Comunicación, participación ciudadana y activismo climático: una revisión bibliométrica y narrativa de la investigación científica (2014-2024)

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2026.29.s2.1

Palabras clave:

Comunicación climática, participación ciudadana, activismo climático, plataformas digitales, perspectivas del Sur Global

Resumen

La comunicación en el activismo climático y la participación ciudadana han cobrado relevancia en la última década, impulsadas por la emergencia climática global y el auge de las plataformas digitales como espacios clave para la movilización. Este estudio analiza la evolución de la investigación científica sobre estos temas entre 2014 y 2024, un periodo marcado por momentos clave como el Acuerdo de París y el surgimiento de movimientos como Fridays for Future y Extinction Rebellion. A partir de una revisión bibliométrica y narrativa de 255 artículos revisados por pares de las bases de datos WOS, Scopus y SciELO, el estudio mapea tendencias en el volumen de publicaciones, los patrones de colaboración y el enfoque temático. La metodología combina el análisis cuantitativo de indicadores bibliométricos con una revisión narrativa de títulos y resúmenes para identificar los temas dominantes. Los resultados muestran un crecimiento sostenido en el campo, con una fuerte concentración de publicaciones en inglés y de autores afiliados a instituciones del Norte Global, lo que resalta asimetrías estructurales persistentes. La literatura se centra en el encuadre, el activismo juvenil, las plataformas digitales y las narrativas emocionales, especialmente las relacionadas con la identidad y la ansiedad climática. Los activistas utilizan estrategias creativas y participativas: arte, prácticas de estilo de vida, memes y contenido cocreado en plataformas como Instagram, X y TikTok. En cambio, la investigación sobre prácticas de comunicación local, activismo cotidiano, ciencia ciudadana y perspectivas del Sur Global sigue siendo limitada, lo que evidencia una brecha epistémica. Estos hallazgos subrayan tanto la expansión como las limitaciones del campo y señalan la necesidad de futuras investigaciones con un enfoque más diverso de la comunicación, que incluya contextos locales, marcos decoloniales y territorios subrepresentados, para potenciar la agencia ciudadana frente a la crisis climática.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Citas

Abd. Kadir, S. N., MacBride-Stewart, S., & Mohamad, Z. F. (2024). Unpacking place-based narratives: enhancing campus community participation in watershed conservation. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-05-2023-0209

Aldunce, P., Beilin, R., Handmer, J., & Howden, M. (2016). Stakeholder participation in building resilience to disasters in a changing climate. Environmental Hazards, 15(1), 58–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2015.1134427

Anspach, N. M., & Draguljić, G. (2019). Effective advocacy: the psychological mechanisms of environmental issue framing. Environmental Politics, 28(4), 615–638. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2019.1565468

Aria, M., & Cuccurullo, C. (2017). bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. Journal of Informetrics, 11(4), 959–975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2017.08.007

Bourhis, J. (2017). Narrative literature review. In The Sage Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (Vol. 4, pp. 1076–1077). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483381411

Bowman, B. (2019). Imagining future worlds alongside young climate activists: a new framework for research. Fennia, 197(2) 295–305. https://doi.org/10.11143/fennia.85151

Brehm, J., & Gruhl, H. (2024). Increase in concerns about climate change following climate strikes and civil disobedience in Germany. Nature Communications, 15(1), 2916. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46477-4

Calibeo, D. L., & Hindmarsh, R. (2022). From Fake News to Echo-Chambers: On The Limitations of New Media for Environmental Activism in Australia, and “Activist-Responsive Adaptation.” Environmental Communication, 16(4), 490–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2028648

Canon, C. R., Boyle, D. P., & Hepworth, K. J. (2022). Mapping pathways to public understanding of climate science. Public Understanding of Science, 31(6), 766–783. https://doi.org/10.1177/09636625221079149

Castelló, E & Montagut, M. (2019). Framing Forest Fires and Environmental Activism: A Storytelling Contest about Human Intervention in Nature. Communication and Society, 32(4), 291–306. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.32.35433

Castillo-Esparcia, A., Caro-Castaño, L., & Almansa-Martínez, A. (2023). Evolution of digital activism on social media: opportunities and challenges. Profesional de la Información, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2023.may.03

Castro-Gómez, S., Coronil, F., Dussel, E. D., Escobar, A., Lander, E., López Segrera, F., Mignolo, W. D., Moreno, A., & Quijano, A. (2000). La colonialidad del saber: Eurocentrismo y ciencias sociales. Perspectivas latinoamericanas. CLACSO, Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. https://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/14087

Cheon, A. (2020). Advocacy, social movements, and climate change. In Handbook of U.S. Environmental Policy. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788972840.00032

Chewinski, M. (2019). Coordinating Action: NGOs and Grassroots Groups Challenging Canadian Resource Extraction Abroad. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 30(2), 356–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-018-0023-x

Chowdhury, A., Maiti, S. K., & Bhattacharyya, S. (2019). How to communicate climate change ‘impact and solutions’ to vulnerable population of Indian Sundarbans? From theory to practice. SpringerPlus, 5, 1219 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-2816-y

CIRIS. (2020). Global South – North divide. Center for International Research & Innovation Strategy. https://www.ciris.info/learningcenter/global-south-north-divide/

Comunello, F., Mulargia, S., & Parisi, L. (2016). The ‘Proper’ Way to Spread Ideas through Social Media: Exploring the Affordances and Constraints of Different Social Media Platforms as Perceived by Italian Activists. The Sociological Review, 64(3), 515–532. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-954X.12378

Das, B. K., Pandya, M., Chaudhari, S. P., Bhatt, A., & Trivedi, D. (2021). Global Research Trends and Network Visualization on Climate Action: A Bibliometric Study. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 5818. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/5818

Deutloff, J., Held, H., & Lenton, T. M. (2025). High probability of triggering climate tipping points under current policies modestly amplified by Amazon dieback and permafrost thaw. Earth System Dynamics, 16(2), 565–583. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-565-2025

Dickson, M. (2024). Mobilising for change: the role of social movements in advancing climate justice. Round Table, 113(4), 344–360. https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2024.2382559

Doğu, B. (2017). Environment as Politics: Framing the Cerattepe Protest in Twitter. Environmental Communication, 13(5), 617–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2017.1406384

Dombroski, K. (2016). Hybrid activist collectives: reframing mothers’ environmental and caring labour. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 36(9/10), 629–646. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-12-2015-0150

D’Uggento, A. M., Piscitelli, A., Ribecco, N., & Scepi, G. (2023). Perceived climate change risk and global green activism among young people. Statistical Methods & Applications, 32(4), 1167–1195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10260-023-00681-6

Elżbieta, P. (2024). Scientifiques en rébellion: Ethos discursif du scientifique engagé dans la lutte pour le climat. Academic Journal of Modern Philology, (21), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.34616/ajmp.2024.21.7

Escobar, A. (2007). La invención del Tercer Mundo: Construcción y deconstrucción del desarrollo. Fundación Editorial El Perro y la Rana.

Estrella-Ramón, A., Gálvez-Rodríguez, M. del M., & Herrada-Lores, S. (2024). Hashtag activism on Twitter: The effects of who, what, when, and how a tweet is sent for promoting citizens’ engagement with climate change. Communication and the Public, 20570473241279330. https://doi.org/10.1177/20570473241279330

Feldman, H. R. (2020). A rhetorical perspective on youth environmental activism. JCOM, 19(06), C07. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.19060307

Feldman, L., & Hart, P. S. (2016). Using Political Efficacy Messages to Increase Climate Activism: The Mediating Role of Emotions. Science Communication, 38(1), 99–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547015617941

Velmurugan, G., Subashini, R., Saravanabhavan, N., & Sharma, A. K. (2025). The Environmental Impact of Rising Sea Levels on the Global South. International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.857

Ge, R., Xia, Y., Ge, L., Li, F. (2025). Knowledge Graph Analysis in Climate Action Research. Sustainability, 17(1), 371. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17010371

Goessling, H. F., Rackow, T., & Jung, T. (2025). Recent global temperature surge intensified by record-low planetary albedo. Science, 387(6729), 68–73. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adq7280

Golbraikh, V. B. (2021). News Consumption by Members of Virtual Environmental Protest Communities (On the Example of the Conflict Over a Landfill in Arkhangelsk Oblast). Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. https://doi.org/10.17223/15617793/472/7

Groulx, M., Brisbois, M. C., Lemieux, C. J., Winegardner, A., & Fishback, L. A. (2017). A Role for Nature-Based Citizen Science in Promoting Individual and Collective Climate Change Action? A Systematic Review of Learning Outcomes. Science Communication, 39(1), 45–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547016688324

Harmawan, B. N., Ilman, G. M., Pertiwi, V. I., & Bataha, K. (2024). Research trends of collaborative governance in climate change: a bibliometric analysis. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-04-2024-0192

Hautea, S., Parks, P., Takahashi, B., & Zeng, J. (2021). Showing They Care (Or Don’t): Affective Publics and Ambivalent Climate Activism on TikTok. Social Media + Society, 7(2), 20563051211012344. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211012344

Hossain, M. (2018). Grassroots innovation: The state of the art and future perspectives. Technology in Society, 55, 63–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.06.008

Hügel, S., & Davies, A. R. (2020). Public participation, engagement, and climate change adaptation: A review of the research literature. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.645

Jiménez-Castillo, D., & Ortega-Egea, J. M. (2015). Too positive to change? Examining optimism bias as a barrier to media effects on environmental activism. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 43, 216–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.07.004

Jimenez-Luque, A. (2024). Rhetoric as resistance leadership in the ‘buen vivir’ global movement: Framing on social media collective utopias inspired by nature to challenge the status quo. Leadership, 17427150241282539. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427150241282539

Johann, M., Höhnle, L., & Dombrowski, J. (2023). Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users. Media and Communication, 11(3), 226–237. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6658

Karnik Hinks, E., & Rödder, S. (2023). The role of scientific knowledge in Extinction Rebellion’s communication of climate futures. Frontiers in Communication, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1007543

Ki, E. J., Pasadeos, Y., & Ertem-Eray, T. (2019). Growth of public relations research networks: a bibliometric analysis. Journal of Public Relations Research, 31(1–2), 5–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2019.1577739

Kluge, J., Offermann-van Heek, J., & Ziefle, M. (2021). How will I know about local energy projects? A conjoint-analysis of communication preferences in Germany. Energy Research & Social Science, 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102016

Knupfer, H., Neureiter, A., & Jörg Matthes. (2023). From social media diet to public riot? Engagement with “greenfluencers” and young social media users’ environmental activism. Computers in Human Behavior, 139, 107527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107527

Kong, S. (2024). Promoting Waterbird Conservation Behavior: The Effects

of Internet Memes and Co-Creation Engagement on Biodiversity-

Led Sustainability. Sustainability, 16(8), 3215. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su16083215

Kumpu, V. (2022). What is Public Engagement and How Does it Help to Address Climate Change? A Review of Climate Communication Research. Environmental Communication, 16(3), 304–316. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2055601

López Gómez, S., Garzón Molina, I., & Oliveira, A. (2025). Communication, citizen participation and climate activism. A bibliometric and narrative review of scientific research (2014-2024). [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15098099

Matejova, M., & Merkley, E. (2021). Protest Under Uncertainty: Evidence from a Survey Experiment. Environmental Communication, 16(2), 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2021.1974068

Murphy, P. D. (2021). Speaking for the youth, speaking for the planet: Greta Thunberg and the representational politics of eco-celebrity. Popular Communication, 19(3), 193–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2021.1913493

NOAA Climate.gov. (2019). Hot and dry, warm and wet: Summer 2018 extremes in the U.S. Climate Reference Network. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/hot-and-dry-warm-and-wet-summer-2018-extremes-us-climate-reference

Power, S. (2021). Enjoying your beach and cleaning it too: a Grounded Theory Ethnography of enviro-leisure activism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(6), 1438–1457. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1953037

Rafida, A. R. N., & Norailis, A. W. (2024). Foresight of environmental communication literatures: Bibliometric versus ChatGPT. Foresight, 26(5), 966–983. https://doi.org/10.1108/FS-12-2023-0253

Robie, D. (2023). Voice of the Voiceless: The Pacific Media Centre as a Case Study of Academic and Research Advocacy and Activism. Okinawan Journal of Island Studies, 27–52. https://doi.org/10.24564/0002019736

Roche, J., Bell, L., Galvão, C., Golumbic, Y. N., Kloetzer, L., Knoben, N., Laakso, M., Lorke, J., Mannion, G., Massetti, L., Mauchline, A., Pata, K., Ruck, A., Taraba, P., & Winter, S. (2020). Citizen Science, Education, and Learning: Challenges and Opportunities. Frontiers in Sociology, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2020.613814

Romano, L., Russo, C., Carbone, G. A., Clemente, D., Imperatori, C., Fiorilli, C., & Panno, A. (2024). Adolescents’ Climate Anxiety Is Related to Participation in Pro-Environmental Movements Through Social Media Usage: Boys Show Greater Associations Than Girls. Ecopsychology, 16(2), 158–171. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2023.0013

San Cornelio, G., Martorell, S., & Ardèvol, E. (2024). “My goal is to make sustainability mainstream”: emerging visual narratives on the environmental crisis on Instagram. Frontiers in Communication, 8, 1265466. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1265466

Sark, K., & Arnold, S. (2024). Fashion Activism of Extinction Rebellion and Fashion Act Now. Fashion Theory, 28(1), 35–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2024.2320540

Scheuch, E. G., Ortiz, M., Shreedhar, G., & Thomas-Walters, L. (2024). The power of protest in the media: Examining portrayals of climate activism in UK news. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02688-0

Schwegler, C., Landschoff, J., & Rommel, L. (2024). Climate Imaginaries and the Linguistic Construction of Identities on Social Media. Zeitschrift Für Literaturwissenschaft Und Linguistik, 54(3), 393–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41244-024-00348-z

SciELO. (2006). Scientific Electronic Library Online. https://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?script=sci_home&lng=en

Sillig, C. (2022). The role of ideology in grassroots innovation: An application of the arenas of development framework to organic in Europe. Ecological Economics, 191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107252

Skoric, M. M., Zhang, N., Xia, C., & Ling, R. (2024). The Digital Strategies and Efficacy of Environmental Movements in Hong Kong. SAGE Open, 14(2), 21582440241247703. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241247703

Springett, S. (2021). Art-making for political ecology: practice, poetics and activism through enchantment. Continuum, 36(3), 478–494. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2021.2020725

Thackeray, S. J., Robinson, S. A., Smith, P., Bruno, R., Kirschbaum, M. U. F., Bernacchi, C., Byrne, M., Cheung, W., Cotrufo, M. F., Gienapp, P., Hartley, S., Janssens, I., Hefin Jones, T., Kobayashi, K., Luo, Y., Penuelas, J., Sage, R., Suggett, D. J., Way, D., & Long, S. (2020). Civil disobedience movements such as School Strike for the Climate are raising public awareness of the climate change emergency. Global Change Biology, 26(3), 1042–1044. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14978

Thierry, A. (2023). “Heading for Extinction”: The representation of scientific knowledge in Extinction Rebellion’s recruitment talks. Frontiers in Communication, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1237700

Thomas-Walters, L., Scheuch, E. G., Ong, A., & Goldberg, M. H. (2025). The impacts of climate activism. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 63, 101498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101498

Tindall, D. B., & Piggot, G. (2015). Influence of social ties to environmentalists on public climate change perceptions. Nature Climate Change, 5(6), 546–549. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2597

Tsai, C. G., & Pearson, A. R. (2022). Building diverse climate coalitions: The pitfalls and promise of equity- and identity-based messaging. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 8(4), 518–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000336

Tschötschel, R. S., Diamond, E., Howley, S. E., McNally, B., Morris, H. E., Perry, K. E., & Wilhelmsen, M. E. (2025). Public Communication of Climate and Justice: A Scoping Review. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.932

Uldam, J. (2018). Social media visibility: Challenges to activism. Media, Culture & Society, 40(1), 41–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443717704997

UNFCCC. (2016, April 24). Clausura de la Ceremonia de Firma del Acuerdo de París. https://unfccc.int/es/news/clausura-de-la-ceremonia-de-firma-del-acuerdo-de-paris

Van Oers, L. M., Boon, W. P. C., & Moors, E. H. M. (2018). The creation of legitimacy in grassroots organisations: A study of Dutch community-

supported agriculture. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 29, 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2018.04.002

Wang, X., Judge, M., & Steg, L. (2025). Climate action on Twitter: Perceived barriers for actions and actors, and sentiments during COP26. Environmental Research Communications, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad7fbc

Wasserman, S. (1994). Social network analysis : methods and applications (K. Faust, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815478

Westerhoff, L., Sheppard, S. R. J., Mathew Iype, D., Cote, S., & Salter, J. (2018). Social mobilization on climate change and energy: An evaluation of research projects in British Columbia, Canada. Energy Research and Social Science, 46, 368–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.07.022

Zamponi, L., Baukloh, A. C., Bertuzzi, N., Chironi, D., della Porta, D., & Portos, M. (2022). (Water) bottles and (street) barricades: the politicisation of lifestyle-centred action in youth climate strike participation. Journal of Youth Studies, 25(6), 854–875. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2022.2060730

Publicado

2026-03-24

Cómo citar

López Gómez, S., Garzón Molina, I., & Oliveira, A. (2026). Comunicación, participación ciudadana y activismo climático: una revisión bibliométrica y narrativa de la investigación científica (2014-2024). Palabra Clave, 29(s2), e29s21. https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2026.29.s2.1

Datos de los fondos