ensured through strict anonymization of the data and secure storage. Consultations with local experts and scholars experienced in working with vulnerable youth further strengthened this study’s ethical robustness, guiding recruitment, consent processes, and the safeguarding of sensitive information. This study adhered to the core ethical principles of “respect for persons” (ensuring informed and voluntary participation), “beneficence” (minimizing potential harm), and “justice” (ensuring fair and equitable treatment). Special attention was paid to upholding these principles during interactions with youth participants, particularly in consideration of their diverse backgrounds.

4. Results

4.1. Youthful Profiles and Environmental Action: Examining Everyday Performances and Eco-Literate Worldviews

Not all young people engage with environmental activism in the same way; their motivations, aspirations, and understandings of environmental care differ, as shaped by their lived experiences. Their everyday activism and environmental care practices are influenced by varying levels of eco-literate worldviews, which integrate intellectual, emotional, and practical efforts. These worldviews underpin their environmental awareness, skills, and critical perspectives, enabling informed decision-making and active participation in daily life. Guided by the performative framework of youth environmental citizenship (see Firinci Orman, 2022) as analytical lenses, this section is structured through four overlapping and dynamic categories of political participation among youth—victim (represented by the registered bystander profile), voter (represented by the eco-conscious participant profile), rejecter (represented by the climate advocate profile), and interpreter (represented by the reflective practitioner profile)—each reflecting different levels of eco-literacy.

I draw on youth profiles, chosen as they reflect these four categories of political participation among youth, and illustrate how young people’s agency is shaped by their level of eco-literacy. I also examine how this, in turn, manifests in their everyday lives through both environmental action and inaction. While the selected youth profiles are representative of different performative aspects of youth participation and agency, they are singular cases encompassing numerous subjective and personal elements. Therefore, they should not be interpreted as generalizable or scalable profiles.

4.1.1. Resigned Bystander

Lidia (19), a foster care recipient from coastal Bulgaria, has minimal consumption practices, limited to purchasing coffee and cigarettes due to her tight budget. Occasionally, she buys items she likes from Shein, a Chinese fast fashion retailer. Like many participants, her understanding of nature and climate change is shaped by her experiences with waste management issues. She viewed numerous Bulgarian cities as polluted and criticized local authorities for corruption and inadequate municipal services. Lidia specifically highlighted the industrial outskirts of her city, marked by factories, polluted air, and broken, muddy roads, which she described as “disgustingly dirty”. Her environmental awareness seems largely centered on waste, as her references to climate change consistently returned to the issue of garbage. She contrasted her city with Brussels, referencing her visits there and praising its cleanliness and effective waste management, underscoring how her personal experiences shaped her views on environmental issues. In her own words:

“Most pollution happens because waste isn’t disposed of separately, or nature isn’t kept clean, and many trees are cut down. The way we humans consume, instead of helping us live cleaner lives, ends up harming us. By throwing garbage wherever we want or leaving it anywhere, not only is it very ugly, but it also shows a lack of respect for our bodies and our lives”.

Studies on youth engagement in everyday environmental politics show that young people in urban environments often deprioritize environmental issues due to economic precarity and limited opportunities to reflect on the relevance of such issues in their daily lives (Sloam, 2020). Lidia’s narrative similarly aligns with “victim” agency, as she explained that her involvement is limited to throwing her garbage in designated places when visiting outside locations, but she showed little concern for waste management in her own living space (care center). She explained her stance as follows:

“Well, honestly, it’s not so much about recycling—we’re not all fans of it. We’re just trying to make our coexistence here a little more interesting, though it doesn’t work out much”.

Lidia’s agency is characterized by her limited critical environmental awareness, which revolves around garbage and waste collection. Her perspective fosters a pessimistic view toward immediate action, positioning her as a bystander. However, she expressed that in the future, once living independently, she would be more inclined to engage in recycling within her own household.

4.1.2. Eco-Conscious Participant

Anahit (18), who resides in southern Bulgaria, with a wealthy and highly educated family background, exemplifies a “voter” type of agency through her active engagement in civil society activities related to social problems, including environmental protection. As a young leader, she participated in student clubs, served on the student council, got involved in entrepreneurial training, and engaged in social projects. Additionally, she took part in a youth training initiative focused on learning sustainability and organized a community at her school to educate peers about climate change. These experiences appear to have fostered her positive attitude toward environmental action. Anahit maintained eco-friendly shopping habits, avoiding fast fashion and fast food. She explained her approach:

“First, I ask myself if I really need the item. Next, I consider whether it comes from a responsible brand. Because I know that some brands may use illegal labor or misrepresent their practices on their labels. Therefore, I make an effort to research brands in advance to ensure they are responsible in some way”.

Her everyday environmental actions included addressing local issues and implementing basic conservation practices, such as turning off lights, conserving water, and promoting simple, everyday actions. She also educated younger children on proper waste disposal and reducing plastic use. Furthermore, she advocated for more affordable, eco-friendly alternatives, noting the high cost of paper bags compared to plastic and suggesting that companies should offer cheaper, sustainable options. She remarked:

“I forgot my reusable bag and had to buy a new paper bag at Kaufland. I discovered that these paper bags were at least three to four times more expensive than plastic ones. As a result, some people who can’t afford the higher cost might opt for plastic bags instead. It’s important to note that this issue isn’t entirely the fault of consumers”.

During the interview, Anahit argued that consumers should make informed choices and signal their values to companies, as firms often prioritize profit over climate considerations. Her underlying argument was that consumer actions can influence corporate practices by creating demand for ethical and environmentally responsible practices.

As such, Anahit’s pro-environmental attitude is evident through her institutional participation, advocacy, and everyday actions. Her positive relationships with parents, teachers, and other adult role models, along with her active engagement in her school’s participatory activities, have seemingly been highly effective in fostering her environmental awareness and shaping her eco-literate worldview.

4.1.3. Climate Advocate

Daniel (15), from the capital city, is an activist involved in a movement aimed at stopping the construction of the Struma motorway in Bulgaria, which crosses the Kresna Gorge, one of Europe’s biodiversity hotspots. He exercised a form of marginalized agency by supporting the cause and participating in protests alongside friends who influenced him to get involved. He expressed hope that their protests will succeed in halting the construction, despite years of unsuccessful efforts. He explained what he, his friends, and the Save Kresna community think as the construction has started: “There’s still hope… Hope dies last! We hope to keep the Gorge”.

Daniel’s activism was also evident in his everyday practices as a responsible consumer. He preferred buying local food to support people in disadvantaged areas who rely on small businesses in rural food production. He was strongly critical of corporate exploitation of nature and resources.

Research shows that protests are particularly effective in fostering political engagement, serving as catalysts for politicization (Crouzé et al., 2024). As a fan of water sports, Daniel’s attachment to his cause was further expressed through activities like rowing and participating in nature clean-up events. He politicized water resources in this context. During a mapping activity, he marked a resort village with a dam, which he frequently visited to collect garbage, an experience he described as important and rewarding. In the interview, he further explained these activities:

“Yes, garbage is collected; we go to a location, and it’s gathered into sacks. People are given gloves and bags. We go to different shores, and the trash is gathered at several spots… larger amounts, with a few sacks. Then, a big boat comes and collects it”.

Daniel had a direct connection to the countryside, where he gardened with his father, fostering a love for water and nature, along with other life experiences that deepened his connection to the environment. Despite living in a big city, the family lifestyle and habits he grew up with seem to have played a significant role in raising his environmental awareness. His eco-literacy was evident in his reflections on the link between consumer behavior and the climate crisis:

“Consumption facilitates the worst actions for nature. It’s easier to throw your trash in one place than to recycle it. Things that are worse for nature are cheaper. Simply because a person says, ‘I am only one person, so it’s not so bad,’ but half the world decides to do exactly the same thing and chooses the cheapest option, which is worse for nature”.

Daniel argued that while an individual may seem insignificant in the larger population, their daily actions, such as buying and discarding single-use items like water bottles, accumulate over time. This collective waste from everyday products builds up daily, which is why he carried a refillable bottle with him. Alongside his public activism, his advocacy for everyday activism was also evident in his belief that small, consistent actions can make a difference: “Even if it’s small, I think it’s a change. Some small decisions every day… For example, not taking a separate bag for absolutely everything. Little things like that”.

Daniel’s activism, in both the public and private spheres, reflected his “rejecter” agency, as he engaged in activities aimed at promoting environmental protection and influencing policy changes.

4.1.4. Reflective Practitioner

Nikolai (18) comes from a Black Sea coastal city and attends one of the top high schools. He demonstrated a high level of digital and eco-literacy, limiting his social media use to a minimum while choosing primarily scientific content to consume. He verified the sources of the information he encountered and primarily used YouTube channels to explore his interests, such as math, history, and languages, through educational content. He mentioned following channels like MinuteEarth to study climate change in just 3 min, and he explained how the marine fauna of Antarctica has been impacted by crabs:

“They’re very big crabs, not just crabs, but such big crabs. Yes. Normally, they couldn’t cross the line that separates the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and I’m talking about the upper oceans, with the Antarctic. Their blood is such that if it gets too cold, they fall asleep and don’t wake up until it’s warmer. So, if they get there, they simply never wake up. But now, as it gets warmer, they can increase their range. Scientists shared research that says about 15 percent of the fauna remains after the crabs arrive at a new location. That’s a little sad”.

When discussing his consumption practices and preferences, Nikolai noted that he was not attached to any particular brand, not even for technology, and was fine with using items until they were completely worn out. While he preferred to support local food and businesses when shopping, he made it clear that he never wears fast fashion, opting instead for tracksuits and sweatshirts. He did not care what others think and said, “I don’t want to be pretty. I want it to be comfortable”. He added that while he does not like buying things unless necessary, he often spends on software for maths, which he described as “much more fun!” He noted: “I would rather use my clothes and shoes longer, for as long as possible. For example, I don’t know… Some of my shoes are galoshes. I use them as galoshes now”.

Research highlights that young people are increasingly aware of the multifaceted injustices of the climate crisis and are taking action to secure a sustainable future for all (Trott, 2024b). Nikolai politicized global inequalities between the Global North and South, sharing a wealth of information about issues like people’s mobilization, racism, and colonial histories. He chose not to buy chocolate and vanilla, knowing that while many products bear fair trademarks, they still exploit child labor, as he claimed. He boycotted these goods to protest unethical practices and address these injustices.

The following quote showcases his eco-literacy and belief in technological solutions, which made him hopeful for tackling climate change. During the interview, he expressed, with a historical perspective, that some solutions or discoveries, for example in math and geometry, take time to become useful or relevant, but eventually, they can have a significant impact, even if it takes centuries for their true value to be realized. Similarly, he said:

“It is the same with renewable energy where the more money they put in, at some point, it got cheaper. The state invests, but private investors do, too… After all, we’re fine with technology. We’re not like before, where jumping from farming to metallurgy took a few thousand years”.

Nikolai’s “interpreter” agency and sustainable behaviors, reflecting his eco-literacy and anti-consumerist stance, combined elements of both the voter and rejecter positions, allowing him to creatively reinterpret environmental ideologies, though he did not engage in public activism. His agency was evident in the following quote, where he explained that his distrust of the municipality’s garbage collection and controversial recycling practices stopped him from engaging in daily recycling efforts. He shared his own idea for an alternative solution, though he admitted to procrastinating in terms of taking action:

“The most I’ve thought is to try to do something like my own analysis, give it to the municipality, and try to create a new system that’s more efficient and different. It’s not just about giving people money—though that always helps—but finding ways to earn money as well. For example, improving the trash system. For human feces, which are mostly non-hostile, not harmful, only about 0.1% might carry disease. Most of it can be repurposed. It can be used as fertilizer, to feed animals, or more specifically, you could feed it to bugs, and then feed the bugs to animals. Yes, it can be used in many different ways. That would be great instead of… I don’t know”.

4.2. Liminal Spaces That Shape Young People’s Political Positionings

Studying liminal spaces through geo-social data is central to the performative citizenship framework, as it reveals how young people participate and act within dynamic social contexts in an everyday context (see Firinci Orman, 2022). By examining youths’ lived environmental subjectivities, participation modes and decision-making, we gain insights into their climate responses that surpass traditional, adult-led values and political participation (Firinci Orman, 2023; Firinci Orman & Demiral, 2023). These “in-between” political spaces, where power relations intersect, are crucial for understanding how young people perform activism, make (eco-literate) decisions and enact their environmental citizenship through strategic, everyday practices (Firinci Orman, 2022, 2024).

4.2.1. In-Between Formal and Informal Learnings

Young people encounter climate change information from diverse sources, which function as varied learning spaces influencing their eco-literacy. Traditional education, primarily delivered through schools and formal sciences, presents climate change predominantly through scientific lenses, addressing issues such as global warming and biodiversity loss. However, this formal education often overlooks the sociopolitical and justice dimensions of the climate crisis (Trott, 2024a). In contrast, social media platforms serve as a second, and in some cases primary, source of climate information for young people. Greta Thunberg’s impactful social media presence has mobilized a significant youth climate movement and highlighted the moral imperative of addressing the structural causes of ecological crises. Yet, social media also provides a platform for climate change sceptics, complicating the discourse (Mede & Schroeder, 2024). Interestingly, only one participant (18) from the capital city referred to Greta Thunberg’s movement and activism, albeit in a rather skeptical manner. While deeply concerned about the environment and anxious about the future of the planet, this young participant’s stance gradually shifted to oppose such activism.

Most participants indicated that they learned about climate change from both schools and the internet, with social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook playing a significant role. Although the sample is not representative of the broader youth population in Bulgaria, the majority (9 out of 13) of participants reported the internet to be their primary information source on climate change and environmental preservation. The rest, while engaging with social media content, said they received almost all their climate-related information at school. Half of the participants also mentioned their involvement in school- or teacher-initiated environmental projects, such as tree planting, climate solution competitions, specialized climate change training programs, garbage collection, nature park clean-ups, and recycling initiatives like collecting bottle caps in the school’s recycling container.

For example, Viktoria (17), from a small city, explained that while she needed to use social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook) to promote her work as a public figure and artist, her priority space for learning and discussing climate and environmental matters was initially school:

“Well, I’m basically focused on geography. We have 5-6 h of geography a week, and we study a lot… it’s hard, so to speak. The sad thing is that lately, you don’t find much information about global changes on social networks. People don’t upload that kind of content. Or even if they do, it’s not recommended or shown, like on TikTok, it doesn’t appear in your feed. But lately, in school, we’ve been doing more debates in geography class. We don’t take many new lessons anymore, but we often talk about these things”.

A recent study revealed that young people also learn about climate justice both in and outside of school through activist networks (Mayes, 2024). For instance, Daniel (15), from the capital city, shared that he followed the social media accounts of the grassroots environmental movement he is involved in, learning mostly from his friends and community activism about climate change and environmental preservation. While peers and community are effective, learning can take place in different contexts too. Viktoria (17) further shared that climate change topics were also discussed within her family, similar to a couple of other participants, primarily through intergenerational learning. She shared that her grandfather cut out newspaper articles on global warming for her, while her grandmother listened to radio news about climate events like wildfires and engaged her in conversations about them. These exchanges seemed to deepen Viktoria’s understanding of environmental issues.

Similarly, Nina (17), from a small border city, participated in an eco-oriented competition organized by schools with two classmates. Their project aimed to reduce food waste by creating animal feed pellets from food scraps using an extruder machine. Their idea reached the finals, and Nina was impressed by the increasing number of eco-focused competitions she has encountered. Recently, she also shared attending a five-day ecology camp in Western Bulgaria with seven other students.

Anahit (18), from a coastal city and a wealthy family, attended a highly competitive and well-regarded foreign language school. She noted that during the 10th and 11th grades, she specialized in history, geography, geopolitics, political science, economics, and sociology, with mathematics as a secondary focus. At school, climate change was explored through various subjects, reflecting its multifaceted nature. Additionally, she gained insights into the systemic aspects of climate change through a Climate Fresk project organized by her teachers. This collaborative workshop, promoted by a French NGO, focused on the fundamental science behind climate change and empowered participants to take sustainable action. Anahit reflected: “In fact, what the Climate Fresk shows us is that there is not one thing to blame, and everything is so tied… what is an effect can actually be the cause, shall we say…”

While schools are a primary venue for learning about climate change, student engagement varies. Lidia (19), from the Black Sea region, illustrated this disparity. She noted that although her school extensively covered climate change and nature conservation, her classmates showed limited interest:

“In our civic education classes, we talk a lot about political, climate-related, and various issues. Our class focuses on biology and geography, and there are many related events and presentations… However, despite these efforts, we are left with about 10 out of 17 classmates. They are now more interested in other activities, like prom… I also don’t frequently seek out such information online because I mostly use my phone for gaming and chatting with friends”.

This reflects a broader trend where student interest in climate-related topics can be minimal despite the wealth of information available through both formal education and social media. For example, Izabela (15), from South Bulgaria, exemplified how engaging social media content can drive young people to take proactive steps toward environmental preservation. She recalled a YouTube video she watched at the age of seven that significantly influenced her actions. The video contrasted the state of the planet in 2017 with predictions for 2030, showing a stark deterioration. The emotional impact of this video prompted her and her peers to organize clean-up activities in their community, gathering garbage with bags and gloves. Izabela reflected: “We were probably seven years old, crying when we watched this. After seeing the video, we gathered 20 children and collected a lot of plastic waste from the yard”.

Young people’s extensive engagement with social media enables them to interact with influencers and form parasocial relationships, shaping their understanding of climate issues (Knupfer et al., 2023). Moreover, the wider web of activism challenges the dichotomy between the online and offline realms, reflecting a continuum of emotions related to climate change—such as eco-anxiety, grief, joy, and hope—across these spaces (Chiew et al., 2024; Bowman et al., 2023).

While participants generally reported exposure to internet content on planetary issues (such as ocean pollution, major wildfires, or the extinction of polar animals) and expressed concern about the effects of the climate crisis, only a few mentioned influencers as primary sources of information. For example, Emil (17), a foster care recipient, cited a famous Bulgarian influencer with over a million followers on YouTube as his main source of information on climate change and sustainable living: “Well, a YouTuber, who is the most well-known YouTuber in Bulgaria, literally has over 1 million followers on YouTube; nobody else in Bulgaria has that much”.

4.2.2. Hybrid Learning Through Urban and Rural Environmental Experiences

Previous studies have demonstrated that exposure to various environments, mobility backgrounds, and travel experiences play a critical role in shaping young people’s environmental identities. The urban–rural divide significantly impacts lifestyle choices, including the way individuals relate to the natural world (Firinci Orman & Demiral, 2023). Most participants had experienced some form of mobility, whether moving between neighborhoods, cities, or counties, often from small towns to larger cities, or vice versa. They also reported engaging in touristic trips, both within and outside Bulgaria, further enriching their environmental awareness.

Participants’ connections to natural environments were often mediated by semi-traditional lifestyles that emphasized consumption of locally sourced, culturally significant products. These ties were maintained through relationships with elderly relatives living in rural areas or local businesses, reflecting the interconnectedness of urban and rural experiences. This dynamic seemed to shape some participants’ food consumption practices and fostered a closer relationship with nature and their communities, contributing to their environmental identities (Firinci Orman et al., n.d.).

Urban and rural environmental contexts appear to play a substantial role in the eco-literacy of young people. For instance, Daniel (15), who lives in a city, shared how he regularly visited his family’s village, where he enjoyed boating on dams and gardening with his father. He also mentioned purchasing eggs and milk from local villagers. Despite his active urban lifestyle, which included sports activities and trips to natural sites, Daniel expressed skepticism about the city’s waste management practices. He was particularly concerned about how waste, initially sorted into separate recycling bins, seemed to end up being mixed together after collection, reducing the perceived effectiveness of his environmental efforts:

“I saw them all come together… How should they be divided, collecting them in one place? I don’t know, maybe they have some other way of sorting them after that, but… A little bit of meaning is lost from being in three different places; I don’t see any sense in it. Yeah, what’s the point if they’re going to put them together later?”

Mihail (12) provided a contrasting perspective from the rural life environment, having moved from a city in northern Bulgaria to a nearby village. He described his village environment as cleaner, more pleasant, and more natural than the city, where he enjoyed walking in the groves, albeit with some fear of snakes. Mihail’s understanding of the climate crisis stemmed primarily from videos on Instagram and other social media platforms, despite his rural lifestyle, which included helping his mother and grandmother with gardening and spending time with his cousins. Although his online activities were heavily influenced by K-Pop culture, he remained concerned about environmental issues, especially after watching videos about plastic pollution and the melting ice in Antarctica:

“I don’t like it when people pollute… When the ice melts… Antarctica may soon melt. The animals there may no longer live. Also, if Antarctica melts, something terrible could happen to the entire planet”.

Though the experiences of participants like Daniel and Mihail are unique, some commonalities emerged across the sample. Nearly half of the participants mentioned that their family’s consumption practices involved locally sourced products from rural areas, reflecting a conscious effort toward environmental preservation. Similarly, many participants had direct familial connections to rural areas, often visiting elderly relatives living in the countryside. Additionally, a few participants mentioned spending holidays in natural settings within Bulgaria, such as mountains and rivers, reinforcing their connection to nature.

Interestingly, a similar trend appeared regarding fashion consumption. While five participants reported buying fast fashion brands or shopping on affordable online platforms like Shein, only two mentioned buying second-hand clothing or exchanging clothes with relatives. This pattern may be influenced by purchasing power, but it highlights the hybrid nature of young people’s environmental practices in Bulgaria, where connections to nature and urban consumer habits coexist.

When discussing sustainability issues, participants frequently raised concerns about waste management, especially in larger cities. Another recurring theme was the impact of urban development, particularly the ongoing construction of new residential areas driven by internal migration. These factors illustrate the hybrid spatial experiences of young people in Bulgaria, who, despite living in a developing country, maintain close ties to both nature and modern urban lifestyles.

5. Conclusions

This research addresses the biases in the existing literature, which often prioritizes Global North contexts and focuses primarily on public climate activism, frequently overlooking the experiences of marginalized youth from underprivileged regions (Neas et al., 2022; Karsgaard & Shultz, 2022). Given the limited literature on activism in post-communist countries, this study contributes to understanding youth activism in these contexts by examining how young people perform environmental engagement in their everyday lives. By centering on the environmental identities, political participation, and eco-literacy of Bulgarian youth, it enhances the growing field of everyday climate change activism. This study highlights how these young individuals perform their environmental identities within the unique framework of a post-communist welfare regime, living in a developing economy that is deeply embedded in consumer culture while grappling with global climate challenges.

By examining their lived citizenship (Kallio, 2018; Kallio et al., 2020; Firinci Orman & Demiral, 2023) and often-overlooked forms of activism (Firinci Orman, 2022, 2023), this research shows that environmental engagement among young Bulgarians is far from uniform. Their motivations, aspirations, and understandings of environmental responsibility vary widely. Through an in-depth analysis of geo-social data through performative citizenship lenses, this study demonstrates that young people’s everyday activism is intricately linked to their eco-literacy levels and political participation modes, reflecting their environmental awareness, pro-environmental attitudes, advocacy, activism, and sustainable behaviors. These actions are frequently tied to their consumer habits and their responses to the climate crisis.

The findings further reveal that young people’s environmental citizenship and activism are learned and enacted in liminal spaces—where the boundaries between online–offline and urban–rural contexts blur—shaping their political positioning and performative identities. This blurring of contexts influences how they navigate their identities as environmental subjects, both as consumers and as stewards of the environment.

Moreover, this study underscores the structural inequalities facing young people in Bulgaria, such as the high costs of climate protection, inadequate municipal services, poor infrastructure, and insufficient waste management, all of which disadvantage the country’s ability to address environmental challenges (Drieschova, 2024). As a post-communist nation, Bulgaria confronts challenges distinct from those in Western democracies and wealthier countries. For instance, young Bulgarians appear to be less impacted by the “Greta effect” or the protest-oriented discourse often seen in social media activism (see Mede & Schroeder, 2024). This presents an interesting area for further research. Nevertheless, the majority of participants reported learning about climate change predominantly through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, followed by traditional education channels, suggesting that the internet and digital content function as informal public pedagogy (see Firinci Orman, 2024).

Significantly, regardless of how young people expressed their environmental identities, most displayed care for the environment, engaging in small but meaningful everyday actions. This resonates with global studies, such as Hickman et al. (2021), which found that most young people feel anxious, powerless, and emotionally affected by climate change, with half experiencing feelings of sadness, anger, and guilt. In contrast, traditional educational frameworks often overlook the diverse modes of youth participation and the ways in which young people perform their environmental citizenship, including everyday activism, regardless of their involvement in formal structures or climate movements (Kettunen, 2021). Educators should address this gap by supporting young people’s efforts through meaningful learning environments that draw on socio-spatial realities and lived experiences (Firinci Orman, 2024, 2025). By fostering a collective sense of everyday activism and recognizing individual contributions through their eco-literate worldviews, education can help scale personal actions into broader social change.

While the small sample size of this study limits the generalizability of its findings, its inclusion of diverse participants from various ethnic, class, mobility, and religious backgrounds offers valuable insights into the environmental identities of young people in Bulgaria. By amplifying the voices of marginalized youth, this research sheds light on their agency and underscores the significance of localized, everyday forms of activism. Though not always visible on the global stage, these actions are vital in terms of responding to environmental challenges in underexplored regions.

The implications of this study’s results extend beyond the Bulgarian context, highlighting the value of the performative framework in researching underexplored settings. This approach, combined with the bottom-up exploration enabled by the geo-social methodology, provides in-depth, rich data on young people’s lived experiences, particularly their everyday climate activism performances and eco-literate worldviews. This is especially relevant for studying youth in non-wealthy societies, where activism often unfolds in less formal and less visible ways. While Bulgaria’s context possibly differs in many ways from that of other Eastern European youth, this study also offers insights into how liminal spaces—shaped by the transitional state of both youth and the post-communist society—mirror and influence young people’s political positioning. These results pave the way for future research into how youth in similar contexts navigate their environmental identities and agency.