Building Hope: Psychological Contributions to a Roadmap for Climate Action

Description

15th Annual Psychology Day at the United Nations

Building Hope: Psychological Contributions to a Roadmap for Climate Action

BACKGROUND

The 15^th Psychology Day at the United Nations is a program of the Psychology Coalition at the United Nations (PCUN). The Coalition consists of psychological Nongovernmental organizations which have received recognition due to their accreditation by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. APA is one of the NGO members of the PCUN. The Psychology Day is an annual event. Our APA representative this year is Gabe Twose. We are also grateful to APA for lending us an Intern, Josephine, who has assisted us last year and is currently involved with this year’s preparation on behalf of APA.

 

CE is $99 for non-members and FREE for Members – join the Society of Clinical Psychology now HERE.

 

ABSTRACT

Climate change is the biggest collective action challenge facing our generation. Its impacts are already being observed: temperatures are rising, drought and wildfires occur more frequently, rainfall patterns are shifting, glaciers and snow are melting, and the global mean sea level is rising. Climate change is a unique challenge as addressing it is beyond the reach of any single country, sector or individual, thus raising issues of stakeholder heterogeneity in willingness and ability, social dilemma, and interdependence – observing who is participating and contributing to judge whether to join and how much to contribute. Climate change is also experienced at the individual level, impacting health (mental and physical) through exposure to events such as natural disasters, shrinking of resources, or group conflicts. The perception that the challenge is intractable also leads to worry, anxiety, and “eco-

paralysis.” The Psychology Day program for 2022 will bring together science and practice of psychology to discuss the latest psychological research on Climate Change, and evidence-based strategies that can assist the UN and other groups to mitigate and adapt more effectively to the challenges of emerging from changing climate. 4 Doctoral level psychologists will be presenting as well as an architect with MSc in Environmental Psychology.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

1. Participants will be able to describe the the psychological profile of climate skeptics, globally.

 

2. Participants will be able to define the impact of Climate Change on the Global South and Marginalised groups in the North.

 

3. Participants will be able to identify 5 ways of promoting climate-friendly behaviors.

 

4. Participants will be able to describe 2 techniques for dealing with climate burnout and staying resilient.

 

5. Participants will be able to describe two concepts in architectural design about enhancing mental health and physical wellbeing.

 

 

FORMAT

SYMPOSIUM. PowerPoint/paper presentation.

DURATION

3 hours. 11 AM ET – 2 PM ET

 

PREREQUISITE: none

 

AUDIENCE: Beginner/intermediate/Advanced

 

Tentative Program

11 AM: Welcome Address (TBD)

 

11:05 AM: Pre-recorded Welcome Address by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly

 

11:10 AM: Introduction to Topic by Program Co-Chairs Building Hope: Psychological Contributions to a Roadmap for Climate Action

 

11:15-1:30: Speakers’ Presentation

 

1:30 PM: Discussion, Q&A and Wrap-up

 

APA CE CONTACT:

Kalyani Gopal, PhD, HSPP

2022 Co-CHAIRS Psychology Day at the United Nations

USA

Kalyani Gopal, PhD, HSPP.

President, Division 12, Society of Clinical Psychology, American Psychological Association (APA), MAL, Committee of State Leaders, APA, Commissioner, APA Commission on Accreditation. Past President, Illinois Psychological Association, President, SAFE Coalition for Human Rights, Special Status ECOSOC Accredited NGO with the United Nations, President, Mid-America Psychological and Counseling Services, PC. Indiana, Illinois, Florida

Address: 9335 Calumet Ave, Suite D, Munster, Indiana, USA Email: kgopalphd@gmail.com

Telephone: 219-513-8508 (w) Mobile: 219-730-4624

Netherlands

Prof Dr Vera Araújo-Soares, Lic., MSc., PhD., FEHPS,

Professor of Health Psychology & Planetary Health, Health Technology & Services Research European Health Psychology Society (EHPS, https://ehps.net), Executive Committee, Past President

Psychology Coalition at the United Nations (PCUN; http://psychologycoalitionun.org/), Regional Vice President University of Twente I Faculty of Behavioural, Management & Social Sciences (BMS), I www.utwente.nl/bms/htsr Technical Medical Centre (Technohal), room 3303 I

Visiting address: Hallenweg 5 I 7522 NH Enschede Address: Post office box 217 I 7500 AE Enschede E-mail: vera.araujo-soares@utwente.nl Telephone: +31 (0)53 489 4857

E-mail: vera.araujo-soares@utwente.nl

Israel

Dr Efrat Neter, Associate Professor

Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, Co editor-in-chief Psychology Coalition at the United Nations, Secretary

Address: Ruppin Academic Center, Emeq Hefer, Israel 4025000 E-Mail addresses: neter@ruppin.ac.il; efrat.neter@gmail.com Telephone: +972-9-8981352; mobile +972-54-6462677

 

SPEAKERS

Selection Process: The Speakers were selected and vetted by the Psychology Coalition Program Committee and finalized by the Program Chairs. PCUN Program Committee Co-Chair, Dr Janet Segal, psychologist, and her Interns provided initial background information regarding the speakers and compiled the final scores for selection of speakers based on subject matter expertise, diversity, presentation skills, and availability of corroborative information. The list was shared via survey for ranking in December 2021 to all Program Committee members and 21 speakers were ranked in order of desirability with APA sending 4 possible names from the various divisions. Drs. Efrat Netter and Vera Araujo-Soares contacted the final four speakers once final rankings were obtained for the four sub-disciplines of psychology: 1. Social, 2. Environmental, 3. Health, and 4. Clinical.

 

1.     Matthew Hornsey, PhD (Queensland, Australia)

Contact Information:

Professor Dr. Matthew Hornsey Management Discipline Leader School of Business

Faculty of Business, Economics and Law

Email: m.hornsey@business.uq.edu.au Telephone: +61 7 344 31218

 

Biography:

Prof. Matthew Hornsey graduated from a PhD in social psychology in 1999. Since then, he has published over 170 papers, mostly on themes of intergroup communication; trust and trust repair; and sustainability and climate change. His most recent work focuses on understanding (and reducing) people’s motivations to reject scientific consensus, including the psychology of climate skeptics. He has received multiple research and teaching awards and has served as an associate editor of three journals including Australian Journal of Psychology and Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. His studies have been published in top journals such as Nature Climate Change and Global Environmental Change, and has been highlighted in hundreds of media articles, including in the NY Times, LA Times, The

Guardian, and Huffington Post. Prof. Hornsey is currently Director of the Business Sustainability Initiative at The University of Queensland, a multi-disciplinary team of academics tasked with the goal of providing thought leadership and practical solutions for a climate-changed and resource-constrained future. He is also a co-investigator in the Rapid Switch initiative, which seeks to identify, anticipate, and communicate industrial, regulatory, and social constraints that might impact the pace of decarbonisation of the global economy.

 

Title: Understanding (and reducing) Climate Change Skepticism

 

Abstract:

A source of frustration for climate scientists is that evidence for anthropogenic climate change can be discounted because of people’s broader worldviews and ideologies. Drawing on data from around the world, I describe the psychological profile of climate skeptics, and explain why merely providing evidence is not always sufficient to change their minds. I then describe a model of persuasion that places emphasis on promoting climate-friendly behaviour by aligning with (rather than competing with) people’s underlying ideologies, anxieties, and identity needs. The results are discussed with an eye to the implications for science communication in a range of different disciplines.

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1. Describe the motivations behind discounting climate change
2. Describe the the psychological profile of climate skeptics, globally
3. Identify ways of promoting climate-friendly behavior
4. Associate/connect principles in science communication to persuasion

 

2. Brendon Barnes, PhD (Johannesburg, South Africa)

Contact Information:

Faculty of Humanities

PhD: University of the Witwatersrand

Telephone:011 599 3132 | +27 82 4487782

(WhatsApp) E-mail:          bbarnes@uj.ac.za

Website: www.uj.ac.za | https://www.uj.ac.za/members/brendon-barnes/

Office: Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, 423, C Ring

 

Biography:

Dr Barnes’ research focuses is on psychology, environment, and health in the global South. He has worked on studies of air pollution, urban housing, lead poisoning, mercury, as well as water and sanitation. I contribute to this field in the following ways: to identify the association between toxic environments and child development, to deepen and critique the concept of

‘behaviour’ in environmental health, to understand the role of activism in environmental health promotion, and to develop the research methodologies we use to study environment and health. Key projects include the behaviour and household air pollution project; the household, environment, and development (HEAD) study and the politics of environmental health project. He teaches in the areas of health psychology, public health, and research methodology at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.

 

Title: Psychology and Climate Action in the Global South: Local Realities, Digital Futures

 

Abstract:

The world is experiencing unprecedented heating, pollution, climate displacement, biodiversity loss and natural disasters. People in the global South and marginalised groups in the North are disproportionately affected. Psychology has a vital role to play in the fight against climate change. However, for psychology to have increased global significance, it needs a clearer focus on the local realities of marginalised people, including the widespread but overlooked use of online and digital platforms. This talk focuses on how climate injustices can be mitigated through digital platforms and technologies in the global South. For example, digital climate activism fosters citizen participation in online spaces, information sharing, mobilisation, contestation, and advocacy. Digital platforms allow marginalised groups typically excluded from democratic processes to participate, provide relative (physical) safety, allow participation that is not tied to a specific location, and allow climate movements to decentralise. Digital technologies and platforms also potentially offer services independent of the state and private sector, an important consideration for increasingly distrustful constituents. Rather than viewing the online and real-world as separate, I draw on recent thinking of the reciprocal relationship between digital selves, technology and climate action. I focus on four areas worthy of psychologists’ attention in the global South: making climate and psychology evidence digitally accessible, developing accessible digital technologies for interventions, actively changing digital media representations, and using psychological theory and practice to enhance digital climate mobilisation.

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1. Define the impact of Climate Change on the Global South and Marginalised groups in the North.
2. Describe the role of psychology in the fight against climate change.
3. List the ways in which climate injustices can be mitigated through digital platforms.

 

3. Ann DeSmet, PhD (Belgium)

Contact Information:

Professor Dr. Ann DeSmet

Head of Research Center for the Promotion of Health, Prosocial Behavior and Wellbeing (PACE)

Université Libre de Bruxelles 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt (DC9-106) B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

Tel. +32 2 650 32 82

Email: Ann.Desmet@ulb.be

 

Biography:

Dr. Ann DeSmet is a psychologist and behaviour change researcher with an interest in persuasive technology and methods that have the potential to engage users in healthy and prosocial behaviour, such as serious games, mobile apps, social media, chatbots and narratives. She is a professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and at University of Antwerp. Previously she worked on projects related to cyberbullying, mental health care and promotion, patient-provider communication, illegal drugs, cancer prevention and psychosocial care. Her current research focusses on developing and evaluating digital communication interventions for promoting physical, social and mental health by enhancing healthy lifestyles (e.g., physical activity, sleep, healthy diet, low sedentary behaviour) in youth, adults, and older adults.

 

Title of Presentation: Promoting Planetary Health Behaviours by Addressing Spill-over and Shared Underlying Determinants.

 

Abstract:

Health and environment are linked in many ways: they impact each other, there is in the long run indeed no individual health if the planet is in poor health; some behaviours can benefit both individual health and the environment; and they share some common predictors, which all suggests that health and pro-environmental behaviours could and should be targeted jointly. Doing so would kill two birds with one stone, or in a more environmentally friendly version, feed two birds with one seed. This talk will consider how healthy lifestyle behaviours and pro-environmental behaviours are connected and explore potential future intervention strategies. For both health and pro-environmental behaviours, a change in multiple behaviours is needed to create a planetary health impact. When targeting multiple behaviours, effectiveness can be reduced when negative spill-over effects occur (when a behaviour reduces the chance of adopting a next one). Effectiveness can also increase due to positive spill- over, e.g., when increased skills or self-efficacy increase the likelihood of an additional behaviour. I will discuss how spill-over effects may occur and share some research findings on self-reported spill-over within health behaviours, pro-environmental behaviours, and between health and pro-environmental behaviours. Targeting health and pro-environmental behaviour together can moreover be facilitated when behaviours spontaneously cluster together. For example, in health behaviours, there is often a high co-occurrence of smoking and drinking behaviours. Finding behaviours that are adopted jointly or to a similar extent can indicate they perform a similar function, occur in similar contexts, and can be addressed in a combined behaviour change intervention. We explored such interconnections between five health-promoting behaviours and five pro-environmental behaviours and indeed found co-occurrences between certain health and pro-environmental behaviours.

Lastly, behaviours can share predictors, and when targeting those predictors, we may have a ripple effect of change across several behaviours. Such predictors can be situated at several levels, such as community (e.g., socio-economic factors), social (e.g., perceived support, collective efficacy), individual (e.g., values and identity) and behavioural level (e.g., attitudes). In sum, the existence of co- occurrence, shared underlying determinants and spill-over effects between health and pro-environmental behaviours offers opportunities for integrated interventions. I want to highlight in this talk the potential and need to jointly address health and pro- environmental behaviours, and how the integration of insights from social, health and environmental psychology can help us achieve this.

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1. Participants will be able to identify what are health-promoting and pro-environmental behaviours
2. Participants will be able to describe the psychological similarities and differences between these two types of behaviours
3. Participants will be able to be able to define what are spill-over effects
4. Participants will be able to understand co-occurrence between behaviours and how can this be harnessed to develop better interventions

 

4. Wendy Greenspun, PhD (New York, United States)

Contact Information:

Wendy Greenspun, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist

60 W. 10th St., Suite 6B New York, NY 10011

Contact Phone: 212-674-7785

Contact Email: Wendy Greenspun wendygreenspunphd@gmail.com

https://www.climatepsychology.us/recorded-talks/what-is-a-climate-aware-therapist-with-wendy-greenspun-phd

 

Biography:

Dr Wendy Greenspun is a clinical psychologist and faculty at the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis and the Adelphi University Postgraduate Program in Marriage and Couples Therapy. She has written and presented on how mental health clinicians can engage with the climate crisis and provided workshops for environmental students and activists on building resilience in the face of climate distress. She is a board member of the Climate Psychology Alliance-North America and in private practice in Manhattan.

 

Title for presentation: From Tears to Hope and Courage: A Clinical Psychology Perspective on the Climate Crisis

 

Abstract:

Dr Greenspun will discuss how psychologists can become “climate aware” and describe techniques for dealing with climate burnout and staying resilient.

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1. Participants will be able to identify 3 techniques for dealing with climate burnout and staying resilient.
2. Participants will be able to identify the phases of becoming climate aware.

5.  Anju Sara Abraham, MSc, BArch (Architecture)

Contact Information:

Designation: Assistant Professor

University: SRM Institute of Science and Technology Bachelor of Architecture – Sathyabama University, Chennai MSc in Environmental Psychology – University of Surrey, UK Email: anjusara@srmist.edu.in

Ph. No: +918606840273 WhatsApp / 8075306947

 

Biography:

Ms. Anju Sara Abraham lectures on Environmental and Behavior, self-identity and place attachment, architectural psychology, interior design. She has worked as a Senior Architect with Rakshith Builders Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India for three years. She is a member of the Council of Architecture and the Indian Institute of Architects.

 

Title: Using Architecture and Design to Promote Mental Health and Enhance Positive Climate Action

 

Abstract:

Ms. Abraham will present on using architecture in terms of human behaviour and emotions rather than just the physical aspects of the design. Environmental Psychology has helped her to carve her thinking in such a way, as to think about designing spaces that matter. The present talk will focus on the environmental psychological theories and research findings using space as a platform for human behaviour and how minuscule changes in the design can alter one’s behaviour and mood in the space. Some of the theories she tends to use on a day-to-day basis will be the restoration effects of natural environments and the factors involving environmental behaviour in public places. Regarding residential design, she makes use of the theories involving place attachment, place memory and will discuss ways in which participants can effectively engage in climate action.

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1. Participants will be able to describe two concepts in architectural design about enhancing mental wellbeing
2. Participants will identify 2 key components of self-identity and place attachment as it relates to climate action