A Global Call to Action for Mutual Support for All

The Urgency to Form Resilience Networks in Neighborhoods and Communities Worldwide to Prevent and Heal the Mental Health, Psychosocial, and Many Physical Health Issues Generated by the Climate Crisis

Have you felt anxious, depressed, or hopeless recently when you personally experienced--or observed other people--suffering from an historic heat wave, windstorm, wildfire, flood, or other extreme weather disaster? Have these events in some way adversely affected your thoughts, emotions, or behaviors? If so, you are not alone. People worldwide are experiencing social, psychological, emotional, and behavioral issues from the impacts of the climate-ecosystem-biodiversity (C-E-B) crisis.

To address these issues, with the assistance of people from many nations, my organization recently released a Global Call to Action for Mutual Support For All.

It declares that if urban neighborhoods, mid-size and small communities, and rural areas worldwide organize local resilience networks that provide Mutual Support For All, the mental health, psychosocial, and many physical health issues generated by the C-E-B crisis can be prevented, when symptoms appear they can be healed, and people can find positive new sources of meaning, purpose, and healthy hope in life, and thrive.

To achieve these ends the Global Call to Action for Mutual Support For All calls on civic, private sector, and government leaders worldwide to form resilience networks in all urban neighborhoods, mid-size and small communities, and rural areas globally that actively engage their residents in using a public health approach to build population-level mental wellness and transformational resilience for the impacts of the climate-ecosystem-biodiversity (C-E-B) crisis.

Some Background

The Global Call to Action for Mutual Support for All begins by explaining that average global surface temperatures have already risen by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, and in a few short years are projected to reach 2C (3.6F) worldwide.

Hotter temperatures are escalating extreme weather disasters in every part of the world. They are also crippling the ecological, social, and economic systems people rely on for food, water, shelter, jobs, health, safety, security, and other basic survival needs.

These impacts are already, and as temperatures climb to 2C (3.6F) will increasingly generate individual and collective mental health and psychosocial, as well as physical health issues, that are far greater in type, magnitude, and effect than contemporary society has ever experienced.

The crisis of meaning and hope that is already, and will increasingly result from these impacts will threaten everyone's health, safety, and security. It will also constrain society's ability to do what is needed to reduce the C-E-B crisis to manageable levels and activate a vicious cycle that aggravates all of the issues.

These dynamics constitute a global public health emergency. Effective responses require thinking and acting through a holistic and integrated population-lens, not an individual or siloed small group-by-group approach.

Although they will remain important, for many reasons, few mental health or human service systems, or the types of assistance they provide, can help people prepare for, or prevent or heal the mental health and psychosocial issues activated by the C-E-B crisis.

The Global Call To Action for Mutual Support For All declares that humanity has entered a new era that requires a different and expanded community-focused approach to address mental health, psychosocial, and many physical health issues, and help people find new meaning, purpose, and hope in life and thrive during the long C-E-B crisis.

Specifics of the Global Call to Action for Mutual Support For All

These outcomes can be achieved by forming multi-sectoral community-led Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks (TRCNs) that use a culturally-grounded, holistic and integrated public health approach to implement strategies that strengthen vital protective factors, and minimize risk factors, to help all residents remain safe, healthy, and resilient during the long C-E-B crisis. The strategies can also enable residents to use adversities as powerful catalysts to transform their lives and their community in positive ways.

A centerpiece of Mutual Support for All strategies is to actively engage residents in safeguarding each other by providing practical assistance, emotional support, food, water, shelter, and other basic needs before, during, and after toxic stresses and disasters. Engagement in these activities can build social connections that overcome the social isolation and loneliness that have become toxic today and can be deadly during disasters. It also enhances emotional self-regulation and co-regulation. And, participation promotes shared responsibility for helping everyone feel safe, which can build the collective trust and efficacy needed to respond constructively to persistent adversities.

This focus of Mutual Support For All is by far the most important protective factor needed to prevent and heal the social, psychological, emotional, behavioral and many physical health impacts of C-E-B crisis, and inspire people to engage in activities that provide new meaning, purpose, and health hope.

This work should be integrated with other vital protective factors including actively engaging residents in: a) promoting carbon-free and climate-resilient local built conditions, supporting ecologically sound local businesses, and restoring local ecological systems and biodiversity; b) building universal literary about mental wellness and transformational resilience; c) fostering participation in practices known to sustain wellness and resilience; and d) establishing ongoing group and community-minded methods to help people heal when they are distressed or traumatized in safe and supportive environments.

By engaging in these protective factors residents learn that their health, safety, and resilience are inexplicably linked with the social, built, and ecological conditions in which they live. Rather than withdrawing and experiencing social, psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues, they will often be inspire to assist others and regenerate local conditions. In doing so, they will help protect themselves and others from the harm caused by the C-E-B crisis, and find positive new sources of meaning, purpose, and healthy hope in life, and thrive.

Specific Recommendations

This Global Call to Action offers the following recommendations for organizing TRCNs worldwide that engage their residents in providing Mutual Support For All:

Grassroots, NGO, and Other Civic Leaders Worldwide Should:

· Become informed about the interacting causes and impacts of the C-E-B crisis, how they can affect mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, and how those issues can affect the health, safety, and security of individuals, families, organizations, and entire communities.

· Learn what a community-led, culturally-grounded holistic and integrated public health approach to providing Mutual Support For All involves and the core principles and methods entailed with implementing this approach.

· Become trained as peer-leaders of community-led Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks (TRCNs) that provide Mutual Support For All and help form, operate, and continually improve TRCNs in their neighborhood or community.

II. Private Sector Leaders Worldwide Should:

· Become informed about the interacting causes and impacts of the C-E-B crisis, and how they can affect the mental health and psychosocial conditions of their employees, customers, partners, people involved with their business value-chain, and thus their entire operations.

· Learn what a community-led, culturally-grounded, holistic and integrated public health approach to providing Mutual Support For All involves and how their enterprise can help support and fund it.

· Urge their employees and customers to participate in the community-led Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks that provide Mutual Support For All.

III. International, National, Territorial, Provincial/State, and Local Authorities Should:

· Enact policies to authorize and support community-led Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks worldwide that provide Mutual Support For All.

· Ensure effective and responsive leadership of community-led Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks worldwide that provide Mutual Support For All by establishing and supporting programs to educate and train local peer leaders in how to form, operate, evaluate, and continually improve them.

· Use a variety of mechanisms to provide both start-up and ongoing funding and technical assistance to support community-led Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks (TRCNs) that use a public health approach to provide Mutual Support For All.

The Global Call to Action recognizes that, at least in the near term, the C-E-B crisis will disproportionately affect marginalized populations. These groups have typically contributed the least to the crisis, yet often bear the greatest burdens, and possess the fewest resources to protect themselves beforehand and recover afterwards. Transformational Resilience Coordinating Networks must therefore prioritize equity and justice, and ensure that those with the greatest needs receive proportionate support and resources.

The Global Call to Action concludes by declaring that civic, private, and public sector leaders need to swiftly grasp the profoundly serious nature of the C-E-B crisis and quickly form TRCNs in all urban neighborhoods, mid-size and small communities and rural areas worldwide to provide Mutual Support For All.

Doing so will help prepare people for the harm speeding their way, and enhance everyone's capacity for mental wellness and transformational resilience during relentless adversities. It will also help unlock new thinking and groundbreaking new ways to address today's interconnected social, economic, and ecological challenges.

I hope you will see the need and benefits and in some way help form and operate a Transformational Resilience Coordinating Network in your neighborhood or community.

Click here to read the entire Global Call To Action to Provide Mutual Support for All as well as the media release about it with supportive statements from people worldwide.

Click here to register for the Tuesday September 30 free 1-hr. webinar about the Global Call to Action.