The Eco‐Digital Dimension in Children's and Young Adult Literature for Early Childhood and Primary Teacher Education: An Exploratory Inquiry

ABSTRACT Although ecological topics are gaining increasing relevance in children's and young adult literature, the intersection between environmental sustainability and digital media remains under‐researched. The two main research questions of this qualitative exploratory study are: how the eco‐digital dimension manifests within contemporary children's and young adult literature formats (RQ1), and how an eco‐digital webbook format can be integrated into initial teacher education for kindergarten and primary school (RQ2). The theoretical framework combines eco‐digital pedagogy and utopia as a method with a posthuman and non‐anthropocentric reading approach, analysing how intercreativity and transmedia architectures redefine the literary experience. Methodologically, a critical‐hermeneutic and ecocritical analysis of eco‐digital artefacts (RQ1) with Practitioner Research within children's literature workshops in a Primary Teacher Education degree course (RQ2) is combined. Possible directions for future research developments in the field are outlined.