People regularly ask me: why focus on grief, when it’s the time for outrage and action? I answer by nodding, and then trying to explain how grief and passionate resistance are connected in the midst of socio-ecological crisis. Remembrance is work of grief, and remembrance keeps up the struggle against injustice.
There’s both local and global dimensions in ecological grief and grievance. Sometimes there are acute losses which sadness helps us to engage with. Tears reconnect us with Earth.
In the background, there’s the great change: from the age of cheap oil into another age. Many things that people from industrialized societies have taken for granted need to change. But change and letting go are difficult, and there’s a major fight going on, based on efforts to deny the evident need for transformation.
We need safe spaces for sorrow. It is a long process of reconstructing our identities, belief systems, roles in society, and practices. Robert Neimeyer and colleagues call this “meaning reconstruction”, and it requires re-telling of our stories.
For this multifaceted work, the new materials prepared by me, Anya Kamenetz, Sarah Newman and others, offer words, practices, and ideas. The videos by different people bring testimonies of various ways that ecological / climate / sociopolitical grief plays out in their lives. I hope that they’re useful for you, too; and if so, please spread the word. We’d also love to hear about your experiences.
The written resources include:
– A grief guide
– Images of types of loss and grief
– Activities
– Tip sheet for parents and educators
For the research behind the materials, see my article Ecological Sorrow from 2024. I hope you’ll find the materials useful!
Panu and many members of the collaborative which produced the webpage www.ecoanxietyprocess.com and the videos therein, will be speaking at a webinar Friday 16th May. Hosted by Isaias Hernandez (QueerBrownVegan).
Join us for an intimate and powerful gathering that explores the deep intersections of climate change, mental health, and storytelling. Together, we’ll unpack the emotional toll of the climate crisis and spotlight the creative ways communities are responding through care, culture, and connection.
The event also includes a private screening of How Are You, Really, a forthcoming documentary, and The Dance: Living with Eco-Anxiety, a short animated film, alongside a small segment of Teaching Climate Together’s Climate Emotions Episode.
Space is limited. We invite you to join us in honoring the emotional layers of this work.
This event has been generously supported by @Nessling Foundation, @University of Helsinki, @Stranded Astronaut, @Queer Brown Vegan
Nuori toimittaja Eveliina Lempiäinen haastatteli Panua ympäristötunteisiin liittyen ja osallistui Kadonneiden lajien muistopäivään Helsingissä marraskuun lopulla. Lehtijuttu sisältää syvälleluotaavaa omaa pohdintaa sekä yhteiskunnallisten ilmiöiden pohdiskelua. Saatavilla Ylioppilaslehden paperinumerossa sekä netissä.
After a long while, Panu is travelling to the US to give talks and participate in conferences. On Friday 28th February, there’s an event in Charlottesville which is open to the public:
Panu sometimes travels for conferences and meetings, because IRL encounters between people are so special. In Mid-December, he spent a week in Northern Italy, due to a keynote speaker invitation by University of Parma and their project on Habits and environmental issues. Panu spoke about the complexity of habits in relation to eco-emotions: people can form various kinds of habits in connection to what they feel about the ecological crisis. Some habits have good consequences, while other habits help people to stay overly distanced from “ecological reality”. One of the main organizers, Ph.D. student Giovanni Mariotti, works on emotional regulation and ecological issues. Dr. Ana Honnacker, another speaker, shares many interests with Panu on eco-emotions, grief, ritual, and more-than-humans.
Many lovely meetings and encounters ensued. In Milan, Panu met with many Italians who work with climate emotions and climate anxiety. Dr. Matteo Innocenti is a well-known author in Italy about “ecoansia”, and he is the chairperson of the Italian Climate Anxiety Association: a network of psychological professionals who support people with climate anxiety. Chiara Comerci serves as an intern in this work, and they and Panu had in-depth discussions about various impacts of the ecological crisis. For example, in Italy, there has been major floods, intensified by climate change, and an adequate societal response is lacking.
It was delightful to meet in person with Dr. Camilla Gamba, a psychotherapist who has participated with Panu to Dr. Thomas Doherty’s online groups about environmentally aware counseling, and her close colleague in eco-emotion work, Dr. Lucia Tecuta. Camilla and Lucia facilitate workshops for various audiences, and it was most interesting to compare experiences and methods in such work.
Naturally, art is part of travelling in Italy, and highlights on that front included seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s La Scapigliata in the National Gallery in Parma.
The collaborative project which Panu has been leading in 2024, with funding from the Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation, has released two of the three films it has produced. They are available at www.ecoanxietyprocess.com
The Dance: Living with Eco-anxiety is a captivating and partly mysterious animated short film about people’s journeys with eco-anxiety.
Teaching Climate Together with Dr. Panu Pihkala is an in-depth discussion and interview between Isaias Hernandez (QueerBrownVegan) and Panu. It has spared lovely discussion in various social media channels – be sure to check out Isaias’ work!
