Unpacking the Beyonds: Constructive Hope
Unpacking the Beyonds: Constructive Hope
- Making visible the links between psychology and multilateralism helps further anchor the importance of building partnerships among sustainable development practitioners, psychologists, and other stakeholders to collectively advance sustainability.
- It also shows the broader societal impact and value of translating psychological knowledge into policy and practice and encouraging holistic, cross-disciplinary approaches.
- Involving young people, and psychology students in particular, is paramount to help them see the practical, multidisciplinary applications of their field, in addition to traditional mental health, and its contributions to sustainable development.
By Edward Mishaud, Deputy & Lead on Affective Sciences, Beyond Lab at UN Geneva
“It is not often that we have representatives of the United Nations and especially sustainability practitioners join our congresses,” remarked a participant attending the 19th European Congress of Psychology (ECP 2025) after my introduction. “It is good for us psychologists to get out of our own comfort zones,” she added.
This psychologist from Germany was curious, wondering why UN Geneva, through the Beyond Lab, was participating in this biennial event, which convened from 1-4 July 2025 in Paphos, Cyprus. Although quite familiar with the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, she wanted to know more about the tangible linkages between sustainability and her field and how psychology could be better applied to support the work of the UN.
Held under the theme of ‘Transforming Psychological Science: the 2030 Agenda,’ the Congress invited members from the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA), representing 37 European countries, to explore how psychology and psychological research could not only respond to the challenge of meeting the SDGs but also address other emerging and highly complex social, economic, and environmental issues facing humanity today and into the future.
Emphasizing that the 17 SDGs serve as a compass for psychological science, EFPA President Christoph Steinebach underscored the need for psychology to remain both practice- and evidence-informed while moving beyond the “ivory tower of pure research” as well as disciplinary silos.
Putting emotions and sustainability on the radar
The impetus for our first-ever participation at the ECP – or any psychology-focused event for that matter – aimed at spotlighting the importance of integrating the field of affective sciences (broadly, the interdisciplinary study of emotions and their impact on cognition, behavior, and decision making) into sustainability and multilateralism. While at the Beyond Lab we have been advancing this topic for more than two years, it still remains a niche area. To date, much of the current interest, focus, and research in the sustainability-psychology nexus goes into behavioral insights and their policy and programmatic applications across the public and private sectors.
At the Congress in Paphos, however, the invitation to speak about our work on emotions and sustainability, particularly at a high-level segment on climate change, signaled a strong appetite for deeper engagement on this topic. As Professor Tobias Brosch of the University of Geneva pointed out during this session, climate change is fundamentally an emotional and behavioral challenge. As such, it requires the help of psychologists to bridge the gap between knowledge and action by leveraging emotions, aligning messages with people’s identities, and applying proven behavioral strategies to make climate-friendly choices easier and more socially supported.
Putting emotions and sustainability on the radar represents an ongoing collaboration between the Beyond Lab and the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences at the University of Geneva, where we are exploring the role of “constructive hope” – and other emotions, both positive and negative – in driving the broader paradigm and mindset shift that is needed for climate action and the entire 2030 Agenda.
In order to focus on hope as a catalyst for change and to advance the SDGs and long-term sustainability, the Beyond Lab partnered with Professor Brosch and Disa Sauter at the University of Amsterdam to kickstart the ‘Hope Project.’ This initiative aims to equip organizations and individuals with tools and techniques, drawn from affective science research, to enhance communications, advocacy, convening, and negotiations.
Our initial research and learnings, led by Beyond Lab colleagues Amani Bathily and Pankuri, point to a clear need to rethink the dominant use of fear and other negative emotions in messaging around the climate crisis and other sustainable development issues. The evidence shows that fear-based narratives can often lead to emotional shutdown or inertia.
It is also important to note that this effort is not localized to actors in Geneva but has gained momentum globally, as reflected in the adoption earlier this year by UN Member States of a resolution proclaiming 12 July the International Day of Hope. The resolution calls on governments to recognize the essential role hope plays in promoting “well-being, mutual respect, social stability, and sustainable development.” To mark this first-ever observance, we co-authored a commentary reflecting on these themes, and why hope is more essential than ever.
Amplifying impact and reach for sustainability and beyond
Making visible these links between psychology and multilateralism helps further anchor the importance of building partnerships among sustainable development practitioners, psychologists, and other stakeholders to collectively advance sustainability. It also shows the broader societal impact and value of translating psychological knowledge into policy and practice and encouraging holistic, cross-disciplinary approaches. As noted during the Congress, involving young people, and psychology students in particular, is paramount to help them see the practical, multidisciplinary applications of their field, in addition to traditional mental health, and its contributions to sustainable development.
So, while it may have seemed unusual at first for the Beyond Lab to participate in the 2025 European Congress of Psychology, presenting the constructive hope initiative and its underlying logic sparked new ideas and ignited a desire to further engage with the field of psychology to advance the 2030 Agenda – and beyond.
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This article was originally published on 10 September 2025 by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) on the SDG Knowledge Hub. It is part of a new Beyond Lab mini-series, in collaboration with IISD, themed, ‘Unpacking the Beyonds: Key Shifts Shaping the Future of Sustainable Development.’ The series aims to shed light on key concepts, or shifts, towards building a more resilient and sustainable future for people and the planet. The shifts, unpacked through this series, represent key themes of the ongoing Beyonds Challenge Initiative: constructive hope; regeneration; debt to the future; and the great unknowns. Also, in the spirit of the ‘Beyonds,’ they aim to sketch out the outlines of a future not yet written, aiming to take us beyond crisis narratives and fear, beyond resignation, and beyond short-term thinking, towards positive visions of the future and long-term sustainability.
