EcoAI Framework

Research & Findings

Empirical validation of the EcoAI Index across 601 upper-secondary students in southern Italy — a mixed-methods sequential design.

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1

Research Design

This research set out to answer a concrete question: do young people in Italian secondary schools have the competences to navigate a world shaped by both ecological crisis and artificial intelligence? To find out, we built and tested a measurement tool, the EcoAI Index, with over 600 students.

1

Exploratory Phase — 403 students

Ariano Irpino, May–June 2025. We administered a first questionnaire to understand how students relate to sustainability and AI. We then grouped them into clusters based on their responses.

2

Confirmatory Phase — 198 students

A refined questionnaire was administered to a second sample. This phase statistically confirmed the five dimensions of the EcoAI Index and their relationships.

Survey Q1 — Exploratory N = 403

Students were grouped by how they approach sustainability and AI. Three distinct profiles emerged for each theme.

Sustainability clusters

Distant from sustainability30.5%
Sensitive and oriented36.0%
Engaged and eco-aware33.5%

AI clusters

Pragmatic enthusiasts47.7%
Detached27.1%
Critical and ambivalent25.1%
Survey Q2 — Confirmatory N = 198

The five-dimension model was statistically confirmed. The structure holds consistently across genders and school years.

✓ Configural invariance confirmed across gender and school year
✓ Metric invariance confirmed
✓ Structural chain confirmed: INFO → VAL/AATI → AGY → EPAS
2

The Five EcoAI Index Dimensions

The EcoAI Index is a measurement tool that captures five distinct aspects of eco-digital competence, from how well students evaluate online information to whether they feel part of a broader human-technology-nature network. Each dimension is scored on a 1–5 scale.
INFO

Eco-Digital Information Literacy

How well students search for, evaluate, and critically use information on environmental and civic issues through digital sources.

AATI

AI Awareness & Critical Attitudes

Understanding how algorithms work, recognizing AI bias, and developing a critical but informed stance toward AI systems.

VAL

Eco-Civic Values

A personal commitment to sustainability, collective environmental responsibility, and civic justice as values that guide eco-digital behaviour.

AGY

Eco-Digital Civic Agency

The actual willingness and capacity to act as a responsible citizen in eco-digital contexts, feeling capable of making a difference.

EPAS

Eco-Posthuman Agency Scale

A sense of belonging to wider networks, recognizing oneself as part of an interconnected human-technology-nature system beyond the individual dimension alone.

3

Structural Model

The five dimensions are connected to form a chain. Information literacy builds the foundation, shaping how students think about AI and their values, which in turn drives real civic action and ultimately a deeper sense of ecological identity.
INFO Information
Literacy
β=0.55
AATI AI
Attitudes
VAL Civic
Values
β=0.42
β=0.30
AGY Civic
Agency
β=0.45
EPAS Eco-Posthuman
Agency

Information competences (INFO) feed critical awareness of AI and civic values, which together build the capacity to act and ultimately form an integrated ecological identity.

4

Eco-Index Profiles

Three student profiles: based on their total EcoAI Index score, students were divided into three groups. The chart below lets you explore how each group scores on each dimension and spot where the gaps are.
Low class (n≈66)
Mid class (n≈66)
High class (n≈66)
Note on VAL: even students in the lowest class score above the midpoint of the scale (3.09 out of 5). Eco-civic values appear widespread among young people, yet they do not automatically translate into critical awareness or concrete capacity to act.

Cite this research

Rubino, D. (2025). Eco-Digital Posthumanism: Eco-Digital Co-Responsible Agency, Genealogy and Research Agenda. SocArXiv. ResearchGate