University of Derby offers climate change anxiety classes to staff and students worried about the future of the planet
- Sessions have been on offer to activists, students and staff at the university
- Aim to tackle feelings of guilt and anger which people feel towards the climate
- Dr Jamie Bird said many are suffering from ‘climate grief’ because of the loss
The University of Derby has introduced climate anxiety classes for staff and students who are worried about the planet after some claimed they felt ‘anxious’ because of the state of the eco-system.
The eco-anxiety classes aim to tackle feelings of anger, guilt and grief and both staff and students have been involved in workshops to combat their ‘sense of loss’.
These sessions have been on offer to climate activist groups in Derbyshire, as well as some of the faculties at the university since August, with one student claiming the climate emergency makes her feel as though she ‘isn’t going to have a future’.
People participating in the sessions are encourage to use art in order to express their feelings.
Students and staff are pictured above taking part in one of the workshops run at the University of Derby
Dr Jamie Bird (pictured), deputy head of health and social care research at the university said people suffer ‘climate grief’
Speaking to the BBC Dr Jamie Bird, deputy head of health and social care research at the university said people suffer ‘climate grief’ as they can see what they are losing.
One student, Claire Prowse added: “It makes me very anxious because every time I look at the news I rarely see any good news about the environment. It just makes me think I’m not going to have a future.”
Another student, Nicola Grigg, said that the climate emergency makes her feel ‘isolated and lonely’, she also said she felt ‘guilty’ because she doesn’t have the power to change it.
Dr Bird said he has seen progress from the lessons and is now looking to expand them further
Dr Bird said helplessness can underline a lot of the feelings and that people don’t know how to process them as it’s something they have never felt before, and because many don’t know how it will pan out.
Art is used during the sessions as a means of expression and those attending are encourage to share their work with each other in order to ‘make sense’ of how they are feeling.
While the main aim is to tackle negative thoughts attendees are feeling, it also aims to find solutions to issues affecting the climate.
Dr Bird claimed the sessions have been successful and have resulted in people feeling less anxious.
He is now looking to expand the sessions by using dance and drama.