What’s more important at this time of ecological crisis: strengthening our emotional resilience so that we can process eco-anxiety, grief, and fear without becoming paralysed or numb; or ensuring that external infrastructure and systems are resilient to the (more) extreme climate that we know is coming?
It’s a trick question, of course. It’s not an either/or - we need both, and more besides. We humans love to separate and define everything: inner vs outer, humans vs nature, me vs the rest of the world. But this thinking, and the world view it produces, isn’t just skewed - it’s dangerous. The disconnect it creates is exactly what permits us to keep extracting from and abusing the systems that support us.
The inner is the outer, humans are nature and I am/you are the rest of the world. A recent episode of the Sounds of Sand podcast offered a reminder of this oneness. Exploring how to shift the inward practice of personal healing to become “a rooted force for collective change”, social change strategist Rae Abileah suggests that inner and outer work are as inseparable as in-breath and the out-breath: “to breathe is to remember that we’re interdependent… every breath connects us to the trees, to the coral and the oceans, to the countless forms of life that replenish our supply of oxygen on this planet”.
At ICRA, our focus is the inner resilience we build as we confront ever more devastating ecological losses, alongside a creeping anxiety about what the future holds. When we build emotional literacy around climate distress, we’re far more able to stay engaged and take action - rather than disengaging through denial, disavowal or despair.
This couldn’t be more crucial right now, as we witness what might be called collective denial on a grand scale. As reported this week, nearly three-quarters of the 2,500 media stories about June’s record-breaking heatwave left out any mention of global heating or climate change - giving readers implicit permission to deny the connection between extreme temperatures and the crisis driving them.
But this inner resilience building doesn’t just happen on an individual level. It’s when it happens through conversation and shared spaces, in community with others who care, that we learn to integrate emotional tools into our response to the planetary crisis - and find the resources to reject the denial laid out so conveniently before us. This shared emotional resilience is also the fuel for collective change such as community adaptation, which in turn makes us feel more empowered and feeds the resilience in a positive feedback loop.
As we build a network of people practising inner-led change, that is the outer work too. Whether you’re connected to this work already, or simply curious about what we’re doing, come and say hi at our next Community Call on 23 July, or get in touch on hello@innerclimateresponse.org
Thank you to all who came along to our London Climate Action Week events, including Inside Out: Strengthening Inner Resilience and Community Ties in the Polycrisis, which had to be moved online due to dangerously high temperatures in London. It was so good to see around 60 people there despite the last minute change of plan and to hear from the community about what is needed in the inner resilience space now. We’re grateful to our co-hosts from the Climate Care Collaborative, Force of Nature, Six Seconds, The Resilience Project, and Youth Climate Collaborative who all helped create an open, nourishing space.
Another London Climate Action Week event that had to be shifted due to the heat: the launch of ICRA partner Climate Youth Resilience’s Dance 4 Change project, in collaboration with Just Us and The Advocacy Academy, where they co-create pathways of joy in policymaking with young people at the centre. The launch will be happening soon - stay tuned for more updates.
A new workshop this week: Organisational & Climate Psychology for People’s Emergency Briefing for Workplace Screenings.
Hosting a screening of The People's Emergency Briefing in your workplace can feel very different to a public screening - workplace culture, hierarchies, contradictions, narratives and rules all come into play. This new workshop to explore some of the dynamics and defences that show up in organisations, and that can impact how people respond to and engage with the climate and nature emergency.
Climate psychology workshops for the People’s Emergency Briefing (public screenings) are still running multiple times every week,
If you’re interested in joining one of these workshops, first sign up to host a screening with the NEB, then book your place.
These workshops are designed by Linda Aspey of the Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) and delivered by trained CPA members. CPA is a partner of ICRA (the Inner Climate Response Alliance) which is part-funding these workshops.
Our last ICRA Community Call before a summer break is on 23 July. These online gatherings are for anyone interested in inner work, climate resilience and community adaptation.
Whether you’re an inner work practitioner, community leader or resident looking to bring this work to your local area, join us to meet others and help shape our growing community.
Autumn dates to be announced soon.
Find out more and book your free place
Events, workshops and other offerings - some from the wider ICRA network, others from outside that we think you might be interested in.
If you have something you’d like us to share with the community in next month’s newsletter, drop us a line at hello@innerclimateresponse.org.
Resilience Rucksack Workshop Join The Resilience Project for this free online workshop, exploring themes of climate anxiety, wellbeing and resilience. Learn how to face eco anxiety head-on and leave with tools that will help you to stay grounded, avoid burnout, and keep showing up for the planet. 21 July, 12pm – 1pm BST, Online
It’s Not Just You: An Evening with Tori Tsui
Join The Resilience Project for a special online conversation with climate justice campaigner and author Tori Tsui. This free event will explore the themes of Tori’s acclaimed debut book It’s Not Just You, a powerful reflection on climate anxiety, burnout, activism and collective care. 21 July, 7pm – 8:30pm BST, Online
Beyond the Noise: A 6-Week Online Workshop to Reclaim Connection, Sharpen Your Thinking, and Strengthen Democracy. A practical, collaborative course to understand the disinformation crisis, tackle division and build democracy, designed to move you from passive concern to active, confident engagement. 22 September to 27 October 2026, online.
Climate Resilience Weekender for young people aged 18–30 who may be feeling overwhelmed, or emotionally affected by the climate and wider meta-crisis. An opportunity to rest, recuperate and reconnect with the more-than-human and other young adults who care deeply about the world and its many tangled crises. This weekend is funded but food and travel are not included. 16-18 October, Derbyshire.
Hosting & Facilitating a Climate Café Listening Circle Help build emotional resilience in your own community by learning to host and facilitate a Climate Cafe Listening Circle in this three-session programme from the Climate Psychology Alliance. Starts 19 October, online.
Imagining Thrutopias II A gathering to explore how we might navigate toward the best possible futures that are realistically achievable amid instability, collapse, and uncertainty. Rather than treating utopia as a perfect destination, the residency frames “thrutopia” as an ongoing, adaptive practice that embraces imperfection, drawing inspiration from thinkers like Ursula Le Guin and Octavia Butler. 23-28 September, East Sussex.
Active Hope free online training A free seven-week online course that takes you on a journey through seven areas that can nourish our ability to make a difference in the world. Ongoing, online.
Other useful and/or inspiring links
🌱 New government Youth Climate and Nature Panel designed to put the voices of younger people at the heart of climate and nature policies. Passionate young people aged 16-25 from across the UK who want to help shape the future of climate and nature policy, share their views, and inspire wider action are invited to apply.
🏴 Climate Action Leadership Programme (CALP) A free 6-month programme from the 2050 Climate Group to empower Scotland’s young people aged between 18 and 35 to lead action on climate change. Apply by 12 August.
🏢 Subsidised training and workshops available for schools, NHS services and non-statutory services Thanks to funding, the Climate Psychology Alliance is offering the following at subsidised rates:
- Training for teams on understanding and meeting children and young people's psychological and emotional needs in a time of climate and polycrisis
- Bespoke workshops for groups of young adults, aged 16-25 eg. Building resilience in a time of climate and polycrisis.
📃 Don’t Despair, Participate... On hope(lessness), action and collective power “Participation generates collective agency. Perhaps this is why despair is so often accompanied by distance — from one another, from place, from the practical work of making life. When we become spectators to history, despair begins to feel inevitable. Participation interrupts that. It reminds us that history has always been made by ordinary people deciding to act together.” This excellent piece by Amahra Spence is so worth a read.
🎧 Tending The Whole In this episode of the Sounds of Sand podcast, Nkem Ndefo and Staci K. Haines explore the relationship between personal inner work and collective change.
🎧 Beyond Ecological Grief A highly recommended six-part podcast series which investigates the emotional realities of living through a planetary health crisis through deeply moving personal stories.
🎧 What if it doesn’t get any better any time soon? Don’t be put off by the title, this is a nourishing episode of Climate Changed, in which Francis Weller and Autumn Brown explore how grief was never meant to be carried alone, and why communities need ritual ground where emotions can be held.
We hope you find something of use, inspiration or comfort in these shares - and we’d love to hear what you’ve been reading, watching or listening to. Don’t forget to send us any events or workshops you’re involved with that you’d like to share further.
That’s it for this month and we’ll be pausing the newsletter in August, so will be back in touch in September.
Warm wishes, The ICRA team
The Inner Climate Response Alliance is a partnership between the Mindfulness Initiative, the Climate Psychology Alliance and the Climate Majority Project, funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund. We’re not here to deliver practices ourselves, but to create space for people to work together - connecting inner work practitioners with grassroots and community climate efforts, supporting groups to experiment with practical approaches, and raising public awareness of why inner and relational resilience matter.
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