Simrika Amatya is a Youth Advisor to the Compass Project, an initiative led by the Climate Cares Centre exploring how education can best empower young people to live, work, and thrive in a changing climate. Throughout 2025, the Compass Project conducted group discussions, co-design workshops, and a survey with students and educators – facilitated by and designed together with the project’sYouth and Educator Advisors. In this blog, Simrika reflects on her experience with the Compass Project.
Daniel Teklemariam is the Julia Anderson Communications and Events Trainee in Climate and Mental Health, joining the Climate Cares Centre in summer 2025.
The Climate Cares Centres is a team of researchers, designers, policy experts and educators working to understand and support mental health in the current climate and ecological crises. Our mission is to equip individuals, communities and systems with the knowledge and resources to protect mental health from climate impacts, while enabling climate action that strengthens the conditions for good mental health and wellbeing.
Londoner escapes extreme heat in shade and pours water over his head. Credit: Christian Juilliard/ Climate Visuals
Introduction: The Overlooked Link Between Heat and Mental Health
The recent European heatwaves killed thousands across the continent and hundreds in London, with a report by Imperial’s Grantham Institute revealing that 65% of the heat deaths were a direct consequence of human-induced climate change. But whilst the physical impacts of extreme heat like dehydration, heatstroke and death are more well known (source, source 2), the significant impact on mental health is often overlooked in public discourse, policy and research. Heatwaves can worsen symptoms of many mental health conditions whilst also making it harder to deal with heat when taking medication (Source), and this will become a growing issue over the next century as climate change will cause more frequent, severe, and early-season heatwaves across the globe. National, regional, and local authorities have developed heat-health action plans to deal with the health risks associated with heat but a recent review, done in collaboration with Climate Cares, found only 22% of such plans included targeted interventions for mental health. We need to highlight this overlooked aspect of extreme heat in public discourse and include it in our actions to respond to heatwaves to save lives and protect mental health in a changing climate.
Launch of a joint United for Global Mental Health & Climate Cares Centre report on mental health in national adaptation policies. This blog post was written by Alessandro Massazza, United for Global Mental Health, and Jessica Newberry Le Vay, Climate Cares Centre.
A woman returns home after collecting water from a nearby river, walking across large deposits of bags put together to protect the embankment from soil erosion due to the rising Brahmaputra river during peak monsoon season in Majuli island, Assam, India. Credit: Kunga Tashi Lepcha / Climate Visuals Countdown
From increasing the risk of new mental health problems following extreme weather events to making people living with pre-existing mental health problems more vulnerable, climate change affects all aspects of people’s mental health and wellbeing. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates, with high confidence, that climate change has already been negatively impacting mental health globally, and that these impacts are expected to worsen as climate change deepens.
A number of actions can be taken to protect people and communities from the impacts of already happening climate change. These actions are collectively known as “adaptation” actions, which can be defined as the human process of adjusting to the actual or expected climate and its impacts in order to reduce harm or to benefit from opportunities. Adaptation activities can include things like building flood defences, setting up and implementing early warning systems for extreme weather events such as cyclones, or switching to drought-resistant crops. Importantly, adaptation is needed to protect mental health from climate change-related hazards, and the actions can also have significant co-benefits (i.e. additional wins) for mental health, for example the potential additional mental health benefits of increasing tree cover and green space access in cities beyond the cooling effect.
And yet, mental health often receives insufficient attention in the context of climate adaptation discussions. For example, according to a 2025 World Health Organisation review of health in national adaptation plans (59 national adaptation plans (NAPs) and 27 health national adaptation plans (HNAPs)), mental health and psychosocial considerations are included in less than half of NAPs (44%) and remain incompletely documented across HNAPs (81%). Importantly, only 5% of NAPs and 22% of HNAPs included specific actions to address mental health and psychosocial needs, making mental health one of the health outcomes with the least actionable recommendations in the context of adaptation policies. Another recent review on children’s health in NAPs found that of the 160 countries it examined, none included considerations on children’s mental health. An analysis of HNAPS in South America also highlighted the minimal recognition of mental health. The lack of recognition of mental health in adaptation policies may also be driven by the dearth of robust research on the mental health impacts of adaptation action.
To address this gap, United for Global Mental Health and the Climate Cares Centre at Imperial College London joined forces to develop a report that: 1) reviews the current state of mental health integration in adaptation planning, and 2) provides evidence-based recommendations and content suggestions on how policymakers working on national adaptation plans can integrate mental health in their policies. The report is launching this week in the context of the 2025 Global Climate and Health Conference in Brasilia, Brazil. It represents a call to ensure mental health is meaningfully integrated in adaptation action at the national level and across international commitments such as the Belém Health Action Plan for the Adaptation of the Health Sector to Climate Change. You can access the full report here.
The report reviewed national adaptation policies from 193 countries and the main findings were:
Overall, mental health was not included in the majority of national adaptation policies (58%) and, when included, it was often mentioned superficially and/or with no corresponding adaptation action. The heat map below highlights the degree of inclusion of mental health in national adaptation policies globally.
The report also provides concrete evidence-based recommendations and suggested content for the integration of mental health into national adaptation policies. The recommendations include:
Recognise the diverse negative impacts of climate change on mental health, including the increased risks certain groups with specific vulnerabilities may face
Monitor the mental health impacts of climate change and any mental health risks and co-benefits of adaptation at a national level to ensure appropriate and effective adaptation responses
Ensure specific adaptation actions are planned and implemented to protect and promote good mental health, as well as to prevent and manage mental health problems (see infographic below for possible actions)
Identify the many co-benefits to mental health that appropriate adaptation measures and actions can have
Ensure appropriate financing is available for the integration of mental health into adaptation efforts
Recognise that many places may be unable to fully adapt to climate change, resulting in significant losses and damages among people and communities. Therefore, appropriate mental health and psychosocial support needs to be resourced and provided to affected populations immediately
Build collaborative, cross-sector partnerships – including with communities – that combine diverse forms of expertise to inform the design, delivery and evaluation of efforts to integrate mental health into adaptation.
Throughout the report, we highlight case studies of best practices for the integration of mental health into national adaptation plans including case studies from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Canada, Jordan, Australia, Finland, and Chile.
Mental health must be centered in adaptation action, both to protect the mental health of people and communities from the worst impacts of climate change but also because healthy people and communities are needed for sustained adaptation to climate change. As countries prepare for enhancing progress on adaptation at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the current report provides a roadmap on how to do this, to ensure everyone can experience the highest attainable standard of mental health, even in the context of a changing climate.
Read the full report: Integrating Mental Health into Climate Change Adaptation Policies
People experiencing homelessness have shorter life expectancies, poorer physical and mental health, and less access to healthcare than the general population. For women experiencing homelessness, the average age of death is 43 – two years younger than men and nearly half the life expectancy of women in the general population. Many homeless women are survivors of abuse, and more research is needed to provide specialised, female-led support for this group in safe, trauma-informed spaces.
However, the Marylebone Project told us that current research practices can be harmful for the women who take part. Short-term projects where researchers ask participants to answer personal questions and recount traumatic events without taking the time to build trust and rapport do not offer a safe environment for women to authentically share their experiences.
To address this, we have worked together to develop a project which aims to understand how we can meaningfully involve women experiencing homelessness in the design and delivery of our research to ensure it is relevant and safe for participants, while also protecting the mental wellbeing of the women and researchers involved. To do this, we will draw on the psychologically informed practices used by frontline homeless services to protect the mental wellbeing of their service users and staff.
Below, Miriam Kennedy and Chatsuda Chierakul, lead applicants for the project, share what makes this project special and what they hope to get out of it.
Miriam is Centre Manager at the Marylebone Project, the UK’s oldest and largest women’s homelessness organisation with 112 beds and a women’s-only drop in that’s open 24/7, 365 days a year. Chatsuda is a general practitioner and the Training, Education, and Research Lead for Central London Healthcare, a federation of 33 general practices in Westminster caring for over 275,000 patients.
Why did you want to be part of this project?
Miriam: At the Marylebone Project, we deeply value women’s experiences of the world, and we aim to give space for women to use their voice and share these experiences. We support women who are impacted by homelessness and crisis, and they are often hidden in the stats regarding homelessness in the UK. Women face very unique challenges in regard to homelessness. We know how important research is in order to stop homelessness and violence against women, and we wanted to be part of a project which would be holistic, psychologically informed, and where women were at the heart of the research.
Chatsuda: Two of Central London Healthcare’s practices are homelessness practices, and London has the largest homeless population in Europe. Several of our practices are also located in and around the Marylebone area. As primary health care professionals, we are somewhat aware of the difficulties facing women experiencing homelessness, and we already do work with other organisations including adult safeguarding leads and IRIS advocate educators to try to improve the care we offer, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. There is also a significant lack of research with this population, and this project looks at how this can be changed.
What makes this project different from research projects you’ve been part of in the past?
Miriam: I think the main difference is time. So far, our women have been offered much more time and care in this research project. Their ideas, experiences, and stories have not been plucked from them to fill in stats in Excel sheets. Instead, there has been open conversation; safe spaces and hospitality have been offered. Women have felt very safe and the sessions together so far have been more about sharing and listening than accumulating data. Women have left the sessions feeling heard and seen.
Chatsuda: At Central London Healthcare, we have been involved in an extremely wide variety of research projects. We have been involved in some trials which have been open to people experiencing homelessness, but this project is different in that it is designed specifically for women experiencing homelessness, and it is a collaboration between many different organisations who haven’t worked directly together before.
What do you hope to learn and achieve through this project?
Miriam: Our aim is that our women will feel empowered to share their experiences, know their value, and gain knowledge and understanding of how research can be offered in a way which nurtures and cares for the participants. We aim to highlight the issues women face in healthcare and for positive change to be made.
Chatsuda: Ultimately, we all want to be able to improve care and wellbeing for women experiencing homelessness. Enabling research with this population would help with that goal. By reaching out to these women in an approachable way, this should help us better understand what would make the biggest different for them.
The launch event for the Collaborative Research for Online Postgraduate Studies Network (CROPSNet) took place on Tuesday 10 September 2024, with over 30 higher education professionals from six different UK institutions in attendance. The network is the first of its kind, and the success of this initial event has provided a very strong springboard for future CROPSNet activities.
CROPSNet emerged from the work undertaken by the Student Wellbeing in IGHI Postgraduate Education (SWIPE) team (Dr Christa Hansen, Dr Annie McKirdy, Joe Kerr, and Julien le Jeune d’Allegeershecque), who have been working to improve the way in which the IGHI support the mental health and general wellbeing of its online students. In the scope of SWIPE’s projects, the team realised there was a lack of both guidance and peer-reviewed research not only on the topic of the mental health and wellbeing of online postgraduate taught (PGT) students, but also on the topic of how to best deliver online PGT programmes. Furthermore, there was no forum for professionals involved in the teaching and delivery of online PGT programmes to share best practice and collaborate.
Launching CROPSNet
CROPSNet aims to bring together professionals involved in online PGT programmes to share best practice, discuss current issues, and collaborate on projects or research ideas to improve the evidence-base for online PGT teaching. The launch event focused on “The Mental Health & Wellbeing of Online PGT Students”. The SWIPE team from IGHI were first to present, providing an overview of the work they have undertaken since early 2023 and the resulting report. Jenny Husbands, Teaching Fellow and Senior Tutor at Imperial’s School of Public Health, then delivered a session on “Pastoral Support for large PGT Online Programmes”. Attendees then took part in a group discussion to share their experiences on organising online socials for online PGT programmes, as well as their thoughts on the particular challenges faced by students undertaking online PGT study.
The agenda from the launch event
The next presentation was delivered by Dr Julie Langan-Martin, Course Director for the MSc in Global Mental Health and Director of Education of the School of Mental Health & Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. Dr Langan-Martin’s talk provided valuable information and guidance on “How to Approach the Teaching of Sensitive Topics in Online Settings”. As CROPSNet aims to not only foster collaboration among higher education professionals, but also with students engaged in online PGT study, event organisers were delighted to then welcome Damian Larkin and Connor Qui to take part in a student panel. Both Damian and Connor are students on the IGHI’s online PGDip in Digital Health Leadership, and attendees were able to listen to them discuss their experience of being an online PGT student and how it impacted on their mental health & wellbeing.
In the event’s final presentation, Jenny Crow, Digital Education Team Manager at the University of Glasgow, shared insights from her PhD research on “The Role of Belonging in Online Postgraduate Education”. CROPSNet coordinator Julien le Jeune d’Allegeershecque then ended the day with some closing comments and information on future plans.
The CROPSNet team wishes to thank all of the presenters who were involved in the launch event, as well as the audience who were engaged throughout the day and provided valuable contributions. The CROPSNet team are now aiming to build on this excellent start by developing an online presence and providing a space for CROPSNet members to connect and collaborate.
Join the network
Anyone interested in joining the network and keeping up to date with its activities can do so by signing up for the CROPSNet newsletter. For general questions about the network or the work of the SWIPE team, please contact SWIPE@ic.ac.uk or jlejeune@ic.ac.uk.
The Connecting Climate Minds (CCM) Global Event in Barbados involved 70 in-person participants and more than 600 virtual participants. Together, we celebrated the initiative’s first year of work led by seven regional communities, youth, Indigenous Nations and Peoples, and small farmers and fisher peoples.
At the Global Event:
The Connecting Climate Minds Hub was launched – an innovative digital platform designed as a collaborative space for researchers, policymakers, educators, and community groups to share their knowledge, resources, and experiences on the climate-mental health nexus including the CCM outputs.
The global event featured keynote sessions delivered by prominent experts in climate change and mental health, along with the marketplace, regional spotlight sessions, and breakout sessions to discuss the Global Research and Action Agenda.
“Need for measurement and data” on climate-related mental health impacts, “community” and “co-creation” were the key recurring themes highlighted by participants.
The first Global Research and Action Agenda on climate change and mental health was discussed and will be finalised for launch in July.
The global event also launched the key CCM outputs, including ten regional and community research and action agendas, lived experiences, case studies and toolkits. The CCM community discussed opportunities to support the capacity of the Regional Communities of Practice to fulfil the imperative agendas created through the project.
Two years on from the invasion of Ukraine, we publish a series of blog posts sharing insights from our Ukraine Health Summit, hosted in partnership with the British Red Cross to further efforts in supporting the delivery and restoration of health services in Ukraine.
The first post addresses the importance of mental health services in post-conflict Ukraine, and is written by Melanie Leis, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, with colleagues.
[Ukraine Health Summit 2023]
On April 25th 2023, Imperial College London hosted the first Ukraine Health Summit. This event presented an opportunity to discuss how Ukraine’s health system must be re-built to ensure it addresses the needs of its population in a post-conflict setting. A focal point of the discussion was around the provision of mental health services.
The WHO projects that, of populations affected by conflict at any time during the prior 10 years, 22% will develop a mental health condition. Applying these estimates to the population of Ukraine (44M), this would lead to approximately 10M who will have a mental health condition such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, in addition to existing mental health cases1. Estimates by Ukraine’s government suggest that over 60% of its soldiers are affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, and approximately 50% of the population needs mental health services to cope with the impact of the war2.
Mental health experts at the Ukraine Health Summit agreed that post-conflict mental health service provision should be planned and coordinated across three key themes: policy and regulation, training and education, and family support.
Policy and regulation
The healthcare system in Ukraine, including its mental health services, is a legacy of its Soviet past. Prior to the war, there had been a trend towards reform of the mental health system to address challenges such as limited social services for people with mental health disorders, large institutionalised psychiatric populations (at times associated with human rights violations), and public stigma around mental health3.
In December 2022, Ukraine’s First Lady launched the Ukrainian Prioritized Multisectoral Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Actions During and After the War: Operational Roadmap4. This roadmap, informed by international and national policies and best practice, aims to provide an overview of mental health and psychosocial priorities to stakeholders involved in the immediate response and the recovery efforts in Ukraine.
One of the issues in the provision of healthcare services in the current conflict setting is the lack of coordination between Government, international organisations and NGO activities. To effectively deliver mental health and psychosocial support in a post-conflict setting the Government must coordinate service delivery. This includes providing greater clarity on service availability, treatment pathways and enforcing regulation to ensure that the services that are delivered meet the highest quality standards. At the same time, non-public sector mental health providers must follow the Government’s leadership.
Training and education
Raising public awareness about mental health issues in the Ukraine is of paramount importance. This includes launching information campaigns and educating the general public about PTSD, depression, panic attacks, and other mental health conditions likely to affect the population.
Crucially, the conflict will have decreased the number of staff available to deliver mental health and psychosocial services. Effective psychosocial support can be delivered by professionals who do not necessarily have to be mental health specialists, but they must be adequately trained. Volunteers who are deployed with no training and are exposed to traumatic events risk developing their own mental health disorders. Furthermore, the impact of inadequately delivered mental health interventions can range from ineffective to ultimately harmful5.
Additionally, those providing mental health and psychosocial support services must have their own mental health needs adequately supported to deliver these services effectively and sustainably. One approach to do this is through mental health providers becoming “trauma informed organisations”, where safeguards are in place to provide physical and emotional safety to staff and avoid re-traumatisation6.
[Ukraine Health Summit 2023 – IGHI Centre for Health Policy Banner]
Family support
Mental health needs vary significantly across different population groups. People with pre-existing mental health conditions may have deteriorated during the war, both due to the direct impact of the conflict and to the decrease in access to care. Additional groups that require mental health services include active military personnel and their families, veterans and their families, bereaved families, children exposed to war, and relocated/displaced families. An individual may be part of several of these groups at once.
There is an opportunity to leverage digital mental health interventions to support families. A scoping review7.identified 36 studies of these interventions, the majority of which targeted young people and parents/carers. These were self-guided, potentially improving access to psychological support without increasing demand on limited clinical services. Most of the interventions tested were associated with improved psychopathology.
Mental wellbeing is strongly associated with a person’s basic needs being met. This is even more the case in a post-conflict setting. One study that looked at the use of healthcare and community-based services in war-affected regions of Croatia found that, although a variety of services were put in place to help the affected population, only the solution of housing (accommodation support) significantly predicted traumatic stress recovery8.
The importance of safety and stability for the affected populations cannot be overstated, as these are crucial to people’s mental well-being. For some specific populations, a key factor in mental health recovery will the passage of time and the return to a safe and predictable routine.
Government leadership, well supported frontline mental health workers and a focus on wider societal support will create the conditions for successful mental health service in post-conflict Ukraine.
References
1. World Health Organization. (2022, December). Scaling-up mental health and psychosocial services in war-affected regions: best practices from Ukraine. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/scaling-up-mental-health-and-psychosocial-services-in-war-affected-regions–best-practices-from-ukraine#:~:text=In%20applying%20these%20estimates%20to,have%20a%20mental%20health%20condition (Accessed 2023/07/28)
2. Euronews. (2023, February). War in Ukraine having a devastating impact on people’s mental health. Retrieved from https://www.euronews.com/2023/02/20/war-in-ukraine-having-a-devastating-impact-on-peoples-mental-health (Accessed 2023/07/28)
3. World Health Organization. (2020, July). Ukraine WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health Situational Assessment.Retrieved from https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/mental-health/who-special-initiative-country-report—ukraine—2020.pdf?sfvrsn=ad137e9_4 (Accessed 2023/07/28)
4. World Health Organization. (2022, December). Ukrainian Prioritized Multisectoral Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Actions During and After the War: Operational Roadmap. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukrainian-prioritized-multisectoral-mental-health-and-psychosocial-support-actions-during-and-after-war-operational-roadmap-enuk (Accessed 2023/07/28)
5. Jarrett, C. (2008, January). When therapy causes harm. The Psychologist. Retrieved from https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/when-therapy-causes-harm (Accessed 2023/07/28)
6. Office for Victims of Crime Training & Technical Assistance Center (not dated). Building trauma-informed organizations. Retrieved from https://www.ovcttac.gov/views/TrainingMaterials/NVAA/ASI/index.cfm?nm=nvaa&ns=asi&nt=sgo&nf=btio (Accessed 2023/07/28)
7. Danese et al. Digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war: a scoping review. The Global Resources for War-affected youth (GROW) Network. Currently under review at JAACAP.
8. Francisković T, Tovilović Z, Suković Z, Stevanović A, Ajduković D, Kraljević R, Bogić M, Priebe S. Health care and community-based interventions for war-traumatized people in Croatia: community-based study of service use and mental health. Croat Med J. 2008 Aug;49(4):483-90. doi: 10.3325/cmj.2008.4.483. PMID: 18716995; PMCID: PMC2525834. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2525834/ (Accessed 2023/07/28)
Villagers pray for their family members at a flooded public cemetery due to rising sea levels. Often, residents live with the seawater, as homes are commonly flooded. Sayung subdistrict, Demak, Central Java, Indonesia. Photo credit: Aji Styawan / Getty Images Climate Visuals Grant recipient
As climate change continues to reshape our world, it’s not just landscapes that are transforming; the mental health of communities worldwide is also on the line. Over the past month, Connecting Climate Minds has been uniting global experts, researchers, and stakeholders in the diverse fields relevant to climate change and/or mental health from across the world. These discussions transcend borders, bringing together experts from seven regions of the world: Latin America and the Caribbean; Sub-Saharan Africa; Northern Africa and Western Asia; Central and South-Eastern Asia; Eastern and South-Eastern Asia; Oceania; and Europe and North America. The current field of mental health and climate change are disconnected and siloed, which reflects an urgent need to align research and action at the intersection of these two fields. The Connecting Climate Minds’ project aims to address this gap, with the goal of creating an actionable research agenda informed by lived experiences, while also connecting communities of practice across the globe. This agenda will capture the vast diversity of regions and groups of people that are affected by the climate crisis, allowing for an inclusive and comprehensive outline for future researchers, with investment and action from policymakers and relevant stakeholders.
The current field of mental health and climate change are disconnected and siloed, which reflects an urgent need to align research and action at the intersection of these two fields.
The first dialogues proved to be a stunning success, with a total of 288 attendees representing 42 different countries across the world. This impressive turnout reflects the pressing need for collaborative efforts to address climate change and the enthusiasm among experts to contribute their knowledge and skills to this global challenge. Each dialogue kicked off with a dynamic plenary session followed by breakout rooms, where lived experiences and on-ground stories were shared from attendees. The breakout rooms consisted of a variety of different perspectives, including medical practitioners, public health and psychology researchers, climate experts, economists, anthropologists, clinical professionals, disaster management personnel, and beyond. A few groups represented at the dialogue include the president of the Jordanian Association of Psychiatrists, United Nation Youth Delegates, and senior leaders within the World Health Organization (WHO).
Attendees shared personal stories and experiences related to climate change, underscoring the real-world impacts of the crisis on individuals and communities. One attendee from Afghanistan shared, “People lose their assets, their livestock, and people are getting injured, killed, especially when flash floods occur at night. Just recently, a few months back, there were flash floods in nine or ten provinces. We had around 20, 29 people dead, and then more than a hundred injured. That caused a huge level of anxiety in the households that lost their relatives.” Another attendee from South Africa shared, “We are all impacted by climate change. And people with money have insurance and can survive. But the rest of the population loses everything.” These lived experiences served as a powerful reminder of the urgency of the interplay between climate change and mental health. From the diverse array of perspectives shared, a rich tapestry of themes and discussions emerged from the breakout sessions.
Some of the notable themes include:
Socioemotional stress: With extreme weather changes, people may be prevented from seeing their family members and friends, and children may not be able to go to school. Increased social isolation leads to detrimental effects on mental health and wellbeing.
Economic impacts: Temperature and drought affects farmers, as well as the physical and cognitive demand of workers. In the long term, changes in the environment have led to significant food insecurity amongst communities.
Community Resilience: There is a pressing need to provide culturally-sensitive and accessible psychosocial support for people who have suffered disasters or other impacts from climate change. Long-term support is necessary to build community resilience in the face of environmental change and disaster.
Context-Specific Research: Each region has different needs and varied mechanisms by which climate change affects mental health. Thus, research priorities are not a “one size fits all” solution–instead, it should be context specific and informed by lived experiences.
The first Connecting Climate Minds dialogue is only the start of the collective effort to align research and action at the intersection of climate change and mental health. Participants at the dialogues expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to have their stories heard and collaborate with experts from different disciplines.
One attendee noted, “I had the opportunity to unburden my heart. Many thanks for creating this space to inspire change and action.”
Looking ahead, there are one more dialogues scheduled in the coming months for each of the seven global regions. The aims of the first dialogues were to create knowledge through research, and to foster evidence-based policy and action. Attendees will continue to work together to refine the research priorities that have been identified from these dialogues. Through collaboration, each region will build an inclusive research agenda and actionable plan aimed at addressing the nexus of mental health and climate change within their respective communities. Furthermore, pre- and post-dialogue surveys will be conducted to gather insights from attendees, such as their perception of themes identified in the dialogues and their views on what criteria can be used to prioritize future research.
It’s safe to say that the first Connecting Climate Minds Regional Dialogue represents a significant step forward in the global effort to combat climate change through knowledge- sharing, collaboration, and structured discussion. As we move forward, the goal remains clear: to work together, across disciplines and generations, to build an equitable research framework in the face of climate change for the people of our planet.
Connecting Climate Minds is funded by Wellcome and delivered through Imperial Projects.
It’s estimated that one in four adults will experience a mental health problem in any given year. Despite this, there remains a stigma attached to opening up and speaking about our mental wellbeing.
Today, we’re marking Time to Talk Day, encouraging us all to have a conversation about how we’re feeling. We asked four experts at IGHI about their experiences, insights and advice on speaking up about mental health.
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken”.
The CROPSNet team wishes to thank all of the presenters who were involved in the launch event, as well as the audience who were engaged throughout the day and provided valuable contributions. The CROPSNet team are now aiming to build on this excellent start by developing an online presence and providing a space for CROPSNet members to connect and collaborate.
It’s estimated that 