Motivating response/ability towards the ecological emergency

This workshop will be facilitated by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture’s Ecological Emergency and Response/Ability working group. We will begin by sharing the results from a study we conducted on campus about the role emotions play in motivating people towards engagement in climate action. Our qualitative research study asks a) what motivates university students, staff and faculty to engage in climate action initiatives, b) how do students an faculty engaged in cimate action cope with their feelings around climate change, and c) how emotions support motivation or detract motivation from engaging in climate change initiatives. The workshop will then continue with a series of arts-based experiential exercises that encourage attendees’ reflection about their own climate emotions and climate related coping skills. The main objectives for this workshop are : 1- to normalize and validate climate emotions 2- to create a space for introspection around climate emotions and coping skills (this space will be facilitated through experiential exercises that draw from the working group’s expertise in the creative arts therapies) 3- to facilitate a collective exploration around the motivation and barriers for participation in climate initiatives.