Climate Crisis Digest March 2026 - Climate Shadow: Weathering Hate and Love

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In a dark time, the eye begins to see.

Theodore Roethke

Sickness, disillusion, loss and existential dread
In the preparation for writing, I became sick. Perhaps like Bob Dylan sings, I was ‘sick of love’ but also subject to the toxicity in the darkness of the subject matter. My ambivalence to engaging is as much an aspect of the journey as
the cognitive exploration. It is a transference to the material. It is dangerous and I have suffered in previous engagements. And it is the nature of such enquiries that they involve attempting to digest what has previously seemed poisonous.
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Issue 8 of Explorations in Climate Psychology Journal is out now - Heavy weather: Exploring reactionary states of mind

Explorations Feb 2026

We invite you to delve into our eighth issue of Explorations in Climate Psychology which is now available to download here. 

Explorations is an online publication that aims to be inclusive of the different ways people are experiencing and engaging with one another on the climate and ecological crisis. It welcomes various forms of expression from analytical articles, reviews and features that promote peer-reviewed research to interviews, reflections, testimonies, poetry, art and lightly edited conversations. 

This issue aims to shed a light on the reactionary mind and how we find ourselves at this moment in which the societies we live in feel more polarised than ever. Many working across climate science, communication, psychology, activism and other concerned citizens know that we deeply need to address the climate and ecological crises and outgrow belief systems that focus on extraction and pollution; whilst populist leaders employ disinformation to incite climate denial and distrust of climate policy. 

The editors have found the reactionary mindset a complex and dynamic subject to investigate. This issue does not present answers, but we hope the exploration allows you to examine and reflect upon the living systems we are part of.

Follow this link to access all eight editions of Explorations.

Climate Resilience Weekender 2026 for young people aged 18-30 - Apply now!

An opportunity to rest and recuperate; the Climate Resilience Weekender will help you to reconnect with the more-than-human and other young adults who care about the climate and polycrisis. There will be held spaces to process some of the difficult feelings that come with being climate aware, as well as nature connection work and practices to support resilience. Apply by 31 January 2026! 

Who This Retreat Is For

This weekend is open to people aged 18–30, who:

  • Feel isolated, overwhelmed, or emotionally affected by the climate and wider meta-crisis
  • Or who would simply value connection with others who care, and need space to pause  from the pressures of activism or work 

 

What the Weekend Will Involve

Time in nature and with each other. This might include 

  • Walks and quiet moments outdoors
  • Facilitated spaces to share and process feelings about climate breakdown
  • Simple, restorative landwork
  • Light shared tasks such as food preparation
  • Campfires, stargazing, and informal time together

 

Dates

Friday 17 April – Sunday 19 April 2026

 

Location 

The retreat venue is a farm in Derbyshire, UK. The address will be shared when places are confirmed. 

 

Who Will Be Holding the Space

The retreat will be hosted and facilitated by Sarah Hinds and Pete Visscher, both registered therapists and members of the Climate Psychology Alliance, with many years of experience supporting students and young activists.

They will be joined by Miriam McDonald, who regularly welcomes groups of young people to her farm for nature-connection work. One or two additional Climate Psychology Alliance members will also be present to support the weekend and offer one-to-one support if needed.

All facilitators have experience supporting young people living with climate distress and people affected by different forms of oppression. 

 

Cost and Accessibility

Thanks to funding from the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global, venue hire and facilitator time are largely subsidised. Participants are asked to contribute toward catering costs only, which cover breakfasts, dinners and lunch on Saturday. 

Please note: The fee does not include snacks, Sunday lunch, or travel costs.

Young people from outside the UK are welcome to apply but please note travel costs must be self-funded. 

We use a sliding scale so that people can contribute according to their circumstances:

  • Concession: £30 - If you are unemployed or full-time students
  • Standard: £60 - if you are earning below £30,000 per year
  • Higher: £120 - if you are earning over £30,000 per year, or feel financially able to support the retreat at this level

 

How to Apply

Please complete this form by 31 January 2026.

We will be in touch during February 2026 to let you know whether we can offer you a place.

 

Testimonials 

Here's what some of last year's participants thought about the retreat:

"I'm extremely grateful for the weekend. This held space for grief and healing is exactly what is needed in activism, and I wish for a would where everyone has access to beautiful support like this. Thank you for a wonderful and restorative experience."

 

"It was so amazing and Sarah, Gareth, Pete and Mim all did a great job to organise the weekend. We had a schedule but it was very loose and there was no rush to do anything so it created a really relaxing and supportive environment that allowed me to have beautiful moments of connection with other young people who also care passionately about the environment. I would love to do it again."

 

"Thank you so much for facilitating this space. It is very deeply appreciated and has nourished a space for processing the tucked-away pain of traumatic experiences from different points of my climate activism journey, as well as nurtured a sense of social connection to comrades and fellow human beings; from strangers to friends."

 

If this sounds like something you'd like to be part of, we'd love to hear from you. If you have any questions please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Meeting Nature: A Group Relations Conference with Humans and Nature as Participants (four-day conference, 10th–13th September 2026)

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What changes when we recognise the deep interdependence between ourselves, our organisations and the natural world?

 

This event is for anyone who wants to develop their role in challenging the ways we think and act in our organisations and beyond when it comes to nature,

Accelerating climate change, rapid loss of biodiversity, and increasing scarcity of natural resources reveal that “business as usual” can’t take us much further. Many of us feel this, yet don’t have spaces to explore the deeper forces shaping our (unconscious) responses. This conference offers such a space.

Nature doesn’t speak using human language, but it communicates all the time. We know this through science. But being part of it, or being connected to nature and other species happens through our bodies, and is largely unconscious.

By examining the unconscious dynamics that guide our relationship with nature, participants of the conference begin to notice blind spots, reconnect with systemic awareness, and rethink leadership and community life on an interconnected planet. An exploration that makes most sense if we invite nature to be part of it. Which means nature engaging through its many other species and the many energies around (weather, light, temperature, sun and moon, birth-growth-maturation-death).

 

Immersed in Nature

Working with unconscious processes in relation to nature’s agency is most powerful when we are in direct contact with the natural world. That is why this conference takes place in a forest setting in the Netherlands, immersed in nature and offering accommodation on site. Here, nature is not a backdrop but a co-participant in the learning process.

 

What We Will Explore

Together, we will explore questions such as:

  • How aware are we and can we be — as individuals and organisations — of nature’s presence?
  • How do we relate and respond to that presence?
  • To what extent do we integrate or ignore the natural world in our work?
  • What can nature teach us about authority, boundaries, and collaboration?
  • How does nature itself participate in our organisations and work?
  • How do we experience natural cycles in the rhythms of our collective lives and work, and how do we feel somatically both what is going on in nature and between us?
  • How do we include the natural world in our leadership and roles?

 

What Makes This Conference Unique

  • You will not learn about systems — you will experience them.
  • You will engage in meaning making while treating nature as a stakeholder in organisational life.
  • You will become aware of how unconscious processes shape our relationship with the natural world.
  • You will experience a shift in the understanding of roles and boundaries in leading and following, when we invite nature in.

 

What You Will Gain

By the end of the conference, you will have:

  • Strengthened your capacity for being fully present, for deep listening, and for systemic sensitivity
  • A renewed sense of connection to the living world
  • Inspiration, reflections and ideas for reintegrating nature into your professional practice
  • Deep insight into roles, behaviours, and assumptions at individual, group- and organisational levels in relation to nature
  • Awareness of culturally determined dynamics shaping our (unconscious) responses to the environment

 

A Living Learning Organisation

The conference functions as a temporary organisation for learning.

There are no lectures — learning emerges from shared experiences and interactions.

You will take part in:

  • Small & large study groups – exploring group and interpersonal dynamics
  • Nature-based sessions – engaging directly with the more-than-human world, with the dark, with fire – including bivvying in the forest should you feel called
  • Embodied practices – movement, silence, sensing, and working with dreams 
  • Intergroup and system events – exploring boundaries between human and non-human systems
  • Integration & reflection spaces – connecting insights back to your professional life

 

Who Should Attend

This conference is designed for professionals working with people, systems, and change, including:

  • Leaders, (governmental) policymakers, and NGO professionals in sustainability and ecology
  • Growers, healers, activists and anyone curious about the boundaries between human and more-than-human systems
  • Organisational consultants, facilitators, and team coaches working in the field of sustainability
  • Representatives of religious communities
  • Psychologists and therapists working in the field of climate and nature

No prior experience with Group Relations is required — only an openness to reflect, experience, and learn in new ways. However, do contact us if you have any questions about participation.

 

Venue

Quadenoord Estate, an enchanting 230-hectare area, is tucked away on the northern edge of the Renkums Beekdal, on the Veluwse Zoom. This adventurous estate is home to a rich variety of plants and animals, offering a paradise for being immersed in nature. Quadenoord can be reached by public transport.The nearest train station is Ede Wageningen; a train station easily connected to international trains and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

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Conference Staff

Director, Rembrandt Zegers

Organising committee: Anna-Rosa le Roux, Niels van Steenbergen, Rembrandt Zegers

Consultants: This conference functions with the help of ‘consultants’ - staff whose role it is to keep the Group Relations approach in the work all members of the group (including staff) will be doing together. The full list of consultants will be shared in due course.

Guests: Some guests who have first-hand experience in meeting with nature and leading with nature in mind will be invited to join for some time in the conference and be accessible for conference members to have conversations with.

 

How to register your interest

If you'd like to reserve a place, or simply know more, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You'll then be sent the application form for personal information like dietary needs. Acceptance to the conference is limited to 30 - 35 participants.

 

Fees and Discounts

We intend to make this event accessible for all who wish to join. See Sponsorship below.

Fees cover conference participation, accommodation and meals. Travel is not included. The conference organisers will be happy to advise you about travel in the Netherlands. We'll be staying in spacious, comfortable tents with real beds and excellent bathroom facilities close by.

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Sponsorship

The organisers wish to welcome a wide range of people to this event including those most active in organisations and groups trying to protect the environment who are often not, or not well, paid.

The financial support of those who can afford it is welcomed. If you are willing and able to sponsor someone to attend, please choose the Pay it Forward rate, or please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to donate a different amount and become a sponsor.

 

Cancellation policy

If your cancellation request is received not later than 45 days prior to the start of the conference, conference fees minus 10% will be reimbursed to you. After that time credit is 50% of the registration fee. No refunds or credits can be issued on cancellation requests received less than 21 days prior to the start of the conference.

 

FAQs

Do I need prior experience in Group Relations?

No. Curiosity and willingness to engage with the process are all that’s required.

 

Will the program involve outdoor activities?

Yes. Nature is a co-participant in this experience, and some sessions will take place outdoors.

If you have other questions, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

 

Featured

We're hiring! Four part-time paid positions and one voluntary position

 

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The Climate Psychology Alliance is hiring!

We have four part-time, paid positions for people who want to join our growing community and help shape the collective response to our worsening climate crisis

 

Closing date 31 October 2025. Interviews in November. All roles available immediately, for one year in the first instance with the possibility of renewal. 

We are also seeking a voluntary Co-Treasurer.

Jump to individual roles by following the links here, or scroll down to see all of them:

1. Administrative coordinator

2. Inner Climate Response Alliance youth coordinator

3. CPA youth coordinator

4. Inner Climate Response Alliance community resilience coordinator

5. Co-Treasurer (voluntary role)

 

1. Administrative coordinator (10 hours/week)

Do you have administrative experience and strong self-organising and planning skills? Can you use your own initiative to create an end product (an event, for example, or an improved work process) while keeping mutual trust and developing relationships? Do you like making admin processes run smoothly? Maybe you could be our new administrative coordinator.

Leading on membership processes, record-keeping, and organising internal events, you’ll work alongside our communications coordinator to keep CPA’s processes and relationships functioning well. The role is at the centre of the culture of care that CPA seeks to create in its work and working practices. You’ll receive support from the voluntary coordinating group which meets weekly, and you will have regular supervision from an established member of CPA. 

Funded until 30 April 2027, thanks in part to National Lottery players and the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global. Appointment for one year in the first instance. More details of the role and how to apply

 

2. Inner Climate Response Alliance youth coordinator (8 hours/week)

Are you a community facilitator or psychologist with knowledge of the intergenerational aspects of the climate crisis? Could you use your psychological knowledge and community experience to foster connection, support and understanding of the needs of young people among peers working with climate activists? Come and be the youth coordinator for the Inner Climate Response Alliance (ICRA).

You will support practitioners to work in their own communities to grow capacity for psychological or ‘inner’ work in relation to climate action and adaptation, and link to other communities doing inner work of this kind. Within this framework you will have a particular focus on youth-focused activities, initiating and supporting a Youth Forum within ICRA.

Funded until 31 May 2030, thanks to National Lottery players. Appointment for one year in the first instance. More details of the role and how to apply here

 

3. CPA youth coordinator (8 hours/week)

Do you have lived experience of the psychological needs of children and young people in relation to climate breakdown?  Could you use your own experiences to support engagement with children and young people? Might you be able to enable people from older generations to understand intergenerational injustice, facilitating intergenerational dialogue and improving support for children and young adults? We hope you’ll apply to be CPA youth coordinator.

In the role you’d be working alongside an existing youth coordinator and your roles would be similar, with close teamwork invited. You would support CPA to engage and support young people, and support older people to better meet the needs of children and young people during a time of climate breakdown. You would lead on the development of CPA’s Students and Young Members’ group and work alongside the other youth coordinator and the ICRA youth coordinator to develop CPA’s offerings. 

Funded until 30 April 2027, thanks to a grant from the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Global. Appointment for one year in the first instance. More details of the role and how to apply 

 

4. Inner Climate Response Alliance community resilience coordinator (11 hours/week)

Are you a community facilitator looking to play your part in the collective response to our worsening climate crisis? Could you use your psychological knowledge and community experience to foster connection and support among peers working with climate activists?  Do you have a deep understanding of the links between social justice and the climate crisis? Then please apply to be CPA’s ICRA community resilience coordinator!

You would support CPA members and other practitioners to work in their own communities to grow capacity for inner work in relation to climate action and adaptation, and link to other communities doing inner work of this kind. You would work with colleagues in the Climate Majority Project to support the growth of inner work for climate action in specific communities.

Funded until 31 May 2030, thanks to National Lottery players. Appointment for one year in the first instance. More details of the role and how to apply

 

5. Co-Treasurer (voluntary role, hours to be agreed with the appointee)

 Do you have the ability to think financially? Do you have an eye for detail? Do you want to make a contribution to CPA’s important work on the emotional dimension of the climate and ecological crisis? We’re seeking a co-treasurer. You would work alongside our existing experienced treasurer, and the supportive coordinating group within CPA, to ensure that our financial planning and record-keeping is keeping pace with our needs as we move into managing much bigger budgets. This is a voluntary role. More details can be found here. 

Please share this opportunity with anyone you know who has the skills we are looking for. 

 

Important information

We seek to acknowledge systemic oppression, challenge assumptions and support an inclusive and diverse community. We particularly encourage applications from candidates who are from marginalised groups. 

By ‘inner work’ we mean a diverse range of approaches that support individuals, groups and communities to process the feelings and thoughts that come from engaging with the climate crisis, such that they can build stronger, more resilient relationships and better engage in action without becoming overwhelmed. We recognise that 'inner work' cannot be separated from the relational and socio-material contexts in which individuals and communities live.

 

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Three of the four posts advertised here have some or all of their funding from the Inner Climate Response Alliance, a new partnership made up of the Mindfulness Initiative (MI), the Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) and Climate Majority Project (CMP). The Inner Climate Response Alliance is bringing together the first UK-wide community of practice for people holding the inner dimension of our climate and global crisis. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are deeply grateful to have received almost £1.5m for this new project to support communities with the emotional impact of the climate crisis over the next five years.

This comes from the Climate Action Fund, a £100 million commitment over 10 years from The National Lottery Community Fund to support communities across the UK to take action on climate change and involve more people in climate action.

More paid opportunities within the Inner Climate Response Alliance will be announced soon - check out our website or subscribe to our Substack to stay in touch with us.

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Climate Psychology Alliance

The Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) is a membership organisation whose purpose is to explore psychological responses to the climate crisis in order to strengthen relationships and resilience for a just future. CPA has over 700 members who are predominantly from the psychological professions and psychosocial and arts academics, but we welcome anyone exploring the psychology and soul of our current ecological crisis. We see the climate and ecological crisis as inextricably linked with racism and coloniality, and have a commitment to decolonising our own working practices.

Our work falls into the following six areas:

  1. Support to individuals and groups suffering with eco distress and offer safe spaces to share emotions surrounding the climate crisis
  2. Young people – we are especially concerned with the impact of the climate crisis on young people
  3. Research and reflection on the psychological impact of the climate crisis and climate injustice
  4. Training and events - continuing professional development and educational and community development
  5. Talks and consultancy for organisations and businesses
  6. Membership with the opportunity for co-creation and making links to support members’ work on the climate crisis

 

About Us

We are a diverse community of therapeutic practitioners, thinkers, researchers, artists and others. We believe that attending to the psychology and emotions of the climate and ecological crisis is at the heart of our work.

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