Burning Questions: Conversations About Our Living World with Leslie Davenport

The Psychospiritual Roots of the Climate Crisis

What are the psychological and spiritual roots of the climate crisis, and what might healing actually look like? In this episode, Leslie Davenport speaks with Adrián Villaseñor Galarza, PhD, and integral/transpersonal ecopsychologist, international facilitator, ritualist, author, and contemplative practitioner passionate about human transformation in service to the living Earth. Adrián is Associate Professor in the Department of East-West Psychology at CIIS, founder of the Bioalchemy Institute, and founder of the Work That Reconnects Latin America. His work weaves together Eastern and Western liberation teachings, systemic-transpersonal developments, Earth wisdom, and ecopsychology into an elemental framework for self-discovery, healing, and regenerative action. Together, Leslie and Adrián explore the inner dimensions of our ecological moment — how disconnection from the living world runs deeper than behavior or belief, and what it takes to move from breakdown toward regenerative action by exploring the psychospiritual roots. 🌿 Learn more about Adrián's work: living-flames.com [http://living-flames.com] | bioalkimia.org [http://bioalkimia.org] | eltrabajoquereconecta.org [http://eltrabajoquereconecta.org]

The Emergence of a New Culture

Isabel Cavelier Adarve is a writer, speaker, language and poetry wanderer, lawyer, former diplomat, advocate for planetary transition & creator of eco-social initiatives for cultural transformation. She co-founded mundo común [https://mundocomun.org/] in 2023 as an initiative dedicated to seeding and nurturing a culture of care, rooted in interdependence, in response to the contemporary planetary challenges. In this episode, she shares with us some of the foundations of mundo común, a speculative practice of the future in the present, and a collective design lab for a new relationality between the human and the more than human worlds. Isabel’s current work combines the co-creation of immersive somatic-narrative interspecies activations, biomimetic design of gathering spaces, and the amplification of re-worlding stories. The challenges posed by the climate crisis call us to review the ways in which we respond to the urgency. It is necessary but insufficient to address the visible symptoms of the current socio-environmental degradation that has deprived humanity of a sense of the open, loving and plural yet-to-come. The root causes of this crisis are related to our sense of identity and spiritual belonging. Check out their resources: mundo común’s website [https://mundocomun.org/] mundo común’s youtube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@mundocom%25C3%25BAn] mundo común on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mundo.comun/]

The Polycrisis Is the Opening: Multisolving Our Way Forward

What if the most powerful response to compounding crises isn't doing more, but doing things that work on multiple levels at once? Dr. Elizabeth Sawin, founder of the Multisolving Institute and co-founder of Climate Interactive, has spent her career mapping the places where climate action, health equity, and community wellbeing converge. She calls this "multisolving," and it changes not just what we do, but how we understand leverage, hope, and what's actually possible right now. In this conversation, we explore how the living web of relationships we inhabit — ecological, social, political — becomes the very ground of transformation. Beth offers a framework that meets people across many entry points, inviting action on every scale, each choice a seed planted for a future of cohesion and justice. This is climate work that doesn't ask you to bracket your humanity to show up. It asks you to bring all of it. Learn more about Beth and her work through the Multisolving Institute [https://www.multisolving.org/about-us/elizabeth-sawin-phd/].

The Importance of Cross-Generational Alliances

Dr. Jade Sasser shares her personal journey with climate change and how being evacuated during a wildfire powerfully deepened the direction of her work. She reminds us that resilience isn’t a single tool we reach for in crisis, but a wide, living landscape we tend over time. For her, that landscape stretches from teaching and advocacy to the simple grounding rituals of gardening and Pilates. And yet, at the center of it all is her devotion to students and to building intergenerational alliances, honoring the distinct gifts each generation carries while inviting us to share the responsibility for action together. Listening to her feels a bit like sitting with someone who is both steady and searching, someone who doesn’t pretend the road is easy but still believes deeply in walking it with others. I hope you enjoy hearing her as much as I did. She also has two wonderful books and a podcast on the climate-driven reproductive anxiety and politics that places race and social justice at the center. See more about her work at her website [https://jadesasserphd.com/].

An Invitation to Transformative Leadership

In this episode, Dr. Renée Lertzman brings a rare blend of wisdom, depth, and grounded practicality to the conversation about climate change and human behavior. A pioneer in the psychology of climate emotions, she helps us move beyond overwhelm and polarization toward curiosity, compassion, and meaningful engagement. What I so appreciate in her work is the way she names what’s often unspoken—our defenses, ambivalence, and fears—without judgment, and then offers pathways forward that feel both humane and doable. In this conversation, Renée reminds us that responding to the climate crisis isn’t just about information or solutions; it’s about relationship, leadership, and learning how to stay present with what’s hard while still acting with care and courage. Dr. Renée Lertzman is a pioneer, who for 30 years has been bridging psychology with climate change, sustainability and existential threats. An academic-turned practitioner, she designs frameworks and methods that guide people to take action and create impact on climate and sustainability issues. Over the past two decades, Renée has worked with global leaders, startups, governments, and mission-driven companies—including Google, IKEA, the California Academy of Sciences —helping them navigate the emotional complexities of climate engagement. She is developing a new academy that equips changemakers with psychologically grounded resources for collective transformation. She is also working on a forthcoming book to be published by Viking in 2027. Website [https://www.reneelertzman.com] TED Talk [https://www.ted.com/talks/renee_lertzman_how_to_turn_climate_anxiety_into_action] Podcast, Accidental Gods [https://accidentalgods.life/working-from-the-inside-out-paths-to-personal-and-global-transformation-with-renee-lertzman/]