Resilience Resources

The collection of resilience resources below are designed to help you learn more about and build personal resilience as a climate advocate.

Note: This resource page has been updated to be more interactive and can be found here.

Resilience is all about recognizing challenges - the pain, the ache, the overwhelm - and doing whatever it takes to work our way through them and grow stronger. Doing this as climate advocates helps us stay the course, through the highs and the lows, and finish this climate mitigation marathon. We do our best to share resources here that are aligned with CCL’s values, particularly those of optimism, relationships, focus, and founded in science (integrity). Check back often for updates and additional resources. 

Resilience Building Opportunities on CCL Community

• CCL Resilience Hub: cclusa.org/resilience

Upcoming Resilience Events Outside of CCL

• TBA. For events to be listed here, contact cclresilience@citizensclimate.org.

Preventing Burnout

• Preventing Burnout as a Climate Advocate CCL Training to learn about burnout, how to prevent it, and practice a few of the steps that can help with recognizing and improving your own experience.
• What is Climate Activism Burnout? Article by The Boar including key signs and solutions
• Dealing with Burnout Handout from the Australian Psychological Society highlighting key dimensions, vulnerabilities and warning signs of climate burnout
• From Climate Burnout to Hope Personal story of one college student's experience with finding hope amidst burnout 
• 16 Tips for Avoiding Climate Burnout - Article including climate trauma survival tips from Dr. Lise Van Susteren cross-posted by The Grist

Navigating Eco-grief and Anxiety

• Navigating Grief: The Emotional Stages of Coping with Loss An informative article describing grief, the stages of grief and ideas for navigating your process
• The Youth Climate Circle A weekly opportunity by One Resilient Earth for youth to gather online and share authentically
• The Climate Workers Circle A weekly opportunity by One Resilient Earth to gather online and share authentically 
• Lament with Earth Five seasonal events honoring the pain of loss through the liturgical year
• 10 Steps to Personal Resilience and Empowerment in a Chaotic Climate 12-week online program by the Good Grief Network
• What to Do About Eco-Anxiety Ten Percent Happier Podcast Episode with Jay Michaelson
• Eco-grief in a time of Coronavirus Mourning Citizens' Climate Radio, Ep.47
• Mental Health & Climate Change Citizens' Climate Radio, Ep.23
• How to Turn Climate Anxiety into Action Video TEDTalk by Renee Lertzman
• Anxiety and grief come with climate change, NPR Weekend Edition, Nov 2021 (5 min listen)

Finding Hope and Optimism

• Not Too Late: A project that provides climate facts and encouragement for climate newcomers and people who are engaged but weary
• Positive.News (Environment Section): The magazine for good journalism about good things
• Cli-fi Imaginarium Stories about the futures we want by With Many Roots
• The Climate Optimist Uplifting, high energy videos and reasons for climate optimism
• A Case for Climate Hope Interview with Katherine Hayhoe, Westminster Town Hall Forum
• Envision Climate Success and Your Next Steps - Peterson Toscano, December Conference 2020

Accessing Humor

• What if we could find the humour in climate change?  A podcast episode exploring the power of humor as a tool in the fight to engage people in the climate emergency
• CartoonStock Climate Collection The world's largest online database of cartoons, filtered by "climate"
• Leave ‘em laughing instead of crying: Climate humor can break down barriers and find common ground The Conversation, September 30, 2019
• Humor for Climate Work An article about the benefits of using humor in climate work because boredom has such dire consequences
• Call Congress You Can A CCL Instagram post using humor to inspire climate action (see @citizensclimate on IG for more humorous posts)
• Sustainable Stand-up Workshops to help important ideas become human, engaging and deeply funny
• The Climate Game An online interactive game by The Financial Times that challenges players to reach net zero by 2050
• Building Instructions for a Better World An education campaign LEGO to inform leaders of the possibilities that youth see for climate action

Deepening Resilience

• Preventing burnout as a climate advocate CCL Blog, Aug 4
• EU officials being trained to meditate to help fight climate change The Guardian, May 4, 2022
• Rising through Resilience: Tamara Staton on the 5 things you can do to become more resilient in turbulent times Authority Magazine, Feb 17, 2022
• A neuroscientist shares the 6 exercises she does every day to build resilience and mental strength CNBC, Aug 21, 2021
• *Climate Advocates: Ten Tips for Self-Care | Climate for Health Bruce Bekkar, MD
• If you can't take in anymore, there's a reason The Corners, by Nadia Bolz-weber
• How to Develop Your Resilience Wiki-how.
• Building resilience as climate volunteers Citizens' Climate Lobby Blog

• *How to Keep your Cool on a Warming Planet Citizens’ Climate Radio, Ep.58
• "Rethinking Growth and Uncovering Psychological Barriers" Hey Change Podcast Episode with Per Espen Stoknes

• Skillful Climate Conversations: Opening Hearts and Minds with Evidence-Based Communication Techniques - Tamara Staton & John Sabin, November Conference 2021
• The Buddhism and Ecology Summit: Living the Dharma in a Time of Crisis

• *Roadmap to Resilience (as referenced in Deepening Resilient Leadership & Skillful Climate Conversations)
• *Resilience and Motivational Interviewing Resources (Skillful Climate Conversations)
• CCL Resilience Hub

• Positive Psychology: Resilience Skills Free course offered by Coursera in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania
• The Science of Well-Being Free course offered through Coursera in conjunction with Yale

• Insight Timer Meditation app to help with sleep, anxiety and stress
• Ten Percent Happier Meditation instruction app with a focus on stress, sleep and happiness

• Resource Collection by the Climate Mental Health Network
• Climate Change and Mental Health Resources by the CCL DC Chapter
• You are Not Alone: Climate Emergency Resources by the Energy Mix
• Resources for Working with Climate Emotions by GenDred and All You Can Save Project

Helping Others Build their Resilience

• *Enjoyifying Your Zoom A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Community, Creating Comfort and Engaging Volunteers in your Online Gatherings
• *Empowering Your Asking Webinar training by Jean Ritok
• Resources for Parents by the Good Grief Network
• CCL Creative Tabling Idea: "Climate Anxiety Counseling" Twitter Post by CCL Chapter in Sheffield, MA
• Transformational Resilience: How Building Human Resilience to Climate Disruption Can Safeguard Society and Increase Wellbeing, Book

The Case for Resilience

• EcoAmerica Report: Mental Health & Our Changing Climate - Impacts, Inequities & Responses, 2021 Edition

*Also listed on the CCL Resilience Hub

Revised on: Nov 10, 2022