Project description
How activists balance change and well-being
Activism can be both healing and draining. Defending the planet, justice, or peace gives life purpose and connection, but it can also drain mental health. With this in mind, the ERC-funded Care2Act project aims to shed light on this balance between caring for the world and caring for the self. By integrating psychology and sociology, it explores how individuals and communities balance well-being with demanding civic action. Using participatory tools, the project will also examine activists’ coping, adaptation, as well as maintenance of energy in various causes and contexts. The overall goal is to formulate a vision of strategic care to better understand how activism can empower individuals rather than leaving them burnt out.
Objective
The current overlapping crises—political polarization, the climate, and security fears—present challenges for mental health and well-being. Engaging in collective action is one way to cope, but research shows it can also be exhausting and increase sensitivity to these problems and injustices. But activism can also foster empowerment and solidarity. Decades of research have provided insights into factors affecting mental health outcomes for activists. However, the traditional linear approach—focused on relationships between factors and outcomes—often fails to capture the mechanisms and dynamic processes that shape outcomes during engagement. Integrating psychological and sociological perspectives, Care2Act will apply a novel interactionist approach to activism and mental health, employing the concept of strategic care to highlight the dual task of regulating personal well-being while caring for the world.
Care2Act asks: Which combinations of situations and processes during civic engagement at different problem scales contribute to varying mental health and well-being outcomes, and what strategies do individuals and communities employ to regulate their mental health and well-being? Using a multi-level comparative approach and innovative methods such as participatory Ripple Effects Mapping, Care2Act will analyze: 1) Situations, mechanisms, and actors affecting mental health; 2) Individual and community strategies for regulating well-being while engaging in this often tedious work; 3) The transformation of strategic care across different phases of engagement; and 4) The role of the magnitude of the social problem in shaping mental health outcomes. Care2Act will offer tools for interdisciplinary research that inform studies on public health interventions, political participation more broadly, and the social integration of marginalized groups. It could also have societal impact by providing activists with tools to integrate mental health awareness into their strategies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3584 CS Utrecht
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.