Creating change in a polycrisis
We are not facing a single crisis. We are navigating several at once – from the climate emergency and digital disinformation, to democracy rollback, economic instability and armed conflict. None of these developments unfold in isolation – they reinforce one another and shape how people experience daily life.
This is increasingly described as a polycrisis: a convergence of systemic shocks that strain institutions, societies and, crucially, the human mind.
For Robin Perkins, a communications strategist who served as Director of Communications at the climate & psychology innovation lab Mindworks, the defining feature of this moment is not only structural instability but emotional saturation. During our recent capacity-building sessions for civic leaders across Europe, he emphasized, “We live in an age of crises, and these crises are overlapping – and that overlap is not just institutional or geopolitical, it is emotional”.
“We live in an age of crises, and these crises are overlapping – and that overlap is not just institutional or geopolitical, it is emotional.”
The crisis beneath the crisis
The polycrisis is not only a series of external shocks. It is an erosion of perceived agency.
When uncertainty becomes constant, it does not remain abstract. Rapid change generates fear. Fear, when sustained, produces powerlessness, and powerlessness leads to exhaustion, activating psychological defense mechanisms such as denial, anger, withdrawal, and the search for someone to blame.
Mindworks’ research across multiple countries shows that this pattern is widespread. Both changemakers and the audiences they seek to engage report feeling overwhelmed and increasingly uncertain about their ability to influence outcomes.
“One of the biggest things that we have seen from our work,” Perkins explains, “is that this is disempowering our audiences and pushing them to a space of complete feeling of having no control over their future, no control over their actions.”
That loss of control reshapes behavior. When people feel powerless, they do not simply disengage quietly. They retreat into denial, or they channel frustration into anger. In some contexts, that anger is directed not only at political elites but at activists themselves. The political consequences are visible and rollbacks that once seemed unthinkable suddenly become possible. Policies thought to be locked in are reopened and reversed.
“Our traditional ways of campaigning were built on the idea that if we just give people more information – if we just give them the facts – they will feel empowered and want to change the world. And that is no longer the case.”
Why the old playbook is failing
For decades, movements assumed that more information would lead to more action.
“Our traditional ways of campaigning,” Perkins says, “were built on the idea that if we just give people more information – if we just give them the facts – they will feel empowered and want to change the world. And that is no longer the case.”
People are not lacking data; they are overwhelmed. When audiences already feel anxious and powerless, more alarming statistics or fear-based messaging can deepen paralysis rather than motivate change. Even participation strategies can backfire if it feels symbolic and produces no visible impact.
In an era defined by exhaustion and loss of control, strategies that amplify overwhelm are unlikely to empower.
The strategic turn toward agency
At the center of Mindworks’ approach is one concept: agency – “the belief in your power to act.” When people no longer believe their actions can influence their lives or political systems, disengagement becomes rational and fuels attraction to narratives that promise control through exclusion or blame.
That is why, Perkins argues, “in everything we do, we need to find ways to empower our audiences.” The goal is not simply to win arguments, but to rebuild people’s confidence that they can shape outcomes.
Rebuilding agency requires deliberate choices in how movements communicate and organize.
First, create spaces where people feel heard.
Structured conversations that prioritize listening over debate can reduce defensiveness and restore a sense of voice. Feeling acknowledged strengthens personal agency.Second, design actions with visible impact.
Participation must lead to something concrete – a changed policy, an improved local space, a measurable shift. When people see results, even small ones, their belief in collective power grows.Third, prioritize collective over isolated engagement.
Shared experiences – community initiatives, coordinated campaigns, mutual support – reinforce both belonging and efficacy. Agency becomes stronger when it is experienced together.Fourth, normalize participation through relatable stories.
Highlighting ordinary people taking meaningful steps shifts social norms and lowers psychological barriers to action.Finally, sustain narratives of possibility.
Hope does not mean ignoring risk; it means consistently framing change as achievable and participation as worthwhile
“We need to center agency – the belief in our power to act. In everything we do, we need to find ways to empower our audiences.”
Beyond reaction
None of this diminishes the scale of the challenges ahead. Structural crises demand structural solutions. But ignoring the psychological terrain risks designing strategies that fail to resonate.
The task for communicators and changemakers is not only to respond to crises, but to design experiences that help people rediscover their capacity to act. In an emotionally supercharged age, restoring agency may be one of the most powerful interventions available. When people move from believing that nothing they do matters to recognizing that their actions can influence outcomes – however incrementally – the political landscape shifts.
First understand the mind in the polycrisis, then learn how to measure powerlessness, design empowering and meaningful conversations, create defining moments for people, and build narratives. Explore stories of community-led adaptation at the Community Adaptation Hub.
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About Robin:
Robin Perkins is a communications strategist. For the past decade, he’s worked as Director of Communications at the Climate & Psychology Innovation Lab, Mindworks; he’s led strategic communications campaigns for Greenpeace around the world; and he’s focused on working with changemakers to reframe how they communicate and design climate campaigns using insights from psychology and cognitive science. He is also a music producer, exploring the intersection between electronic music, nature, and activism.