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EcoHope
Planetary change in small, hopeful doses
Mission
The EcoHope project is a Dalhousie University faculty and student-led initiative to counter eco-anxiety and inspire hope through community engagement, environmental action, and outdoor immersion.
Flowering Blue Vervain in EcoHope garden. Image Credit: Linden Thomas
❃ The project was initiated by Dr. Amy Mui in 2023.
❃ The team's current focus is creating a network of native plant gardens throughout the Dalhousie campus to support biodiversity and engage with the community.
❃ The EcoHope project also:
conducts research on student eco-anxiety ("chronic fear of environmental doom", according to the American Psychological Association) and coping strategies
organizes speaker series and field trips
collects data on campus biodiversity
and runs a native plants greenhouse cultivation program.
Feedback on EcoHope
Word cloud data sourced from aggregated responses to our feedback question in our Spring 2025 Planting Futures event post-survey
Dashboard of EcoHope Data
Here is our dashboard, displaying a map of the EcoHope native plant gardens on the Dalhousie Studley campus, as well as various statistics documenting the impact of EcoHope thus far!
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the connection between EcoHope and Native Plants?
Along with the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis is one of the biggest problems of our age. Native plants form the basis of our ecosystems, providing a diversity of nutrient-rich food sources and habitat for many species, particularly pollinators. EcoHope is all about small but meaningful actions that help our world and help us feel better. One meaningful action to nurture biodiversity is to plant native plants! Plus, gardening is fun and good for our mental health!
What is eco-hope?
While there is not yet a concrete definition of eco-hope in academic literature, constructive hope is a very similar concept. According to research on youth climate change coping mechanisms, constructive hope is the belief that people have the capacity to face environmental threats while finding positive meaning in taking action (Ojala, 2016).
Is EcoHope only open to students?
Absolutely not! The EcoHope project is open to working with community members and community organizations as well as Dalhousie staff and faculty members. For instance, Tim Mason, who is a staff member working with Dal facilities, is one of our dedicated team members, helping to contribute valuable practical gardening knowledge to our team!
What is eco-anxiety?
Eco-anxiety, as defined by the American Psychological Association (APA), is a "chronic fear of environmental doom". However, many definitions of eco-anxiety also encompass other emotions that arise when thinking about our environmental crises, such as frustration, anger and sadness. Eco-hope acknowledges and validates all emotions associated with our environmental crises.
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