The East and Southeast Asia regional community convenors of Connecting Climate Minds have completed the second regional dialogue. Mr. Joji Sugawara, Vice President and Ms. Niaya Harper Igarashi, Program Specialist at Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI), participated as a regional co-convenor for the second time to facilitate group discussions.

In the second dialogue, 67 participants from the region joined and shared feedback on the themes that emerged from the first dialogue session. During the two breakout sessions participants provided valuable insights into the ‘how’ of the research and action agenda, identifying what is needed for implementing research and translating evidence to action under the two themes: “creating knowledge through research” and “fostering evidence-based policy and action.”

Some of the challenges that came out of the discussions included political interference, data accessibility, public perception and trust, mental health stigma, competing priorities, resource constraints, and resistance to change, among others. While there are many gaps in understanding the relationships between climate change and mental health, as knowledge on the topic grows, expanding the focus beyond this to better understand emerging concepts on the mental health impacts of climate change will be useful.

What will come next on the agenda to help shape research and action for climate change and mental health is the findings from the dialogues will be used by researchers to understand and respond to the needs of the community and to advocate for action and catalyze funding in this field. The research will be shared in global policy and advocacy spaces such as the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as with researchers and funders.

Through Connecting Climate Minds, the community will continue to grow, case studies and lived experience stories will be shared, and preparations for storing all the collected resources and information in a global online hub is underway.

■About Connecting Climate Minds

Connecting Climate Minds is a global initiative funded by Wellcome, that brings together expertise across research, policy, design, and lived experience from across the globe. The aim of the project is to develop a research and action agenda of global and regional community convenors dedicated to connecting climate change and mental health.

For more information on the activities of the Connecting Climate Minds, please click here and for more information on the regional community of practices, please click here.