Have you ever been torn between the two choices of "turn on the air conditioning" and "save the polar bears"? Or are you trying to explain that you don’t have children because humans have caused too much environmental burden on the earth, but your elders dismiss it as nonsense? This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the science fiction disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow". We seem to be getting closer and closer to the apocalyptic disaster caused by extreme climate in the movie. Anxiety and anxiety continue to ferment and expand in the hearts of people of this generation. The emergence of the "Climate Café" hopes that people with the same anxiety can come together to heal each other.
Expressing the anxiety caused by extreme climate, climate cafes become a healing platform
According to statistics from the non-profit organization Force of Nature (an initiative founded in 2019 by 19-year-old Clover Hogan with the goal of promoting systemic reforms on climate change), 49 countries have currently held climate cafes. And a total of more than 190 games have been handled. The earliest climate cafe was probably hosted by Jess Pepper in Scotland in 2015. The original idea came from one of his community-based speeches. After the meeting, people wanted to know what they could do. Fighting climate change made him discover that what people need more than organizing initiatives and one-off meetings is talking.
For similar reasons, Rebecca Nestor from the non-profit organization Climate Psychology Alliance was inspired by the death cafe. In 2018, he hosted the first climate cafe in Oxford, UK. The Climate Cafe follows the concept of the Death Cafe, giving people a place to openly discuss and express their various emotions facing the issue of climate change and the impact of extreme climate on the environment and human survival.
Many participants mentioned that in their original lives, if they talked about the issue of extreme climate with family and friends, they often could not get the response they expected, let alone discuss it together. This depressing situation made some participants feel more anxious, uneasy and worried, and also aggravated people's guilt about being unable to do anything, and even affected the mental health of some people. "Compared to psychotherapy, climate cafes are more like group catharsis." Lauren Bondy, a climate cafe organizer with a background as a therapist, said that it allows people to express each other in the group and helps people face each other. Regarding the unknown brought about by extreme climate, at the same time, through the power of the group, the originally low mood was transformed into the motivation to continue paying attention to this issue.
Discuss serious issues, but it’s a relaxing party
At the beginning, climate cafes were often private gatherings where invitees discussed behind closed doors, but gradually there are more and more events open to the public. Anyone who sees the event information can come and participate. There are also online and physical gatherings. This can be done in two ways. In order to create a comfortable, warm and relaxing space where people can speak freely without pressure, climate cafes for physical gatherings often use the host's home as the venue. Some hosts will light scented candles and play music to relax people. music, and then bring out fruits, snacks, potato chips, sparkling water, etc., it feels like a gathering of friends on Friday night.
The formats and methods of climate cafes are very diverse. Basically, it can be said that they vary depending on the organizer. There will be sessions targeting specific occupations, and there will also be sessions to discuss future action plans. However, most climate cafes are There is no restriction on the status of participants, so participants are not required to put forward any conclusions or suggestions after the group discussion. The focus is only on being able to share with other participants their sadness, fear, anxiety or other problems caused by facing extreme climate. Any other emotion helps participants understand that they are not alone in their concerns about this issue.
“If we can’t heal ourselves, we can’t heal the planet,” said Lauren Bondy, outlining the key ethos of the Climate Café.
What can I do to host a Climate Café?
In order to expand the popularity of climate cafes, many non-profit organizations or individuals who are concerned about the impact of extreme climate will use their own experience in organizing climate cafes to train or share relevant information with others who are willing to host climate cafes. If you want to implement a climate cafe, you first need to decide where to hold it, which can be a coffee shop, a community space, or someone’s home. Next, you need to identify the people you want to invite to the event, which can be friends, neighbors, or strangers. , or it can be all people of a certain age group or there are no restrictions. Next, you can make the space more comfortable according to your own preferences, including providing food and drinks that will be liked by the participants. Finally, be prepared to start a conversation about climate issues. It’s up to you how long and how often you want to host your Climate Café.
If you want to be more careful, the non-profit organization Climate & Mind suggests that it would be more appropriate to schedule a climate cafe for about 90 minutes. The process can be divided into 15 minutes to wait for participants to enter and get to know each other, and 30 minutes to listen to each other's ideas. , 30 minutes to discuss possible future actions, and the last 10 minutes to summarize today’s content. As a platform for informal meetings and mutual healing, climate cafes are a highly flexible gathering format. As long as participants feel comfortable, this is the way to promote climate cafes.
※ This article is reprinted with permission from "Social Enterprise Flow", the original title is "Share each other's fear of the doomsday, and the "Climate Cafe" was born." CC co-creation licensing terms do not apply.
References:
*The Guardian (2021.9.4), Anxiety and biscuits: the climate cafes popping up around the world
*The New York Times (2024.3.20), Can Climate Cafes Help Ease the Anxiety of Planetary Crisis?
*CLIMATE & MIND
*Force of Nature climate cafés
Source: Environmental Information Center
