We follow new environmental-education research and use useful findings to improve how GSA missions are designed. The research does not prove that Gaia's Secret Agents itself produces a particular outcome. It does, however, give us better reasons for choosing active discovery, achievable action and family participation over another pile of worksheets.
A story should lead somewhere children can act.
A 2025 study of action-based environmental storytelling ran nine workshops across seven primary schools with children aged 7–11. The workshops combined story with practical and experiential activities. Afterwards, children reported enthusiasm for further environmental learning, greater feelings of agency and intentions to take pro-environmental action.
For GSA, that reinforces a core rule: the story is not the finish line. A mission should give the child an achievable next move in the real world.
Children can carry environmental learning into the family.
In the 2025 Let it Bee study, 8–9-year-old children learned about bumblebees and flowering plants through first-hand experiences, while parents were included through home assignments. Parent interviews several months later found that children had enthusiastically shared their knowledge with family, friends and neighbours, and many families had taken pollinator-friendly actions such as planting or conserving flowering plants.
That is why a GSA child is an Agent with knowledge to share, not simply the recipient of an adult lesson.
Parent–child participation matters.
A 2026 study of 1,086 fourth- to sixth-grade primary students examined pro-environmental parent–child interaction. It identified several forms of interaction, including adult guidance, doing things together, behavioural expectations and “reverse interaction” — children influencing adults. In the survey data, stronger environmental parent–child interaction was associated with stronger pro-environmental behaviour, with parental action and nature connection helping explain that relationship.
For GSA, the practical implication is not “parents supervise while children work.” It is to design small moments where families observe, decide, compare or act together — and sometimes let the child lead.
Participation and community connection beat awareness alone.
A 2025 systematic review of school environmental-education strategies found stronger results around integrated projects, participatory activities and school–community connections. The review also highlighted narrative approaches and activities that help students connect environmental ideas with action rather than stopping at information.
For GSA, that supports missions built around a concrete investigation and a realistic action — something a child can actually do at home, in a yard, at a park or on a family outing.
How research becomes a mission
Discover → Do → Notice → Create → Tell someone.
That sequence is a practical GSA design rule. It turns information into an investigation, gives children an achievable action, creates space for careful observation and creativity, and gives the Agent a reason to bring another person into the experience.
Research file
Selected sources informing this page. We prioritise peer-reviewed research and substantive reviews that are relevant to primary-aged children, environmental action, family learning or mission design.
Action-based storytelling and agency
Portus, R., Williams, S.-J., Peklanska, E., Portus, R. & Walmsley, T. (2025). Environmental Education Research, 31(5), 1048–1068.
DOI 10.1080/13504622.2025.2478430Child-to-parent intergenerational learning
Jensvoll, I., Bergan, V. & Killengreen, S. T. (2025). Environmental Education Research.
DOI 10.1080/13504622.2025.2562468Pro-environmental parent–child interaction
Sun, H., Yin, K., Lyu, H. & Diao, J. (2026). Ecopsychology, 18(3), 341–356.
DOI 10.1177/19429347261449429School environmental-education strategies
Ayala Gomez, X. M. & Gomez Bautista, K. V. (2025). Strategies for Improvement in School Environmental Education: A Systematic Review.
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17298893Ready for your first mission?
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