IPPA’s SMD Division Presents: Eco-Spiritual Grief
Speaker: Dr. Panu Pihkala
Date & Times: January 20 | 12:00pm ET (9:00pm PT/5:00pm GMT)
Member Price: $0
Non Member Price: $25
Access: Open to all
Event Type: virtual
Environmental damage can evoke many kinds of loss and grief. This is often connected with other emotions, such as moral outrage about people in power and ponderings of how much guilt one should feel. Because of social disputes around environmental issues, those who feel ecological sorrow have often experienced disenfranchised grief, and this can happen also in religious communities. In this presentation, difficult eco-emotions are explored especially in relation to “eco-spiritual grief”: combinations of spiritual grief (as defined by Burke & Neimeyer) and ecological sorrow. Questions related to meaning in life are crucial in these processes, and attention is needed towards dynamics of spiritual communities in relation to environmental issues.
About the speaker:
Dr. Panu Pihkala (b. 1979, he/his) from the University of Helsinki is an expert in interdisciplinary eco-emotion research. He is also an adjunct professor of environmental theology (Title of Docent) at the University of Helsinki and a researcher in HELSUS Sustainability Science Institute. Pihkala is currently one of the world’s most cited eco-anxiety researchers, but he also has a long history of facilitating various workshops and giving public talks. He serves as an advisor to many practical projects on eco-emotions, and hosts the podcast Climate Change and Happiness together with Dr. Thomas Doherty (https://climatechangeandhappiness.com/). He has been awarded several prizes in Finland for his work. His website is: www.panupihkala.fi .
The SMD Scientific Speaker Series is hosted by the Spirituality & Meaning Division.
Register today! Registration ends January 17, 2026!