Managing eco-anxiety

Our Museums for Climate Justice campaign supports museums in tackling the climate and ecological crisis. We’re empowering museums to be bold and brave in taking action, putting forward a systems change approach which focuses on climate and social justice.

Julie’s Bicycle explains that climate justice “frames the climate crisis as an ethical, social, environmental and political issue, rather than one that is purely scientific or physical”. We know that to take meaningful action, we cannot treat the climate and ecological crisis as a standalone issue.

The reality of the climate crisis and social injustice can be difficult and may lead to intense emotional responses.

Here are some helpful tips on how you might manage feelings of eco-anxiety.

What is eco-anxiety?

The dictionary definition of eco-anxiety is “extreme worry about current and future harm to the environment caused by human activity and climate change.”

Eco-anxiety can often make you feel powerless, guilty and overwhelmed. Although it is not currently considered a diagnosable condition, it can lead to anxiety disorders and depression.

Coping with eco-anxiety

• Acknowledge that your feelings are a perfectly normal reaction to climate injustice. Take a look at the resource on understanding your emotions on the Wellbeing Hub – this may help you articulate exactly how you are feeling.
• Know that you’re not alone and many others will be feeling the same as you. It may help to reach out to family, friends and colleagues to talk through the issues.
• Where you feel able, share your feelings, responses and/or potential symptoms with your line manager, colleagues or client, so they can support you as effectively as possible.
• Take a break from social media and make time to connect with nature or practice mindfulness.
• If you feel able, you may want to learn more about the issues. Your learning can be supported by our online learning course Taking Action on Climate Justice.
• Take action. Have a look at the MA climate resources bank for ideas of how you can make an impact.
• Know that it’s not too late and many worst-case scenarios are not inevitable. Visit the #NotTooLate campaign website to find out more.
• If your anxiety is severe, you should consider speaking to a professional therapist or counsellor. Some employers have employee assistance programmes which offer counselling.

For line and project managers: supporting your team with eco-anxiety

• Understand that it’s not your job to fix the problem but that you can create a supportive and inclusive space to support your team in managing their eco-anxiety.
• Make space for your team to be able to discuss eco-anxiety with you and each other. This could be as simple as establishing wellbeing as a regular agenda item, discussing it as part of 1:1s or appraisals, or capitalising on observance weeks and days – for example Scottish Climate Week or Earth Day.
• Remember that your team may include remote workers, volunteers and freelancers, all of whom may be less visible in your day-to-day interactions. You may wish to pay specific attention to their needs as part of your duty of care.
• Be aware that the impacts of the climate crisis won’t impact everyone in your team equally. Julie’s Bicycle explains that “the effects of climate change are unevenly distributed on local, national and global levels”.
• Introduce climate initiatives in your workplace. For example, the Brunel Museum has introduced additional travel days for staff travelling sustainably while on holiday.
• Provide or facilitate time for your teams to volunteer within organisations active in the climate space, enabling them to make a contribution to address climate injustice.
• Provide carbon literacy training to all staff to improve understanding of the climate crisis. Take a look at the Carbon Literacy Toolkit for Museums which was developed as part of the Roots & Branches project.
• Build wellbeing support into projects related to climate justice. This can be achieved by undertaking a risk assessment for any projects, asking individuals to complete an individual wellbeing plan, adjusting a working pattern to enable ‘recovery’ from emotionally-laden work, or appointing a healthcare professional as part of the project team to support the wellbeing of those involved.

Supporting communities in managing eco-anxiety

• Provide spaces for audiences to reflect on and discuss climate issues, such as through setting up a climate café. Creating spaces for community, care and justice was covered in Museums Journal.
• Encourage your audiences to take climate action by developing programmes and exhibitions that reference climate injustice and how the world is changing. You can find inspiration by looking at the case studies on our climate justice webpage.
• Work in partnership with your communities to create regenerative change in the local area. The Fitzwilliam Museum works to find community groups and other third parties who can make use of any surplus exhibition construction materials that either they or exhibition contractors cannot immediately re-use. Past recipients have included theatre groups, arts and crafts groups and community festivals.
• Encourage biodiversity in any green spaces at your museum and support the local community to use these spaces. The Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum’s biodiversity community garden offers visitors a space to enjoy the outdoors while supporting wildlife. Read more on Museums Galleries Scotland’s website.
• If you can grow food, then consider sharing the produce with the community. The sharing of food is a great way to build a community around climate.

Additional resources