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What does it mean to live well in the face of climate change? At first glance, the question can seem beside the point. When confronted with evidence of a warming planet and its consequences for ecosystems and communities, turning inward toward one's own emotional life might feel like a distraction from the urgency of the work.

The "Living Well During Climate Change" project, a collaboration led by faculty at the University of Chicago Divinity School, begins from a different premise: that emotions are not a cost of climate engagement to be managed and minimized, but sources of wisdom and energy that can shape and sustain it.

Over eighteen months, Sarah Fredericks, Associate Professor of Environmental Ethics, Cynthia Lindner, Director of Ministry Studies and Clinical Faculty for Preaching and Pastoral Care, and Erika Dornfeld, Associate Instructional Professor and Director of Field Education and Community Engagement, convened scholars, practitioners, faith leaders, artists, scientists, and community organizers to study how emotions move through climate work, both individually and collectively. Their workshops and a May 2025 conference examined fear, grief, anger, acceptance, joy, and hope not as obstacles to clear thinking, but as intimations of what we value and what we might yet do.

The project, funded by the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has now produced a public resource hosted by the University's Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization. Organized by emotion, the site describes what the team learned and offers strategies replicable in communities navigating climate change.

"What if our emotions are not simply one more human cost of climate change to be minimized or avoided, but rather, intimations of wisdom, essential truths, and vital energies that can inform and inspire our work?" the initiative asks. The new site is an attempt at an answer.

Explore the resource at cegu.uchicago.edu/research/faculty/living-well-during-climate-change.