Have you attended a Climate Café and found the space helpful? Were you able to share difficult feelings and would now like to support others to do the same?
We run a workshop for anyone who would like to develop the confidence to set up their own Climate Café. It covers the psychology of the climate and ecological emergency, a taster Climate Café, building a toolkit of practical resources and a discussion of the organisation and facilitation of Climate Cafés.
What is a Climate Café?
Adapted from the Death Café model, a climate café is a simple, hospitable, empathetic space where fears & uncertainties about our climate & ecological crisis can be safely expressed.
Why do we need Climate Cafés?
As it becomes more evident that climate and ecological breakdown are a clear and present danger to our safety and wellbeing, we increasingly need to talk about what our changing world means for us in terms of impacts at personal, family and societal level. We need to imagine it in some detail so as to be able to think about it clearly and constructively, and to explore some complex feelings and thoughts which may often be taboo and hard to talk about.
With sturdy enough support structures in place, most people can sustain challenging feelings without either dissociating and numbing or going into blind panic. They can engage with difficult truths whilst staying connected and grounded.
A Climate Café aims to be such a structure - a container that is strong enough to allow the sharing of fear, anxiety, and other emotions such as anger, helplessness, sadness, grief or depression.
What happens during a Climate Café?
The focus of discussion is participants’ thoughts and feelings about the climate and ecological crisis. There are no guest speakers and no talks, and it is an advice-free zone.
Do I have to attend a Climate Café to join the training?
Yes, it is important to have been a participant in a Climate Café before you undertake the training, to experience first hand what it is like to engage in this sort of space before facilitating one yourself, and to have the space to explore your own climate feelings. If you can attend more than one, even better.
Follow this link to go directly to our Eventbrite page or check our events calendar for dates for Climate Cafés taking place in the next few months. It is not essential to have attended a Climate Café led by CPA but it will need to be one that has a very similar structure and ethos.
This will need to be a climate café that:
- focuses on feelings rather than action
- is clear that it is not a space for discussing or debating climate policy, climate science or climate action.
If you cannot get a place on one of ours via our eventbrite listings or our calendar, an internet search or a browse on Eventbrite should produce some. You can check with the organiser if it meets the criteria above or get in touch with us. Please do join our waiting lists as spaces regularly become available at short notice.
If you have any questions about this get in touch and we will be able to advise you.
Who will deliver the workshop?
Two lead facilitators will deliver the workshop and they will be supported by four from our team of forty who will hold mini Climate Cafés within the workshop.
Our lead facilitators are:
Rebecca Nestor - organisational consultant, facilitator and coach, based in Oxford, UK. She is a board member of the Climate Psychology Alliance, leads the CPA’s work on climate cafés, and recently submitted her doctoral thesis at the University of Essex/Tavistock Centre on leadership in climate change organisations
Gillian Broad - professor of social work at the University of Sussex and an experienced facilitator of reflective groups including Climate Cafés
Linda Aspey is a coach, facilitator, therapist, activist, supervisor and speaker working on culture and climate change.
Elspeth Crawford has long experience enabling groups in social justice, emotional education and mental health, and has recently facilitated climate cafés in Edinburgh.
How long does the workshop last?
The workshop is three hours long and includes a comfort break and, when it takes place over a mealtime, the chance to eat.
We try to alternate the times and days we offer to accommodate different time zones. Recently these have run at 08.30 - 11.30am, 14.00 - 17.00, 17.00 - 20.00 UK time.
How much does it cost?
Non-member fee: £40
Member fee: £20
Concessionary fee: £5 but please get in touch if the fee is an issue
To see our current listing of training workshops and Climate Cafés follow this link to our Eventbrite page or check our events calendar. If the date of your choice is fully booked please join the waiting list as places do become available at short notice. The waiting list also helps us understand the level of demand.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.