WIL PROJECTS & POSTS

Across university campuses, climate anxiety is quickly becoming a defining mental health challenge—especially for young women. Many report feeling overwhelmed, fearful, or powerless when thinking about the climate crisis, yet few have spaces where these emotions can be openly expressed. At the Wellness Impact Lab, we’ve been working to change that. Climate Cafés at York University create supportive environments for students to reflect on their climate emotions, strengthen com

Mapping Nature-based Interventions for Climate-Related Emotional Distress On August 20th, WIL Intern Mahnoosh Jalilzadeh presented their project titled ‘Nature Heals: Mapping Nature-Based Interventions for Climate-Related Emotional Distress’ at the Dahdaleh Institute Global Health Trainee Symposium. The presentation examined how nature-based approaches can help alleviate eco-anxiety , climate grief , and solastalgia , fostering emotional resilience among people affected by cl

Project Summary At the Dahdaleh Global Health Intern Symposium (April 2025), research assistants Sophia Bryan-Carbonell and Sarah Merghani shared insights from their work on Climate Cafés at York University. Their presentation explored how Climate Cafés support student mental health by creating safe, inclusive spaces to process climate-related emotions like eco-anxiety, grief, and overwhelm. Why Climate Cafés? While universities equip students with climate knowledge, few off