Lifelong learning, well-being, and climate justice activism: Exploring social movement learning among Australia’s Knitting Nannas
The participation of older people in social movement learning presents a unique perspective on lifelong learning opportunities and well-aging in later life. Australia’s Knitting Nannas Against Gas and Greed exemplifies how older women have challenged the “double jeopardy of old age” embodied in ageist sexism and become well-regarded anti-coal seam gas environmental activists. This article explores how engagement in environmental activism has fostered a learning ecology, which promotes transformative and emancipatory learning dispositions that benefit well-aging. A significant gap exists in transformative environmental adult educational research in relation to the motivation for and engagement of older women in environmentalism. Drawing on my Ph.D. research, I identify how women acquire environmental and ecological literacy, develop activist skills, and cultivate emancipatory learning dispositions. They benefit from being part of a supportive community of older women, enhancing their quality of life. This phenomenon is referred to as “Nannagogy.”
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