Research and resources, shaped by those doing the work

This article is published in the first journal issue produced by the Australian Earth Laws Alliance's "Earth Ethics Program", which offers a space for people to explore ideas and actions that stem from our interconnectedness with, and dependence upon, the living world. Our ethical values are critically important; the way we think about ourselves and understand our world informs the governance systems that guide our societies, so our ethical world view is a critical part of the roots for larger change.

Sally Gillespie in conversation with Bonnie Bright, from the Earth, Climate, Dreams Symposium (2017) — one of a 12-part series bringing together Jungian psychotherapists, depth psychologists and climate scientists. Gillespie, a Jungian psychotherapist and researcher at Western Sydney University's Social Ecology department, explores why engaging with climate change requires depth psychological approaches: attending to dream life, unconscious responses, and the emotional and imaginative dimensions of what it means to live with the reality of climate crisis. The series brings together contributors including Jeffrey Kiehl (Jungian analyst and senior climate scientist) and Robert Romanyshyn (Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute).

Sally Gillespie's talk on building climate resilient communities, drawing on her background in climate psychology and ecopsychology. Gillespie explores the psychological and community dimensions of building resilience in the face of climate crisis, connecting inner emotional work with collective and community-based action.

As ice melts, bushfires, heatwaves and cyclones intensify, many grapple with the question of "what kind of hope, if any, can I hold as climate catastrophe deepens?" To answer this question, we need to not only accept the realities of worsening climate destructions, but also re-examine the nature and agency of hope in the face of existential crisis.

Good climate reporting informs us about the complex consequences of a heating planet. In order to also act as a catalyst for change, climate campaigners need to acknowledge the complex emotional responses their stories stir while highlighting avenues for personal and collective action.

This study explores how reindeer-herding Sami communities in Sweden perceive and experience the limits of resilience in the face of climate change. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the authors examine how shifting weather patterns, unpredictable snow and ice conditions, and changing vegetation are affecting traditional reindeer husbandry practices that are central to Sami livelihood, culture and identity. Participants describe a sense of encroaching limits to their capacity to adapt, as traditional ecological knowledge built up over generations becomes less reliable in the face of rapidly shifting conditions. The study situates these experiences within a broader discussion of resilience as a concept, questioning whether it can be usefully applied to communities facing climate impacts that may exceed adaptive capacity altogether, and calls for greater attention to Indigenous perspectives on climate resilience and its limits within climate policy and research.