How to Be Hopeful
Empowering Practices to Overcome Despair and Act for Climate Justice
- ISBN: 9781778402623
- Tags: All Books, Climate Change, Elin Kelsey, Health & Wellness,
- Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5
- Published On: 10/28/2025
For readers of All We Can Save and The Story of More comes a grounded and empowering how-to guide to being hopeful in an era of climate anxiety.
“Are you hopeful?” That is the question elin kelsey is most often asked when she speaks to young people about the emotions and anxiety wrought by the climate crisis. How to Be Hopeful is kelsey’s answer, an inspiring exploration of hope as an active, evidence-based response to climate change and environmental degradation. Hope is not merely a passive feeling but an active choice, a stance that must be nurtured despite the ever-present sense of despair and hopelessness that often accompanies the state of the world.
Through personal reflections, scientific insights, and practical exercises, How to Be Hopeful emphasizes emotional awareness, community collaboration, and the agency of both humans and non-human species. Some of the practical exercises described in the book include:
- Gratitude practices
- Creative exercises for emotional awareness
- Engaging in relational repair
- Practices to help support communities and ecosystems
- A guide to the coexistence code of conduct
A seminal contribution to the field of environmental justice, How to Be Hopeful empowers readers to confront their own emotional landscapes, engage in collective action, envision a sustainable future, and ultimately, cultivate a hopeful and resilient response to the pressing issues of our time.
elin kelsey, PhD, is an award-winning author, speaker, and thought leader. She regularly leads workshops for environmental organizations, youth climate activists, educators, and community groups on hope and the climate crisis. elin has written numerous bestselling children’s books, including You Are Stardust, and is the author of Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical for Solving the Environmental Crisis. She has served as a visiting fellow at the Rachel Carson Center for the Environment and Society, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Kone Foundation, the Salish Sea Institute, the Cairns Institute, and Stanford University. kelsey splits her time between Monterey, California and Victoria, British Columbia.
