Transforming Eco-Anxiety Pod: Making Eco-Engagements

“Living Well with Your Eco-Anxiety: Take Care of Yourself by Taking Care of the World” (“Bien vivre son eco-anxiete: Prendre soin de soi en prenant soin du monde”) is a new book by Pierre-Eric Sutter that came out in June. Sutter presents a “map” of eco-anxiety which progresses through four time frames and describes a gradual process that allows one to completely change their worldview.

Sutter spent several years conducting thousands of interviews with people who had become completely demoralized after learning about collapsology by reading “How Everything Can Collapse” (P. Servigne) in 2015. It was a best seller in France that year. Sutter is an existential therapist. He noticed that many of the demoralized people were able to transform their state of being and generate positivity and happy living despite the collapses that they witnessed around them (climate, diversity, democracy, politics, supply chains, etc.). He discovered that some people had read the book, become thoroughly depressed, and then somehow worked through it all to become “transformed”. In 2020, with Loic Steffan, he wrote a book called “N’ayez pas peur du collapse” (“Don’t Be Afraid of Collapse”) about this phenomenon.

On the first Tuesday of each month, the Transforming Eco-Anxiety Pod cycles through the four aspects of transforming: being with change, making meaning, making choices, and engaging. After an initial overview of the ideas, the topic for October 3rd will be “eco-engaging”. This session will include two breakout-room opportunities as well as a general discussion.