Eco-Wellbeing and Social-Affective Dynamics: Integrating Environmental and Emotional Dimensions of Public Mental Health
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral and Mental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 54
Special Issue Editor
Interests: eco-affective health; climate-related emotions; solastalgia; eco-anxiety; environmental exposures; planetary health; public mental health; digital and multimodal biomarkers; complexity science
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Climate change and environmental degradation are no longer only ecological or economic challenges, but have become central determinants of mental health and population well-being. Increasing evidence shows that climate-related emotions—such as solastalgia, eco-anxiety, ecological grief, and soliphilia—shape how individuals and communities perceive, respond to, and cope with environmental change. These eco-affective states emerge from the interaction between environmental exposures, social contexts, cultural meanings, and individual vulnerability, with direct implications for public mental health and resilience.
This Special Issue aims to advance the emerging field of Eco-Affective Health by integrating psychological, environmental, social, and public health perspectives. We welcome interdisciplinary contributions that examine how climate-related emotions are measured, mapped, and modeled, particularly in relation to environmental exposures (e.g., climate extremes, pollution, biodiversity loss), social dynamics, and mental well-being outcomes. Methodological innovations—including digital health approaches, ecological momentary assessment, geospatial analysis, and multimodal biomarkers—are especially encouraged.
By bringing together empirical, methodological, and conceptual work, this Special Issue seeks to move beyond deficit-based models of mental health and contribute to prevention-oriented, population-level strategies aligned with planetary health and sustainable development agendas.
We particularly encourage submissions that translate eco-affective insights into implications for public health policy, environmental governance, and preventive mental health interventions. Contributions may explore how climate-related emotional responses can inform early-warning systems, community-based resilience strategies, mental health adaptation frameworks, and evidence-based policymaking aimed at protecting both human well-being and environmental sustainability.
Dr. Lucas Murrins Marques
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- eco-affective health
- climate-related emotions
- solastalgia
- eco-anxiety
- planetary health
- environmental exposure
- public mental health
- resilience
- sustainability
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