In this episode I speak with Verel Rodrigues about eco-anxiety, youth activism and the future of the environmental movement.
As the conversations on this podcast have progressed I’m now of a mind to give more attention to eco-anxiety and a growing feature of future episodes will be to explore ways to be happy, even against a backdrop such as the one we are currently experiencing.
I want to give voice to how our situation is making many people feel (especially but not exclusively young people) and what we can do about it.
I’ve started work on a book called ‘How To Be Happy At The End of The World’ and in this episode that’s exactly what I got to chat about with Verel, a young climate activist who has been all over the news and social media in recent years as a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.
Verel and I dig deep into our own experiences of eco-anxiety and how this fear drew us into activism and how the shape of activism is currently changing considerably as things evolve both in the movement and in policing and legislation.
We cover anxiety, youth activism, storytelling and the future of the environmental movement.
It is a personal, emotional and thought provoking chat that asks us to look deep inside ourselves and develop the courage we need to imagine a different future and believe that it is possible.
If you’re struggling with anxiety at the moment, please reach out to your GP and get a referral to some help, look after yourself and talk about it with others.
Please check out Force of Nature so you can learn about their work and check out all the resources they’ve put together on eco-anxiety and how to deal with it.
For now, get comfortable, hit play above and let’s go listen to Verel and I chat about Eco-Anxiety, Youth Activism and the future of the environmental movement.
To connect with Verel and stay up to date with his work and activism, follow him on LinkedIn - Verel Rodrigues
Eco-Anxiety, Youth Activism & The Future Of The Environmental Movement with Verel Rodrigues