Jennifer Atkinson gives keynote talk at OSU on Collective Climate Action

Jennifer Atkinson gave a keynote talk for the new series on “Collective Climate Action: Inspired Organizing for Our Future” as part of Oregon State University’s Spring Creek Project. The Collective Climate series was launched to bring together the practical wisdom of environmental science, the clarity of philosophy, and the transformational power of the written word and the arts to envision and inspire just and joyous relations with the planet and with one another.

In her keynote lecture, Atkinson highlighted ways that anxiety and despair are rising along with global temperatures. To successfully face the challenges ahead, she argued, we need to build more than solar panels and sea walls: we also need to build the emotional resilience to stay engaged in climate work over the long haul. Her talk offered five key steps for navigating the psychological and emotional impacts of climate change while channeling our anxiety into collective efforts to create a livable future.

The lecture is available on YouTube and also as a Podcast episode with the Collective Climate Action series.