Eco-anxiety and Hope

In this blog, I give a brief overview of the many initiatives that have been taken in Finland since 2017. I have personally taken part in many of these efforts. For the initial history of eco-anxiety discourse in Finland, please see this another text . A news story is also available. (Version 7.7.2020: basic information added. More to come.) Education Many initiatives have been taken, such as the “Hope and action” – project , which has developed activities for encountering ecological emotions and for increasing agency. Ecological emotions are finding their way into Finnish curriculums . There has been increasing discussion in environmental education (and sustainability education) about emotions and affect . Social and health sectors Awareness of eco-anxiety and climate anxiety is steadily growing, but much still needs to be done. Many health professionals distance themselves from eco-anxiety and/or see it mainly as pathological. On the other hand, many organizations ...

In brief The exercise enables people to create a mind map of their own ecological emotions (or emotions related to broader sustainability issues). A brief list of emotion words is used in support of the activity. Topics Very often we have used this exercise with a focus on climate change emotions (in brief: climate emotions). However, the mind map tool can be used with many framings. It can be drawn in relation to a specific issue of concern, such as a wildfire or flood that is causing distress. Naturally it can also be used for non-ecological issues, such as emotions about a pandemic. To whom? The major group that we have used this with is educators, but the exercise can be used with people of different age and profession. With the educators, the aim is to increase their emotional skills and also to enable the possibility that they would offer this exercise to their students. As with all emotional exercises, it is important for the educator to try this exercise first o...