Envisioning EnvironMental Wellness: From Eco-anxiety to Eco-compassion

Trinity College students, faculty and staff, along with students and academics across environmental sectors, healthcare professionals, social change makers, mental health professionals and climate activists all gathered for the Envisioning EnvironMental Wellness symposium on February 7, 2025. This event was hosted by the Integrated Sustainability Initiative of Trinity College, the School of the Environment, and the Buddhism Psychology and Mental Health program, and addressed pressing issues of climate anxiety, eco-anxiety, critical hope and nature deficit.

Honour Stahl and Kate Beshiri, who supported the organization of the symposium, provide their reflections and share their learning below. A snapshot of the symposium are displayed in the photo gallery below (Photos by Kaisa Kasekamp).

Honour Stahl

Events and Outreach Coordinator, Trinity College’s Integrated Sustainability Initiative, and candidate, Master of Environment and Sustainability, School of the Environment

Water and Interconnection: Opening Mindfulness and Indigenous Perspectives

The afternoon began with a reflection on Land and Indigenous perspectives with Mikayla Redden, an Anishinaabekwe Anglo settler and member of Curve Lake First Nation. She invited audience members to reflect on the significance of water and our interdependence with the element, drawing on themes of stewardship, care and reverence. As an Anishinaabekwe woman, she discussed her own tendency to assume multiple vantage points in the room – a bird’s eye – to bring many perspectives into balance; a skill necessary for reimagining our relationship to ourselves, our communities and the natural world of which we are a part.

Elli Weisbaum and Lauren Rego wove these threads into their opening mindfulness practice where audience members were invited to touch qualities of the natural environment within themselves: strength as in a mountain; fluidity as in water; freshness as in a flower. This was a beautiful opportunity to set intentions for the day and solidify themes of interconnection.

From Eco-Anxiety to Eco-Compassion: Student and Researcher Panel

The panel was comprised of experts in the field including Britt Wray, Author of Generation Dread; Amy Mui, Founder of the EcoHope project; and Swelen Andari, CAMH Director of Climate Resilience & Youth Mental Health. They were accompanied by students: Mallory Furlong, Lizramona Mwakitwange and Tariq Harney who have been on the ground and engaged with these topics throughout their undergraduate, graduate work and environmental activism.

Moderated by Professor Nicole Spiegelaar, each panelist framed the ecological and mental health crisis through their own experience as well as through evidence-based research. Panelists characterized the range of eco-emotions from anxiety and grief, to confusion and overwhelm. Students and researchers shared their nuanced, lived experience of eco-anxiety and spoke of their own “awakening” moments whereby they each were catalysed into action.

Britt Wray wove together the panelist’s experiences and current research, reminding audience members that while the term “eco-anxiety” or “climate anxiety” is a widely experienced phenomenon, it is not a “disorder” or problem to be solved within the eco-anxious person; rather, it is an accurate and acceptable response to an existential crisis such as climate change. Instead, she offers us an alternative term: “climate-compassion,” which honours our natural human response to desire a more sustainable, healthy future.

Finally, panelists accentuated the need for self-care and discernment when approaching these topics that can easily become all-consuming, urging youth particularly to set the issues down when they can in order to realize other aspirations and joys. However, they also advocated for more active and critical hope from the whole population. Hope was referred to often, not as a passive or isolated experience but as a community-driven, engaged experience that naturally occurs when actions are taken to create the future we are hoping for. Panelists and audience members described this as a relational crisis that calls for a type of community that was envisioned in the second session.

Imagining Sustainable Futures: A Workshop with Julius Lindsay

In the afternoon, audience members participated in reimagining our collective future with sustainability futurist, Julius Lindsay. This interactive learning opportunity allowed for audience members to break into small groups to both deconstruct assumptions of our current mindsets, and work with panelists to co-design a new healthy, sustainable future that engages pathways towards ecological and emotional resiliency.

Observing the many ways a diverse audience engages with future planning was both inspiring and educational, bringing back themes discussed at the outset of the day around taking multiple vantage points both in the room and, in this session, throughout time. Having the opportunity at this event to not only hear from expert and student panelists, but to engage in collective future building allowed for attendees to exercise eco-compassion and experience the joy of active hope with each other.

Kate Beshiri

Trinity College Student

Panel Discussion

As a student, I appreciated the opportunity to hear an intergenerational discussion on topics of eco-anxiety and environmental wellness. I heard my own concerns reflected in the student panellists’ responses, which was a good reminder that I am not navigating these concerns alone. The researchers’ responses, especially regarding strategies for coping with eco-anxiety, were inspiring and not only gave me hope for the future, but reminded me how to hope, and actively create, a better future. What really resonated with me from the panel discussion was the importance of community and self-care.

Envisioning Session

With its focus on imagination, discussion and intersectionality, the Envisioning Session gave me the opportunity to think about the future of sustainability and mental wellness in a interactive and engaging way. My favourite part was having the opportunity to talk to the other participants, who had a wide range of academic and life experiences, creating a unique space to think about different futures.

Student-Led Parallel Sessions

The student-led parallel sessions provided a hands-on way to engage with the topics discussed throughout the day. U of T Bees collaborated with the Buddhism Psychology and Mental Health program to run a session that involved candle and beeswax wrap making, as well as an embodied mindfulness practice. The Trinity College Environmental Society ran a paper making event, which I attended. I thoroughly enjoyed making paper from scratch, as it created an opportunity to slow down, do something creative, and appreciate the many ways that everyday items, like paper, are connected to the Earth.

Categories: College News; Faculty & Staff; Student News; Sustainability