Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.
~Dr. Seuss in The Lorax

Presence and Connection for Climate Action in Community

Dear Subscriber First Name

In previous years, I shared in this newsletter about the class at the University of California Santa Cruz (UC SC) that I am part of.
As we start the third instantiation of this Spring quarter class on the Santa Cruz campus at the end of the month - and on all other 9 University of California campuses, I am wanting to share more about the overall UC Eco Resilience Initiative, my class at UC SC, and its impact.

Let’s start with a little background.

From the official website:

The UC Eco Resilience Initiative is led by Drs. Elissa Epel at UC San Francisco, Jyoti Mishra at UC San Diego and Philippe Goldin at UC Davis. Together, these leaders have expertise in the psychology and physiology of the human stress response (Epel), the impacts of climate trauma on the human brain, cognition and mental health (Mishra), and the neuroscience of contemplative practices and sustainability education (Goldin). This initiative is part of the UC wide Center for Climate, Health, and Equity, and we actively collaborate with national and community mental health leaders such as the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. 

Mission: To develop and promote climate resilience education and resources within the UC community and disseminate these to the wider public nationally and internationally.​

News: Our initiative has been featured in the Nature magazine, the BBC, NPR, Sierra Club Podcast and UC News!

The course is designed to promote collective hope, empowerment, and climate action within a community. It offers both educational content through online video lectures curated from climate action leaders and in-person experiential sessions.

At UC SC, I am part of a teaching team of four. My role is - to teach mindfulness, compassion, emotional regulation, self-efficacy and agency, - to lead nature-based meditations, and - to orient and support students in their climate action projects. I also include poetry every time I have a chance.

An important part of this initiative is the study of the students mental health at the beginning, at the end, and 5 months post course. A paper titled “Effects of a Novel Psychosocial Climate Resilience Course on Climate Distress, Self-Efficacy, and Mental Health in Young Adults” was published last year. Quoting the results of the study from the paper’s abstract:

From baseline to immediately post course completion in 150 of 190 (79%) assessment responders, students showed significantly reduced climate distress, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and enhanced climate self-efficacy. Course-related reductions in climate distress were associated with (a) lower depressive symptoms and (b) greater coping with climate emotions. Secondary outcomes showed increases in actions taken to combat climate change, community belonging, altruism for climate causes, and decreases in climate-related loneliness. At 5 months post course, improvements were sustained for primary outcomes (climate distress, depression, anxiety, stress, and three of four facets of climate efficacy).

Each class focuses on developing presence, remembering connection, and taking action. Most classes are held outdoors. On the UC Santa Cruz campus, we are blessed with many options for beautiful natural settings from redwood groves to grassy meadows with wildflowers and expansive ocean views to the Arboretum & Botanic Garden with its diversity of ecosystems.

If you have loved ones in the UC system, please let them know about the course. Except for UC Merced and UC Berkeley which are on the semester system, all other campuses are currently enrolling, with two classes offered on the UCLA campus. Additionally, on some campuses (including UC SC), the course satisfies General Ed requirements.
At UCSF, the class is now open to all UCSF students, faculty, and staff across schools.

We knew it, but the results of the study scientifically show it: inner resilience is necessary for outer resilience and climate action. Mindfulness and other contemplation practices especially when held in a natural environment and with the support of a community are key.

Curious to learn more? Visit the initiative website.

It was Fall 2020 when I first offered my Climate Action Coaching program for individuals The Future We Choose. Based on the eponymous book by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, the principles in that program are similar to the principles in the UC Eco Resilience Initiative: inner work, nature connection and climate action. As the founders of the Climate Coaching Alliance, Alyson Whybrow, Dr. Josie McLean, and Eve Turner wrote in the original CCA mission statement: “If we are magnificently successful, our current role will no longer be needed by 2025”, I would have hoped that these programs be obsolete in 2026 and that we would be on our way to a greener, safer, more beautiful future.

Well, unfortunately my program, this UC system wide initiative, and the Climate Coaching Alliance are still widely needed.

As Bill McKibben just wrote: “Sooner or later we’ll wake up” but …. until then the work continues.

Warmly,

Anne-Marie
March 10, 2026
(Yesterday, from co2.earth, 430.65 ppm of atmospheric CO2, last year 429.04 ppm, safe level 350)

PS: Please be in touch for further information.

Poem: Spring by Rumi