This paper argues that ecovillages are places where students can learn hands-on techniques to reduce their climate-anxiety and conclude by suggesting that HEI should initiate cooperation with local ecovillages to improve the problem of climate-anxiety among students.
Climate-anxiety is a growing mental health issue among the public and particularly among students in sustainability-related fields in Higher Education Institutions (HEI). The research field of climate-anxiety has emerged after 2007, and it also relates to other increasingly relevant mental health responses to environmental destruction, such as eco-anxiety. This study examines how HEI can better address climate-anxiety. Specifically, it investigates whether non-formal actors like ecovillages can help students to cope with climate-anxiety. In this context, climate-anxiety is party attributed to the way HEI teach about it. While education on climate change overly addresses cognitive learning, social and emotional learning are neglected.
Ecovillages are increasingly recognising their role in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and, through novel pedagogical approaches, can balance the shortcomings of HEI. Exploring the capacity of ecovillages for ESD and coping with climate-anxiety, the study includes five case studies of distinct ecovillages on three continents. The aim is on how educational tourism to ecovillages can help students to cope with climate-anxiety. This study found that lecturers do not sufficiently address climate-anxiety in HEI or Student Mental Health Services (SMHS) in Sweden.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Aim and Research Question
1.2 Outline
2 Theoretical Framework
2.1 Experiential Learning Theory
2.2 Transformative Learning Theory
2.3 Environmental Ethics and Deep Ecology
3 Literature Review
3.1 Climate-Anxiety
3.1.1 Definition and Types of Climate-Anxiety
3.1.2 Research about Climate-Anxiety in ESD and HEI
3.1.3 Coping with Climate-Anxiety
3.2 The Ecovillage
3.2.1 Definition and General Description
3.2.2 Educational Tourism to Ecovillages
4 Methodology
4.1 Research Design
4.1.1 Description of Research areas
4.1.2 Questionnaire Design
4.1.3 Research Ethics
4.2 Data Analysis and Sampling
5 Empirical findings
5.1 Students
5.1.1 Coping strategies for Climate-Anxiety among Students
5.1.2 Students Perception of the Support for Dealing with Climate-Anxiety
5.1.3 The Students’ Motivation for Visiting an Ecovillage and the Outcome of the Visit
5.1.4 Outcome of the Study Visit on Coping with Climate-Anxiety
5.2 Student Mental Health Services
5.2.1 Mental Health Problems of Students
5.2.2 Experience with Climate-Anxiety among Students
5.2.3 Treatment
5.3 Lecturers
5.4 Ecovillages
5.4.1 Suderbyn Ecovillage
5.4.2 Kibbutz Lotan
5.4.3 Govardhan Ecovillage
5.4.4 Lost Valley Educational Center at Meadowsong Ecovillage
5.4.5 Sieben Linden Ecovillage
5.4.6 Participant Observation at Sieben Linden Ecovillage
6 Discussion
6.1 Climate-Anxiety among Students in HEI
6.2 Relation between Educational Tourism to Ecovillages and Climate-Anxiety
6.3 Suggestions for Educational Tourism at Ecovillages for Addressing Climate-Anxiety
7 Conclusion
Research Objectives and Focus Areas
This thesis examines how Higher Education Institutions (HEI) can address climate-anxiety among students and investigates whether non-formal actors, specifically ecovillages, can serve as effective destinations for educational tourism to help students cope with these emotional challenges.
- The prevalence and nature of climate-anxiety among students in sustainability-related academic fields.
- The current response of university lecturers and Student Mental Health Services (SMHS) to climate-related psychological distress.
- The potential of experiential learning in ecovillages to foster emotional resilience and sustainable coping strategies.
- Recommendations for integrating ecovillage-based educational tourism into formal higher education frameworks.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.1 Definition and Types of Climate-Anxiety
The first step in answering the research questions was to provide a theoretical framework. Therefore, the last chapter discussed two learning theories and introduced environmental ethics and the WTR. This literature review will address climate-anxiety, ecovillages, and educational tourism, which are all crucial concepts in understanding how climate-anxiety and educational tourism to ecovillages intersect. In the beginning, climate-anxiety will be defined and characterised. Climate-anxiety can be understood as an indirect effect of climate change and is defined as an “anxiety associated with perceptions about climate change” (Clayton, 2020, p.2). The general term of anxiety is considered unease due to uncertainties regarding the future (Pihkala, 2020). At the same time, there are different types of climate-anxiety. For instance, Clayton and Karazsia (2020) regard only an intense form of anxiety as climate-anxiety, which is different from worrying. Hence, they warned against pathologising climate-anxiety.
Similarly, Clayton (2020) argues that climate-anxiety is a reasonable and natural reaction. Furthermore, it might only indicate that an individual cares for the environment and may have implications for individuals’ well-being since the global environmental change and regional ecological decline are increasingly embedded within everyday experience. According to Usher, Durkin and Bhullar (2019), climate-anxiety is a wicked problem since it is a highly complex, increasingly interdependent, multifaceted issue of a planetary scale and nature. We can learn to live with climate-anxiety, but we cannot expect to solve it (Peters, 2018). Nobel (2007, p. 1) notes that “a growing number of people have literally worried themselves sick over a range of doomsday scenarios”. As climate change becomes felt by more people, climate-anxiety will most probably grow (Ray, 2020).
Climate-anxiety, according to Ojala (2017) is connected to existential anxiety, which threatens the entire being on an ontic level (anxiety about physical death), spiritual level (anxiety about meaninglessness), and moral level (anxiety about guilt and condemnation). A literature review has indicated that research only recently began to analyse the connection between climate change and socio-psychological problems. Additionally, a variety of alternative terminology has been identified, such as “eco-anxiety” (Usher, Durkin and Bhullar, 2019) “eco-angst” (Pihkala, 2018), or “solastalgia” (Albrecht, 2005).
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Introduces the growing phenomenon of climate-anxiety, its relevance in sustainability education, and specifies the thesis's aim to explore the link between academic mental health and non-formal educational tourism.
2 Theoretical Framework: Outlines the core theories of Experiential Learning, Transformative Learning, and Environmental Ethics/Deep Ecology that underpin the analysis of educational approaches in ecovillages.
3 Literature Review: Provides an academic synthesis of existing knowledge regarding the definition of climate-anxiety, its presence in higher education, and how ecovillages function as learning laboratories.
4 Methodology: Details the deductive, mixed-method research design, describing the data collection processes involving student surveys, interviews with mental health professionals, and case studies of global ecovillages.
5 Empirical findings: Presents the primary qualitative and quantitative data gathered from students at Uppsala University, Swedish/German mental health services, and five specific ecovillage case studies.
6 Discussion: Integrates the findings to explain how climate-anxiety is currently addressed, acknowledges regional limitations, and proposes structural improvements for integrating ecovillage-based solutions into university curricula.
7 Conclusion: Re-emphasizes the urgency of addressing student mental health and argues for a holistic educational approach that moves beyond fact-based learning toward building emotional resilience through community-based, nature-connected experiences.
Keywords
Climate-Anxiety, Sustainability, Higher Education, Educational Tourism, Ecovillages, Experiential Learning, Transformative Learning, Emotional Resilience, Mental Health, ESD, Eco-Psychology, Community Building, Deep Ecology, Student Well-being, Pedagogy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research examines the intersection of climate-anxiety among students in sustainability-related study fields and the potential of educational tourism to ecovillages to serve as a supportive tool for psychological well-being.
What are the primary themes discussed in this book?
The work explores climate-anxiety, the role of higher education, transformative pedagogies, the function of ecovillages as learning sites, and the development of emotional resilience through community and nature-immersion.
What is the key objective of the study?
The aim is to identify if climate-anxiety is being addressed by universities and to determine if ecovillages can provide practical solutions for students to better cope with their environmental concerns.
Which research methods were applied?
The study uses a mixed-method approach including an online student survey, semi-structured interviews with mental health staff and lecturers, and case studies based on participant observation at global ecovillages.
What topics are covered in the main body of the text?
The main sections cover internal university support structures (SMHS), student coping strategies, the pedagogical practices of various international ecovillages, and theoretical foundations from learning sciences.
Can you identify the most significant keywords?
Key terms include Climate-Anxiety, Higher Education, Ecovillages, Experiential Learning, Transformative Learning, and Student Mental Health Services.
Do students generally find support for climate-anxiety within their universities?
Results indicate that most students feel university curricula focus almost exclusively on cognitive, fact-based learning, often neglecting the emotional impact of climate change, leaving students to seek coping mechanisms elsewhere.
What role do ecovillages play in managing environmental distress?
Ecovillages act as "pedagogical laboratories" that offer community connection, hands-on sustainable work, and a calm, nature-focused environment that helps alleviate individual paralysis and feelings of isolation.
What is the primary conclusion of the author regarding university actions?
The author argues that universities should initiate formal cooperation with local ecovillages to provide students with "emotional toolboxes" and spaces for meaningful dialogue that help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and actionable hope.
- Quote paper
- Lena Rothe (Author), 2021, Ecovillages as Destinations. Potential of Educational Tourism for Coping with Climate-Anxiety, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1402021
