Climate Emotions: Philosophical and Anthropological Perspectives

In this lunch seminar, researchers from the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of Iceland present their work on emotional responses to ecological crises from the perspective of philosophy and anthropology. The seminar is open and we invite everyone to join us in the discussion of this difficult topic. 

Programme:
12:00: Opening remarks, Ole Martin Sandberg, University of Iceland.
12:10: "Climate emotions - a philosophical perspective", Petr Vaškovic, the Czech Academy of Sciences / Palacký University Olomouc.
12:30: "Climate emotions - an anthropological perspective", Svenja Flügger, University of Iceland.
12:50: Q&A

Dr. Petr Vaškovic is a postdoctoral researcher at the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Palacký University Olomouc. He works in the field of environmental philosophy, eco-phenomenology, and is currently focusing on the topic of climate emotions. He has contributed to The Philosophy of Environmental Emotions, the Handbook of Philosophy of Climate Change, and written about climate anxiety and hope from phenomenological and existentialist perspectives.

Svenja Flügger is Master's student in Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Iceland who is finishing her master's thesis in anthropology on climate anxiety and contemplative practices. In her research, she explores the topic of eco anxiety in Iceland by interviewing practitioners of different forms of contemplative practices about how eco anxiety affects people them, what they do as a response and how their contemplative practice affects their eco anxiety.

Petr Vaškovic and Svenja Flügger will both present their research and the seminar will be opened by Dr. Ole Martin Sandberg who is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Iceland's institute of philosophy. His research project, called "Climate Crisis and Affect: An Investigation of Embodied Emotions and Behaviours Regarding Climate Change in Iceland", explores the different interacting aspect of climate change from the natural, the social and the emotional.

The seminar is hosted and organized by the Sustainability Institute at the University of Iceland and the research project Climate Crisis and Affect.