With Rhiannon Hawkins

Take part in a relaxed, two‑hour community workshop exploring how floods, droughts and climate change are shaping local emotions, wellbeing and knowledge. Rhiannon Hawkins, PhD Researcher, University of Glasgow will lead an open group discussion and a hands‑on mapping activity. Participants will share their experiences, and help build a community‑informed hazard map for Helmsdale, informed by local histories and knowledges. The insights will contribute to research on climate change and mental health, while also helping create a practical resource for communities to use to prepare for flood events. All contributions will be brought together into a digital map reflecting community voices.

Tea, biscuits and a warm welcome provided.
We look forward to welcoming you; no booking required

This workshop is part of a wider PhD research project titled: “Rain, Rain, go away … come back another day”: Understanding Scotland’s changing relationships between climate change and mental health. The research aims to explore the impacts of climate change, particularly flooding and drought events, on mental health and aims to reimagine how to develop mental health resilience to climate change using community knowledge and history. The research is being conducted in three areas South East Ayrshire, Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway, and NE Sutherland and Caithness Coastline between Helmsdale and Wick. The research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. 

Rhiannon Hawkins is a second year PhD researcher based at the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow, with her research interests lying in Disaster Risk Reduction/Planning, Climate Change, Mental Health, Co-Production and Social & Disability Justice. She also works for University College London’s Warning Research Centre and the Royal College of Psychiatrists specialising in climate change and mental health research advocacy for adults and young people.