BPS Cross-Network Climate Emergency and Psychology Engagement Event: Establishing the priorities for Psychology
- Social and behavioural
About
The climate emergency is arguably the greatest global challenge of our time and scientists are responding by focusing their studies on understanding climate change, sustainable solutions, and mitigation strategies. Psychology, with its wide-ranging focus spanning individual, collective, political, and societal behaviours, cognitions, and health outcomes, is ideally placed to contribute to tackling the climate emergency.
In order to contribute to this process, the following member networks within the BPS:
- Social Psychology Section
- Political Psychology Section
- Qualitative Methods in Psychology
- Community Psychology Section
In association with the Afro-Asian Critical Psychology Network have put together this engagement and agenda-setting event. The event will include short 'primer' talks on the mental health impact of climate change; global perspectives and inequalities; coping with climate change disasters and emergencies; barriers and facilitators to climate engagement; political engagement and power dynamics; and collective action and social change.
Following discussion and engagement sessions related to each topic, involving researchers and experts inside and outside of psychology, the ultimate aim of the event will be to produce a series of co-produced priorities for psychology in helping tackle the climate emergency. The final identified priorities will be collated and transformed into an event report for dissemination. Attendance is free and interaction is essential, so please join us for what is sure to be an interesting and engaging event for all those passionate about climate issues and psychology.
This is a Free of Charge event for all.
Please note, website registration is needed to register for the event, but BPS membership is not required.
Speakers
Caroline Hickman
Caroline Hickman has a background in mental health social work and working with community mental health projects. She is an integrative psychosynthesis psychotherapist who studied with Revision & archetypal & cultural psychology with Thiasos qualifying in 2000. She is a lecturer at the University of Bath researching children and young people's emotional responses to climate change in the UK, Brazil, The Maldives, Nigeria & USA for 10 years examining eco- anxiety & distress, eco-empathy, trauma, moral injury and the impact of climate anxiety on relationships. She is co- lead author on a 2021 quantitative global study into 10,000 children & young people's emotions & thoughts about climate change published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
A practicing psychotherapist and member of the Climate Psychology Alliance she has been developing a range of therapeutic approaches to ecological distress including a psychological assessment model for eco-anxiety, and delivered workshops in climate psychology, emotional resilience and mental health internationally.
Garret Barnwell
I am a clinical psychologist in private practice. I work as a psychotherapist, researcher, trainer and community psychology practitioner on environmental and health justice struggles. My research has primarily focused on the psychological dimensions of health and environmental justice issues, including threats against environmental defenders. Lately, I've started writing up clinical case studies and embarking on a book project focusing on chronic illness and health justice issues.
Patrick Devine-Wright
Patrick Devine-Wright is an IPCC Lead Author whose research has been ranked in the world's top 1% of social science according to citation in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. With expertise spanning Environmental Psychology and Human Geography, he conducts research on sustainable energy transitions, with a primary interest in place attachment and public engagement. Patrick is Director of the £6.25m ACCESS (Advancing Capacity in Climate and Environment Social Science) leadership team for environmental social science funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu
Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu is a developmental psychologist by training and a community psychologist by conviction. He has produced ground-breaking work focusing on burning yet sorely neglected issues around the world (e.g., psychosocial consequences of personal debt) and in Turkey (e.g., young people's participation, martyrdom/militarism, for-profit higher education and the decline of universities). As a public scholar, he has contributed to policy debates and worked with labor unions and progressive municipalities in Turkey. He has been writing a Sunday column focused on children's rights and well-being in a daily newspaper in Turkey since 2008.
He has served as president of the European Community Psychology Association and of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict & Violence (Peace Psychology). In 2020, he was awarded the Josephine "Scout" Wollman Fuller Award by Psychologists for Social Responsibility for his work on peace and social justice for children. In 2022, he was awarded the Outstanding Service Award by the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict & Violence (Peace Psychology).
He was full professor of psychology in Istanbul when he was fired in April 2016 for having signed a peace manifesto. In 2017, he was banned from public service for life. Forced to go in exile, he has held visiting positions in Cairo, Macerata, Brussels and Frankfurt. He continues his work at Goethe University Frankfurt a.M.
Sharon Coen
Evangelos Ntontis
Dr Evangelos Ntontis is a lecturer in social psychology at the School of Psychology and Counselling at the Open University. He is interested in group behaviour and the social aspects of everyday life. More specifically, among others he has conducted research on areas such as community and collective responses to disasters and extreme events, the social basis of health and wellbeing, participation in crowds, social movements and mass mobilization. He uses both qualitative and quantitative methods.
Programme
Programme
11:00-11:15: Introductions and agenda setting
11:15 -12:00:
- Mental health outcomes of climate change - Speaker: Ms. Caroline Hickman
- Collective action, increasing voice, and social change - Speaker: Dr Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu
- Global perspectives and inequalities - Speaker: Dr Garret Barnwell
12:00-12:40: Breakout room discussions and feedback sessions
12:40-13:10: Lunch Break
13:10 -13:55:
- Barriers and facilitators of climate engagement - Speaker: Professor Patrick Devine-Wright
- Power dynamics and political engagement - Speaker: Dr Sharon Coen
- Coping with climate disasters and emergencies - Speaker: Dr Evangelos Ntontis
13:55-14:35: Breakout room discussions and feedback session
14:35-15:00: Priority setting and next steps
Contact
If you have any questions, email [email protected]