Have you ever been torn between turning on the air conditioner and saving the polar bears? Or perhaps you've tried to explain your decision to not have children because humanity has already placed too much of a burden on the planet, only to have your elders dismiss it as nonsense? This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the sci-fi disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow." As we seem ever closer to the apocalyptic catastrophe wrought by extreme climate change, anxiety is brewing and swelling within this generation. The "Climate Café" initiative aims to bring people with similar anxieties together for mutual healing.
Climate Cafés become a healing platform for those expressing anxiety caused by extreme climate change
According to Force of Nature (a nonprofit organization founded in 2019 by 19-year-old Clover Hogan to promote systemic change in response to climate change), Climate Cafés have been held in 49 countries, with over 190 events taking place. The earliest Climate Café was probably hosted by Jess Pepper in Scotland in 2015. The idea for this event came after he gave a community talk where people wanted to know what they could do to combat climate change. He realized that rather than organizing an initiative or a one-off meeting, people needed a voice to share their experiences.
For similar reasons, Rebecca Nestor of the nonprofit Climate Psychology Alliance, inspired by death cafes, hosted the first Climate Café in Oxford, England, in 2018. Drawing on the concept of death cafes, Climate Cafés provide a venue for people to openly discuss and express their feelings about climate change and the impacts of extreme weather on the environment and human survival.
Many participants mentioned that in their daily lives, when they discussed extreme climate change with family and friends, they often didn't receive the response they hoped for, let alone engage in a discussion. This depressing situation has left some participants feeling even more anxious, uneasy, and worried, exacerbating feelings of guilt about their inability to do anything, and even impacting their mental health. "Climate Cafés are more like group catharsis than therapy," said Lauren Bondy, a Climate Café organizer with a background in therapy. It allows people to express themselves in a group setting, helping them face the uncertainties of extreme climate change. Through the power of the group, they can transform their already low mood into motivation to continue focusing on this issue.
Discuss serious topics, but it is a relaxing gathering
Initially, Climate Cafés were private gatherings, with invitees discussing things behind closed doors. Gradually, however, more and more events have become open to the public, allowing anyone who sees the event announcement to attend. Both online and in-person gatherings are available. In-person Climate Cafés often take place in the host's home, creating a comfortable, warm, and relaxing space where people can freely discuss their thoughts and feelings without pressure. Some hosts light scented candles, play relaxing music, and serve fruit, snacks, potato chips, and sparkling water, creating the illusion of a Friday night get-together with friends.
Climate cafés are held in a wide variety of formats and methods, essentially varying depending on the organizer. There are sessions targeting specific professions, and there are also sessions to discuss future action plans. However, most climate cafés do not restrict the identities of participants, so participants are not required to come up with any conclusions or initiatives after group discussions. The focus is simply on sharing with other participants the sadness, fear, anxiety, or any other emotions they feel when facing extreme climate change, so that participants understand that they are not alone in their concern for this issue.
“If we can’t heal ourselves, we can’t heal the planet,” Lauren Bondy said, capturing the essence of the Climate Café.
How can I host a climate café?
To expand the reach of climate cafés, many nonprofit organizations and individuals concerned with the impacts of extreme climate change are leveraging their own experience organizing climate cafés to train and share relevant information with others interested in hosting them. To organize a climate café, first decide on a location—a coffee shop, a community space, or even a home. Next, decide who you want to invite: friends, neighbors, or strangers, and whether you want to invite a certain age group or no restrictions. Finally, design the space to be comfortable and provide food and beverages that attendees will enjoy. Finally, be prepared to engage in conversation about climate issues. The duration and frequency of your climate café are up to you.
To be more specific, the nonprofit organization Climate & Mind recommends a climate café lasting approximately 90 minutes. This can be divided into 15 minutes of waiting for participants to arrive and get to know each other, 30 minutes of listening to each other's ideas, 30 minutes of discussing possible future actions, and a final 10 minutes of summarizing the day's progress. As an informal platform for mutual healing, climate cafés offer a highly flexible format. Anything that makes participants feel comfortable is a good way to promote a climate café.
This article is reprinted with permission from Social Enterprise Flow. The original title is "Sharing Doomsday Fears: The 'Climate Café' Emerges in Accordance with the Trend." It is not licensed under the Creative Commons License.
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 Centre
