Emotions and place change: consequences of climate change for well-being and pro-environmental behavior

One of the most significant sources of climate anxiety is worry about irreversible changes in the places we live in or would like to visit in the future. In this project, we will investigate why experienced or anticipated changes of place can sometimes turn into paralysing anxiety, a lack of self-efficacy and—sometimes—a willingness to act or hope that the climate catastrophe can be averted. This part of the project focuses on place attachment, defined as the affective bond between people and places. Secondly, we will examine the role of coping strategies that may mitigate the negative consequences of already developed climate anxiety on well-being and pro-environmental behaviour. We expect our findings to offer important practical implications on effectively responding to climate change while preserving the resilience needed to face the challenges ahead.                    Principal Investigator: Anna Wnuk