Children’s Health-Focused Environmental Sensemaking in India

Issued by: Sesame Workshop India Trust

Date: September 2025 

Introduction 

Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit media and educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. Today, Sesame Workshop is an innovative force for change, with a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. We’re present in more than 150 countries, serving vulnerable children through a wide range of media, formal education, and philanthropically funded social impact programs, each grounded in rigorous research and tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve. For more information, please visit www.sesameworkshop.org. 

Sesam Workshop India is conducting research to explore how young children (ages 3–8) understand health-related aspects of climate change, and how caregivers engage with them on these topics. Despite growing evidence of young children’s vulnerability to climate related harms little is known about young children’s perceptions or how media and caregiver interactions support meaningful engagement and intergenerational learning. Given the limited knowledge of how young children understand climate change, particularly the intersections of health and climate, this needs assessment is guided by the following research questions: 

Sensemaking

1. How do children and families make sense of environments and the changes they experience?
2. How do children and families understand links between individual, household, and community health and the environment?
3. What inputs shape children’s and families’ understanding of health and environment, including the role of media?

     a. What is the role of media in constructing these understandings?

Communication

4. How do children and families talk about the health and environment?
5. What drives these conversations?
6. What are the barriers to sustaining those conversations?

Engagement

7. What are the levers and barriers to engaging families with health-focused climate change messaging across diverse distribution platforms and contexts? Sample Size: We request that the children who participate in this study be 3-8-year-olds. Adults who participate should be the child’s primary caregiver. We expect proposals to include a stratified sampling plan that captures this diversity of each country (inclusive of race, SES, and urbanity), though the sampling plan should prioritize urban and rural families in climate-vulnerable regions across India. Timing Final deliverables are expected by January 2026.   The timeline for the study includes three months from November 2025 to January 2026  Submission Instructions Submit proposals by 17^th October 2025 via email to: Narmada.purohit@sesame.org
Email Subject: Proposal for Children’s Sensemaking of the Environment (India) Deliverable timeline:

For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.

Job Email ID:

Narmada.purohit(at)sesame.org

Download Attachment:

RFP- Proposal for children sensemaking of the environment (India ).pdf