Trinity College Dublin
38 Music and Climate: A Case Study in Ecomusicological Pedagogy
Dr Jonathan Hodgers
Dr Jonathan Hodgers introduced Music and Climate, a five-credit module launched in 2022 in Trinity’s Department of Music. The course demonstrates how ESD can be embedded through the creative arts, using music as a lens to explore climate change, sustainability, and cultural responses.
With small class sizes of around a dozen students, the module adopts a discussion-based, iterative teaching model with continuous feedback. It is structured around three strands:
- Industry practices – examining sustainability in festivals, green touring, and venue management.
- Musical representations of climate – from protest songs to experimental works evoking environmental instability.
- The industry’s carbon footprint – analysing the environmental costs of physical media and streaming platforms.
Students engage in Socratic seminars, presentations, essays, and viva assessments, building critical thinking and communication skills. The iterative structure ensures each assessment builds on the last, reinforcing deep engagement.
The module aligns naturally with several SDGs, particularly Quality Education (4), Responsible Consumption (12), and Climate Action (13). It also cultivates UNESCO competencies such as systems thinking, anticipatory and normative skills, and self-awareness through group dialogue.
Feedback has been strongly positive, with students particularly struck by the hidden environmental costs of streaming, which challenged their assumptions. Dr Hodgers emphasised that music provides an inherently interdisciplinary space, drawing on humanities, STEM, and business perspectives. By situating climate action within cultural expression, the module empowers students to see sustainability not just as science or policy, but as something deeply embedded in everyday cultural life.
About the author
name: Dr Jonathan Hodgers
institution: Trinity College Dublin
Dr Jonathan Hodgers is a Lecturer in the Department of Music in the School of Creative Arts at Trinity College Dublin.
