BUILDING ECO-RESILIENT SCHOOLS: PSYCHOLOGICAL, SPIRITUAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING ECO ANXIETY

Abstract

Climate change has increasingly become not only an environmental issue but also a psychological and educational concern, particularly through the emergence of eco anxiety among students. This study aimed to systematically review the forms of eco anxiety experienced in educational settings and explore holistic school-based intervention strategies integrating psychological, environmental, and spiritual approaches. This research employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) design following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Relevant articles were collected from Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar using keywords related to eco anxiety, climate anxiety, school intervention, spiritual resilience, and environmental education. Fourteen studies published between 2015 and 2026 met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed using thematic synthesis. The findings indicate that eco anxiety among students manifests in emotional distress, cognitive and future-oriented concerns, behavioral responses, and psychological vulnerability. The review further identified three major school-based intervention pathways: psychological interventions, environmental and geographical education, and spiritual resilience approaches. Psychological strategies such as counseling, socio-emotional learning were found to strengthen emotional resilience and adaptive coping. Environmental education approaches involving climate literacy, nature-based learning, and community engagement fostered environmental agency and constructive climate action. Meanwhile, spiritual approaches emphasizing meaning-making, hope, reflection, and religious coping contributed to emotional calmness and resilience. This study concludes that ecoresilient schools should adopt holistic and climate-responsive educational models integrating psychological support, participatory environmental education, and spiritual resilience to support students’ wellbeing and adaptive engagement amid climate uncertainty. 

Keywords: eco anxiety; eco-resilient school; spiritual resilience; environmental education; school-based intervention.