Drawing on perspectives from practical theology, religious education, and systematic theology, it examines how theological understandings of hope, the future, creation, responsibility, suffering, and action can be understood in relation to the concrete and existential conditions of the climate crisis.

The climate crisis is not merely a scientific and political challenge, but also raises fundamental existential, ethical, and theological questions. Previous research in practical theology and religious education shows that climate change is associated with climate anxiety, grief, and experiences of helplessness, but also with different forms of hope that can contribute to perseverance, responsibility, and action. At the same time, the theological meaning and function of hope remain insufficiently developed in climate research.

Particular attention is given to the tension between hope and despair, as well as between hope as a theological concept and hope as a basis for practical and collective action.

A central ambition is to develop the project in close dialogue with cross-disciplinary perspectives. Biology and ecology can contribute knowledge of the ecological systems and processes of change with which theology needs to engage. Psychological perspectives can contribute to an understanding of both climate anxiety and how hope emerges, is experienced, and is sustained at individual and group levels. Communication studies can illuminate how narratives about the climate crisis, the future, hope, and despair are shaped and communicated, while educational perspectives contribute knowledge about learning, meaning-making, and possibilities for developing readiness to act. These perspectives are not intended to constitute separate components of the project, but rather to serve as building blocks in developing a theology of hope grounded in the actual ecological, human, and societal conditions of the climate crisis.

The project builds on previous research on climate change, religious education, and hope, but aims to move from identifying hope as an important theme towards developing a more coherent theological understanding of its meaning, function, and possibilities. A central objective is therefore to explore whether and how a renewed theology of hope can contribute to enabling people and religious communities to encounter the climate crisis without either naïve optimism or paralysing despair.

The project is conducted at the University of Borås and aims to result in an international academic monography.