How do you feel when you see the latest bit of bad news about rising temperatures, melting Arctic ice, wildfires or record-breaking storms?
Anxious, frightened, angry? Bored, irritated? Guilty, ashamed? Blankness? Wanting to switch off?
All of the above at different times of the day?
Human beings all over the world are experiencing messy feelings about climate change and ecological damage. We are not as rational as we like to think. A lot of the time we keep our messy reactions under wraps, but this doesn’t always help in the long run.
In this interactive workshop, Rachel Murtagh of Tees Valley Nature Partnership and Rebecca Nestor of the Climate Psychology Alliance will introduce some ideas from the field of climate psychology about how humans respond to difficult realities. The workshop will explore how we can do more with our messy feelings than just push them away, and why this helps us deal with the climate and ecological crisis.
This is a hands-on, participatory workshop and not suitable for viewing only.
Rachel Murtagh heads up one of the most successful Local Nature Partnerships (LNP’s) in the country. Her commitment to broad engagement and inclusion has enabled the Tees Valley to be the only LNP to be fully funded by the National Lottery Community Fund
Her approach embraces a broad-spectrum of partners from local grass roots bodies to regional andnational public sector and NGOs. The LNPs conferences for example have wide participation as well as support from national leaders such as Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England, Craig Bennett, CEO of the Wildlife Trusts and Professor David Hill Chair of Plantlife.  Her leadership of the partnership builds on nearly 30 years’ experience working in the environment sector across public, private and third sector organisations and freelance.  Described as a ‘social artist’ she recognises the need for a whole systems approach to the biodiversity and climate crisis. A highly experienced workshop facilitator she has a passion in particular for eco-psychology and group process work. Her work reaches out across boundaries to leaders in local enterprise partnerships, government, academia, arts and culture sectors. Recently she was appointed a consortium (board) member of the £3m ‘Borderlands’ Project across south Tees part of the Arts Council Creative People and Places Programme.
Based in Oxford, Rebecca Nestor is an organisational consultant, facilitator and coach with a particular focus on supporting people and organisations with the emotional impacts of the climate and ecological crisis. She has research-based, professional and personal experience of what it feels like to face the climate crisis: she is currently completing a doctorate on the emotional experience of leaders in organisations that engage the public on climate change, has consulted to several groups and organisations in the climate field, and is chair of a local climate charity and on the board of the international Climate Psychology Alliance. She runs regular Climate Cafés, gentle spaces to share responses to what is happening to our climate.
