‘Character and values’ serve as essential guides for individuals to make responsible decisions about global socio-scientific issues such as climate change (Choi et al., 2011).
In the context of socio-scientific issues, three aspects of ‘character and values’ can be defined:
(a) an ecological worldview (embeddedness of humans in the environment),
(b) socio-scientific accountability (taking socio political actions),
(c) social and moral compassion (feeling empathy and respect for others).
These aspects of ‘character and values’ are prerequisites for the responsible 21st-century citizenship.