Mapping the Solastalgia Literature: A Scoping Review Study

Lindsay P. Galway, Thomas Beery, Kelsey Jones-Casey and Kirsti Tasala
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Lindsay P. Galway: Department of Health Sciences, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
Thomas Beery: Faculty for Natural Sciences, Kristianstad University, 291 88 Kristianstad, Sweden
Kelsey Jones-Casey: Weave Collaborative, Duluth, MN 55805, USA
Kirsti Tasala: Department of Health Sciences, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-24

Abstract: Solastalgia is a relatively new concept for understanding the links between human and ecosystem health, specifically, the cumulative impacts of climatic and environmental change on mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Given the speed and scale of climate change alongside biodiversity loss, pollution, deforestation, unbridled resource extraction, and other environmental challenges, more and more people will experience solastalgia. This study reviewed 15 years of scholarly literature on solastalgia using a scoping review process. Our goal was to advance conceptual clarity, synthesize the literature, and identify priorities for future research. Four specific questions guided the review process: (1) How is solastalgia conceptualized and applied in the literature?; (2) How is solastalgia experienced and measured in the literature?; (3) How is ‘place’ understood in the solastalgia literature?; and (4) Does the current body of literature on solastalgia engage with Indigenous worldviews and experiences? Overall, we find there is a need for additional research employing diverse methodologies, across a greater diversity of people and places, and conducted in collaboration with affected populations and potential knowledge, alongside greater attention to the practical implications and applications of solastalgia research. We also call for continued efforts to advance conceptual clarity and theoretical foundations. Key outcomes of this study include our use of the landscape construct in relation to solastalgia and a call to better understand Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences of landscape transformation and degradation in the context of historical traumas.

Keywords: solastalgia; mental health; emotional health; place; climate change; environmental change; landscape (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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