What’s New for February 2026
Dear Climate-Concerned Friends,
This year, we are hosting monthly public events at the Monmouth Senior Community Center on the evening of the second Thursday of every month, 7:00-8:30 pm. The first four events, called “Climate Cafés,” will focus on our emotional reactions to the climate situation (see below). Other events, to be announced, will feature speakers, films, or topic-focused discussions. Please plan to join us, and bring a friend.
2026 “Imagine Our Future” art and writing event is underway
People from the community and MICG members gathered at Spectrum Artworx in Monmouth on the evening of January 20 to kick off the fourth annual “Imagine our Future” event. Speaker Stephen Howard introduced this year’s event and showed a short video by artist Taylor Seamont, who discussed how we can counteract self-defeating negative views of the future by imagining positive future scenarios and outcomes. Our Imagine Our Future contest asks visual artists and writers to create positive visions for our community’s future. This year’s entries will be showcased at the Monmouth Senior Center, and prizes will be awarded for the best pictures and writings in elementary, middle, high school, and adult categories. For details, including submission dates and prizes, see our Imagine Our Future page. Work must be submitted online between March 1 and 31, 2026.
(MICG wishes to thank Spectrum Artworx, an art supply store at 140 Main Street in Monmouth, for hosting our Imagine Our Future kickoff event.)
Climate Café series opens with meaningful discussions of personal reactions to climate issues
Our January 8 Climate Café focused on aspects of fear induced by the prospect of a deepening climate crisis. Participants, sitting in small groups, freely discussed how climate change affects them personally, and often found that their own concerns resonated with those of others. There are four Climate Cafés in this winter’s series. While the first Café focused on fear and related emotions such as anxiety and powerlessness, each meeting will have a different focus, following the wheel clockwise. Thus, the upcoming February 12 Café will focus on sadness-related issues such as a sense of depression or loss. The Cafés are open to the public. You are welcome to participate and to bring a friend. The event is from 7:00 to 8:30pm at the Monmouth Senior Community Center.
SPECIAL EVENT: Cultivating Collective Resilience in the Polycrisis — free public lecture and discussion
Sarah Jaquette Ray, author of the highly regarded book A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety, and the Chair of the Environmental Studies Department at Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State University), will speak at Oregon State University’s PRAX theater in Corvallis on Wednesday, February 11, at 5:30 PM. Her talk is sponsored by OSU’s Spring Creek Project and Sustainability Department. Seating is limited, and reservations are recommended — reserve seats on the event’s website.
https://prax.oregonstate.edu/events/cultivating-collective-resilience-polycrisis-sarah-jaquette-ray
Climate Magic Podcast - Sarah Jaquette Ray, author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to keep your cool on a warming planet, hosts a podcast on how your feelings about the climate issue affect your agency to do something about it. The hour-long sessions with experts in many fields include topics such as “Neuroscience and Hope,” “Apocalyptic Optimism,” “Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question,” and more.
Ongoing Activities
Attend our monthly online meeting: Join our next regular Climate Group’s online meeting at 6:00 PM, Monday, February 9. These “business meetings” are focused on policy issues and task distribution for our group activities. If you want to attend, please send us an email we will send you the link.