Climate change and mental health: a co-produced, transformative study with young people in Blackpool

This research actively engages young people facing multiple systemic disadvantages (YPfMSD) in discussions about climate change, to find out what impact it might have on their mental health, to learn about their vision for the future of their community and to work on co-creating transformative actions. It is nested in the whole-town resilience project, known as Resilience Revolution Blackpool ('Resilience Revolution' 2019), led by HeadStart Blackpool (HS) and in partnership with the University of Brighton and BoingBoing CiC. It works closely with the young people and practitioners of the town to build on the existing resources and co-produce materials from an environmental angle. Blackpool is one of the most deprived local authorities, with child poverty being the 14th worst in England (Blackpool Council 2017). Climate change, an additional adversity also faced by the coastal town, was recently described as an "unconscionable assault on the poor" (Human Rights Council 2019, 21) because consequences from climate breakdown will have the greatest impact on those living in poverty and furthermore threatens to undo 50 years of development, also pushing middle class families in developed countries into poverty. In addition, recent studies found a connection between climate change and mental health (Hayes et al. 2018) and phenomena such as solastalgia (Albrecht et al. 2007) and eco-anxiety are being discussed. Some studies have investigated the effect that climate change has on the mental health of young people (Ojala 2012b; 2013; 2012a) but young people facing multiple systmeic disadvantages, such as living in low-socio economic areas, are often left out of research.

This study focuses on how climate change influences the mental health and therefore the resilience of YPfMSD and how systematic opportunities for youth agency can be co-developed. This research also looks to fill an important gap in the literature on what the attitudes of young people in a disadvantaged area of the UK are, what resources and support are needed to support mental health and how transformative actions related to the climate crisis can be co-created with young people. This also has the potential to lead to an entirely different understanding and narrative of climate change, looking at it from a mental health perspective, using language appropriate for YP facing multiple systemic challenges.