BCAS Episode 6: Eco-Anxiety & Climate Mental Health

Resources based on our climate action recommendations from Episode 6 of the BMSC Climate Action Series: Eco-Anxiety and Climate Mental Health. (Check out @bmscclimate on Instagram, twitter and Facebook for more info!) 1. Check out these amazing eco-anxiety and climate grief resources from Gabrielle. As you go through these, keep in mind that while feelings of anxiety are totally valid and can take time to process, it’s also important to consider our own positionality. What are the resources we have access to, and do other people have the same kinds of resources like time, finances or social support? While the fear of an unlivable future may be universal, it’s experienced differently and can be compounded on across intersectionalities like race, gender, sexual orientation, ability or class. We encourage folks to engage in exploring grief, healing, joy and resilience that works towards collective liberation and climate justice Eco-anxiety resources from Gabrielle: https://drive.google.com/drive/folder... Time article on eco-anxiety: https://time.com/6112146/climate-anxi... Blog: Is climate anxiety a white phenomenon? https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar... 2. While western medical systems adopt programs like Parks Prescriptions, get outside today and spend time in Nature. As Melissa and Jenny indicated, nature is what you perceive it to be. Have a small balcony with plants? A special plant at your desk? A garden you go by on your commute? While you’re at it, take some time to reflect on your relationship to the land and water around you. If you’re a settler in a colonized space, is there a way to start decolonizing your relationship with that Place? Decolonize Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x... Decolonization handbook: https://fpse.ca/sites/default/files/n... Rethinking the Colonial Mentality of Our National Parks: https://thewalrus.ca/rethinking-the-c... 3. Climate healing, resilience, hope and joy can be fostered through action. As COP26 comes to a close this weekend, take a peek at some of the key outcomes of the conference. For those looking for more tangible policy and direction in Canada towards ensuring workers are supported in the necessary clean economy, sign 350 Canada’s petition to legislate the Just Transition Act, and check out these articles on the connections between climate solutions, Land Back and the MMIW crisis as brought to light by Indigeneous land defenders at COP26. Sign the Just Transition Act Petition: https://act.350.org/sign/jt-act/ Nature-based solutions & Land back: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021... MMIW & the resource extraction industry: https://www.indigenousclimateaction.c... Credits: We would like to thank our project partners at The Huu-ay-aht First Nations and Ocean Networks Canada for their contributions to this series, in addition to Dr. John Reynolds and Em Lim for making this episode possible. This initiative is funded in part by the Government of Canada.