Climate anxiety is often talked about as something to be studied. Sabrina Guzman Skotnitsky wanted to create spaces where it could be felt, expressed, and processed.
She started Creating Climate Resilience to bring people together through arts-based workshops and group dialogue, helping participants explore their emotional responses to climate change.
The initiative was grounded in both personal and professional experiences. Creating Climate Resilience was also the name of Sabrina’s master’s thesis, and through her research, she identified three elements that make the work effective:
The first is embodied knowing through art-making, which provides a way to access and express feelings that language alone may not capture. “I couldn’t tell you how climate anxiety feels, but I could show you how it feels through art. And in so doing, I actually learn more about it and myself while I’m trying to express it.”
The second is group dialogue, which participants consistently named as the most powerful part of the experience. “Listening to other people’s stories, having other people listen and respect my stories, that feeling of being affirmed and validated was just really powerful for people.”
The third is collective sensemaking. “When you bring all the stories people share together, there is always something that resonates with each person that can help them have that kind of unlocking or that processing that they’re hoping to find.”
From Thesis to Practice
Sabrina was already facilitating art and climate work before the fellowship began. Instructors at the University of Victoria, where she was studying, were seeking her out because of what they were seeing in their students.
“A lot of the instructors that are in this field are seeing how much climate anxiety is impacting their students and saw the gatherings as something that could help go beyond just learning about the issues.”
Through the Youth Action and the Environment Pilot Fellowship, Sabrina expanded her workshops beyond academic and research settings, creating opportunities to gradually grow the initiative while reaching new audiences. An initial spring workshop series at the Multifaith Centre on campus primarily drew undergrad and graduate students, about half of whom she already knew. By fall, workshops were being hosted downtown and drawing people she had never met, most of whom did not work in climate or environmental fields.
Creating space for broader groups of people was intentional, and paired with changes to the language she used to advertise the workshops. “It was important to help people realize they don’t have to be working in climate change or studying environmental studies to care about the environment and want to make art with people.”
Growing the Field
As Sabrina ran workshops in different settings, her thinking about scale shifted.
“I have noticed more organizations and individuals who are facilitating work like this, around the country, and I’m really excited because I see it as complementary. I can’t be in Montreal. I can’t be in Toronto. I’m glad people are doing this work in those places, and now I’m also thinking about how we can all support each other.”
This perspective has also sparked an interest in knowledge mobilization: contributing to facilitation guides and building a community of practice with others doing similar work, including peer fellowship recipient, Smiely Khurana, through the Climate Wellness Network.
“Knowledge mobilization has been a part of the way I can see myself supporting this work to grow in other places, even if I can’t physically be there myself.”
At the same time, Sabrina is navigating important questions that many young climate and nature leaders experience: “Do I want to make Creating Climate Resilience my job? Because then there’s that pressure to be competitive in a market versus just wanting to grow this grassroots initiative and support more people to do the work.”
Deciding What Comes Next
Today, Sabrina is working part-time at the University of Victoria on two climate-emotions studies, including running climate grief cafes, while applying for grants to run workshop programs and to build a small team. In June and July, Creating Climate Resilience is offering its semi-annual art workshop series again, this time at Open Space Art Society with the support of Ocean Wise.
In the fall of 2025, Sabrina also expanded into consulting work in the field, recognizing the value of the unique expertise she has gathered along her journey and advising on research using arts-based methods. “Having a master’s degree and having the recognition of the fellowship itself, kind of let me validate that I do know things, that I am an expert in a way that I didn’t necessarily have before.”
“The journey is so important because that’s where most of your time will be spent, not so much at the destination and the fruits of your labour. So you have to find ways to both enjoy the process and also sustain it for a long time.”
Her advice to other young people in climate- and nature-based work recognizes the importance of balance and long-term planning to sustain the impact of this work over the long term.
“Despite the urgency of the climate crisis, having a longer view can help us have more long-term impact, rather than relying on intense short bursts, burning out and then repeating that cycle, which is neither effective nor healthy for you. Investing in self and community care is essential!”
Learn more about Creating Climate Resilience by following them on Instagram and Facebook or connecting with Sabrina on LinkedIn. On June 23rd, June 30th, July 7th and July 14th, Creating Climate Resilience is hosting workshops in Victoria. Learn more and register: https://creatingclimateresilience.ca/artmaking-workshops
Amanda Mayer
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