Training a new generation of change makers: Utilising the power of storytelling to help people lead more sustainable, healthy, and meaningful lives

An image of a story book open with a tree growing out of it

Loughborough University will be launching a new doctoral researcher training centre that will utilise the power of storytelling to tackle two of society’s most pressing challenges: the climate crisis and mental health. 

The East Midlands Sustainable Living And Mental Well-being (EM-SLAM) programme is a pioneering consortium bringing together four leading universities and a host of non-academic partners from across the region to train the next generation of researchers, policymakers, and creative practitioners. 

Funded by a Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Focal Award, EM-SLAM will explore how people can live sustainably, healthily, and meaningfully, building inclusive and thriving communities in the face of growing climate anxiety and feelings of ecological hopelessness. 

Over the next seven years, EM-SLAM will support at least 20 doctoral researchers. These future change makers will learn to work in new, creative ways, using different voices and perspectives in public conversations to make a real difference in the world. It will be led by Professor Mike Wilson, Director of Loughborough University’s world-renowned Storytelling Academy, Professor Claire Warden and Dr Mark Doidge

The initiative is uniquely positioned to address issues such as climate anxiety and ecological grief – challenges affecting communities worldwide – by bringing together artists, academics, health professionals, environmental scientists, and community organisations. 

Through EM-SLAM doctoral researchers will gain skills in: 

  • Creative and cross-disciplinary research methods 
  • Storytelling for policy and societal transformation 
  • Working with partners in the arts, health, and environmental sectors to design and co-produce knowledge that leads to real-world change 

Speaking about the programme, Professor Wilson said: “This new initiative will ask researchers to look beyond how we just survive the challenges ahead – it will ask how we live well, together. By drawing on diverse perspectives, lived experiences, and creative thinking, we aim to co-create ideas that are equitable, practical, and transformative, and that will have real impact in policymaking and implementation. 

“EM-SLAM is set to reimagine how research, education, and community action can work together to address the most complex challenges of our time.”

The EM-SLAM academic partners are De Montfort University, the University of Leicester and Nottingham Trent University. There are a number of non-academic partners, including the NHS, the Mental Health Foundation and the National Memorial Arboretum. 

 

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: PR 25/108

The full list of non-academic partners is: Active Together, Bright Sparks, Centre for Mental Health, Charnwood Arts, DIMNH, Fearon Hall, The Generator, National Forest, the NHS, National Justice Museum, the Mental Health Foundation, the National Memorial Arboretum and Trash Free Trails.

About the AHRC

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funds world-class, independent research in subjects from philosophy and the creative industries to art conservation and product design. Its research addresses some of society’s biggest challenges, such as tackling modern slavery, exploring the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, and understanding what it is to be human.

AHRC Focal Awards have a strong emphasis on collaborative working, with at least two Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and at least one non-HEI partner included in each application. With over 25 HEIs and over 100 non-HEIs involved, these awards represent a diversity of institution, discipline, and geography. 

About Loughborough University

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2025 QS World University Rankings – the ninth year running.

Loughborough is ranked 7th in The UK Complete University Guide 2026, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2025 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.

Loughborough was also named University of the Year for Sport in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - the fourth time it has been awarded the prestigious title.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.