CLIMATE, ANXIETY, ACTION Project
Kris De Meyer
How do you feel about climate change and what are you doing about it?
The CLIMATE, ANXIETY, ACTION Project is a space in the ON EDGE exhibition where you can contribute to new research about the impact of climate change on our current and future mental health.
Developed by Kris De Meyer from the Department of Neuroimaging at King’s College London, the project explores whether anxiety about climate change fuels action or inaction.
The first phase of the CLIMATE, ANXIETY, ACTION Project is a prototype survey that asks you questions about how climate change makes you feel, and what action, if any, it motivates you to take.
This exhibit is testing these questions to see if they can be used to collect data for new research on the relationships between climate change, anxiety and how we respond.
In the CLIMATE, ANXIETY, ACTION Reading Area in the ON EDGE exhibition, you can read the resources that we consulted and discussed in the development of this project:
Clayton, S. Manning, C.M., Krygsman, K., Speiser, M. (2017). Mental Health and Our Changing Climate[BK1] : Impacts, Implications, and Guidance. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, and ecoAmerica
Hoggett, P. and Randall, R. (2018). Engaging with Climate Change: Comparing the Cultures of Science and Activism. Environmental Values, 27(3), pp.223-243.
Hickman, C., The Conversation. (2019). What psychotherapy can do for the climate and biodiversity crises. [online] Accessed 15 Jul. 2019.
Chambers, G., Sandu, C., Moore, K., Evening Standard. (2019). Eco-anxiety: Do you have climate change anxiety? [online] [Accessed 15 Jul. 2019].
Pearl, M., Vice. (2019). 'Climate Despair' Is Making People Give Up on Life. [online] [Accessed 15 Jul. 2019].
Marshall, G., The Ecologist. (2019). How the Remainers got it so wrong: the lessons of climate change campaigning. [online] [Accessed 30 Jul. 2019].
Grose, A. (2019). The Guardian, How the climate emergency could lead to a mental health crisis. [online] [Accessed 30 Aug. 2019].
Hayes, K., Blashki, G., Wiseman, J., Burke, S. and Reifels, L. (2018). Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 12(1).
About the contributor(s)
Kris De Meyer
Kris De Meyer is a Research Fellow in neuroscience at the Department of Neuroimaging and a Visiting lecturer at the Department of Geography. He specialises in how people become entrenched in their beliefs, how this leads to polarisation in society, and how to overcome this.
Kris works with environmental scientists, policymakers and conservation NGOs to support them in communicating more constructively about controversial environmental topics, such as climate change.
He is a core member of the Challenging Radical Uncertainty in Science, Society and the Environment (CRUISSE) network, funded by the EPSRC, and of the UCL Policy Commission on Communicating Climate Science. He is also the producer of the award-winning documentary, Right Between Your Ears (exploring the neuroscience and psychology of entrenched views), co-creator of children's radio series Climate Explorers, and the participatory theatre piece, The Justice Syndicate.
He regularly speaks on BBC radio and TV about polarisation in society, and why fake news can be so believable.