Webinar: Climate anxiety and the media: how do we change the story?
Hosted by: The UQ Mental Health in Climate Change Research Network
Alarmist media headlines and fears about climate change are fuelling extreme emotional responses in our communities ranging from despair and hopelessness through to doomsday prepping.
A new study suggests we can reframe the public conversation, use non-traditional approaches and act collectively to increase optimism and improve our social and emotional wellbeing.
Join us for a fascinating conversation as we explore the nexus between polarised media reporting and climate change, and learn how to use nature, creativity and community activism to re-engage with our personal power and reduce climate anxiety.
Expert panel
Associate Professor Rebecca E. Olson, School of Social Science, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland
Rebecca is a cutting-edge translational qualitative researcher, mentor and award-winning educator with expertise in health and emotional sociology. With research interests ranging from medicinal cannabis to climate anxiety, she is internationally renowned for bringing sociological insight to complex challenges related to emotions, wellbeing, healthcare and caregiving. Rebecca is a prolific contributor to public debate with more than 75 scholarly publications, as well as news media and creative video productions.
Dr Tom Doig, Lecturer in Creative Writing, School of Communication and Arts, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland
Tom is an award-winning creative non-fiction author, investigative journalist and scholar. He is interested in interdisciplinary approaches to the accelerating climate crisis, with a focus on the cultural, social and psychological impacts of worsening climate breakdown. Tom is currently researching a new book, We Are All Preppers Now (forthcoming with Scribe Publications), documenting survivalists, doomsday preppers, climate activists and other subcultures of imminent collapse around the world. He is also the winner of the New Zealand Society of Authors/Copyright Licensing New Zealand Writers Award 2023 for a manuscript-in-progress.
Linda is a public health researcher based in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her research focuses on maternal and child health development, women's health and gender-based violence throughout the Asia-Pacific. She is also interested in transdisciplinary, planetary health research investigating the connections between human and ocean health.
Facilitator
Associate Professor Fiona Charlson, School of Public Health, Mental Health and Climate Change Research Network
Fiona is a well-respected and experienced psychiatric epidemiologist and mental health services researcher who has dedicated her career to addressing challenging global mental health research questions. She founded and leads the world’s first Mental Health and Climate Change Research Network and is at the forefront of efforts to understand and address the mental health impacts of climate change.
Contact
Lucretia Ackfield, Research Network Manager, mentalhealth-climatechange@uq.edu.au