CREATIVE CLIMATE FORUM 2026
Collective Power
Join us on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at Pier 57 in New York City for the Creative Climate Forum: Collective Power —a day-long gathering of creative expression, dialogue, and collective action at the intersection of climate justice and culture.
Registration is FREE and open to all. Priority will be given to those active in climate work from most impacted communities.
Thanks to our media partners:
EXPLORE THE FORUM
Hosted by the Human Impacts Institute, this year’s Creative Climate Forum Collective Power brings together artists, organizers, and changemakers to explore how culture can disrupt harmful systems and regenerate more just, connected, and sustainable futures.
Join us for a full day of performances, panels, hands-on workshops, and immersive art installations—all designed to ignite the power of collective imagination and inspire real-world action.
Whether you stay for the whole day or curate your own experience, you’ll leave energized, informed, and ready to take action.
This event is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome and people who are actively engaged in climate work are encouraged to join!
CONVERSATION & LEARNING
Join thought-provoking panels, hands-on workshops, and nature walks happening all day long. Begin by disrupting what holds us back, questioning the systems and stories that shape our world. Then turn toward regeneration, creating space for connection, collective care, and imagining what becomes possible together.
MORNING PLENARY:
Dismantling, Disrupting, and Deprogramming
How can culture, communications, and creativity help challenge the systems and stories that sustain extraction and injustice? This conversation examines how cultural narratives, media strategies, and creative interventions can disrupt dominant climate narratives, dismantle harmful systems, and unlearn extractive ways of thinking.
MORNING WORKSHOPS AND WALKS:
Dismantling, Disrupting, and Deprogramming
Join us for a morning of exploration and challenge. Choose between two formats: larger workshops that offer collaborative learning, and smaller walks that create space for more intimate dialogue, reflection, and exchange. Together, these sessions invite guests to explore how culture, design storytelling, and organizing can help shift narratives and mobilize action for people and the planet.
AFTERNOON PLENARY:
Regenerating, Restoring, Reconnecting
This panel explores how culture, community, and storytelling can help regenerate what has been broken, restore what has been overlooked, and reconnect people to each other and to the natural world. Speakers will share pathways for healing, repair, and collective action that move us toward a more just and life-affirming future for people and the planet.
AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS AND TALKS: Regenerating, Restoring, Reconnecting
The afternoon workshops and conversations invite participants to explore how storytelling, culture, and dialogue can help regenerate relationships, restore trust, and reconnect communities. Through interactive sessions, guests will engage with themes of disinformation, youth mobilization, and deep listening for a more regenerative world.
KEYNOTE – A Big, Bold, and Beautiful New World
Kumi Naidoo offers a keynote that resonates with decades of struggle, solidarity, and hope, illuminating the path toward collective liberation. He will speak to the vital force of artivism as both a mirror and a catalyst, awakening the courage needed to build a more just and beautiful world.
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CREATIVE CLIMATE HAPPY HOUR
The Creative Climate Happy Hour sponsored by THIRTEEN / PBS NATURE will celebrate the closing of the Human Impacts Institute’s 2026 Creative Climate Forum – Collective Power, with sneak peaks at NATURE’s upcoming programming, live performance, and offer up a warm and uplifting closing moment for networking, celebration, and collective reflection.
KEYNOTE GUEST
Kumi Naidoo offers a keynote that resonates with decades of struggle, solidarity, and hope, illuminating the path toward collective liberation. He will speak to the vital force of artivism as both a mirror and a catalyst, awakening the courage needed to build a more just and beautiful world.
About Kumi Naidoo
A South African human rights and environmental justice activist, Kumi Naidoo is the President of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, Co-Founder of Global Artivism Initiative, and the former Executive Director of Greenpeace International. He currently serves as a global ambassador for Africans Rising and a Richard von Weizsacker fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy. He is also the former Secretary-General of Amnesty International.
MORE INSPIRING VOICES & WORKSHOP LEADERS
Enhance your skills as a climate leader with insights from invited expert guest speakers and hands-on workshops.
Special guests include:
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Be inspired throughout the day by global artists who ignite climate action through powerful movement, music, and storytelling.
Eric Terena
Eric is an indigenous artist from the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul of Brasil, who is at the forefront of a musical revolution that blends ancestral sounds with modern electronic elements.
Willow Gatewood
Willow is an environmental scientist, interdisciplinary artist, musician, and storyteller from endless hills and secluded forests of rural Virginia. Grounded in research, their practice includes recycled and bio-based installation art, words, music, and biosonification (turning processes within living organisms into music and sound).
Margo Flow
An independent singer, songwriter, and folk musician. Heavily inspired by classic acoustic and folk, her music focuses on nature, self-love, and acoustic storytelling.
NYC Climate Writers' Collective + Climate Imaginarium
Writers in the NYC area who write on climate crisis topics + host & facilitate climate writing events and a center for climate, community, and culture in New York. City.
Artichoke Dance Company
Innovative and engaging performances paired with environmental activism, education, community building and civic engagement.
AnkhLave Arts Alliance
Advancing artists in the contemporary art realm and harnessing the transformative power of art as a catalyst for difficult conversations, fostering dialogue between diverse communities.
IMMERSIVE
INSTALLATIONS
Between workshops, panels and walks, dive into interactive climate storytelling with our invited creative partners—including the New York Botanical Gardens, THIRTEEN, PBS Nature, DearTomorrow, Grey Area Collective, climate psychologist Leslie Davenport, and Hudson River Park Trust.
Discover ecosystems, share your hopes and climate reflections, and connect through moments of curiosity, resilience, and collective action. and many more.
This is FREE and open-to-the public. For Living Room activations, no registration is required.
PBS NATURE / THIRTEEN
Explore stories and interactive experiences that invite audiences to deepen their connection with wildlife, ecosystems, and the natural world.
GREY AREA COLLECTIVE
Step back in time with a rotary phone—and make a call for the climate. Take a moment to share your reflections on where we are headed, what is at stake, and how our collective power can help meet the climate crisis with courage and action.
NEW YORK BOTANIC GARDEN
Step into a traveling pop-up exhibition, Before New York, that imagines the ecological landscapes of the New York region before urbanization and invites reflection on its living past and possible futures.
ASK US ANYTHING: THE CLIMATE THERAPIST IS IN
(12:30-2:30pm onliy)
Pause for informal, one-on-one conversations with climate psychology consultant Leslie Davenport and eco- and clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Carter Robinson about climate emotions, building resilience, and reconnecting with a sense of agency.
DEARTOMORROW
Become part of the installation by writing a letter to the future. Add your voice to a collective message of hopes, commitments, and actions that can help shape a more livable, just world.
HUDSON RIVER PARK TRUST
(3-6pm only)
Hudson River Discovery Tank — Explore the Hudson River estuary through touchscreen games and hands-on STEM activities with Hudson River Park educators.
CLIMATE ACTION CORNER
Join local environmental justice organizations in direct action and engagement. Learn about local opportunities for volunteering, canvassing, and supporting a climate justice future.
Explore the great work of our local partners, including:
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New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV): Learn how to advocate for strong environmental policy and help advance climate-smart decisions across New York.
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Sunrise Movement: Connect with young people organizing for a Green New Deal and a livable, equitable future.
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Climate Café NYC: Join a welcoming space for honest conversation, reflection, and community care around the emotional realities of the climate crisis.
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Earth Matter: Explore practical opportunities to reduce waste, compost, and support circular, community-based solutions.
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Van Cortlandt Park Alliance: Discover ways to care for and connect with one of New York City’s largest public parks through stewardship, education, and community programs.
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Lower East Side Ecology Center: Find out how to take part in local e-waste recycling, composting, environmental education, and neighborhood-based environmental action.
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Big Reuse: Learn how you can get involved with composting, tree care, and reuse efforts to strengthen your community against climate change.
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NYU Langone: With climate change increasing risks to public health, find out how you can access one of the most reputable healthcare systems in the country.
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WE ACT for Environmental Justice: Stand with people of color and low-income neighbors in advocating for environmental health policies at the city, state, and federal levels.
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New York Restoration Project: Access support for building a green space in your neighborhood and discover how you can care for gardens and parks across the city.
COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
Stay for a sunset event overlooking the Hudson River. Join us for this evening filled with networking, music, and climate community connections.
The Creative Climate Happy Hour sponsored by THIRTEEN / PBS NATURE will celebrate the closing of the Human Impacts Institute’s 2026 Creative Climate Forum – Collective Power, with drinks from Harlem Hops, a local BIPOC-women-owned brewery, appetizers from local vendors curated by Maggie Baird, and sunset views over the Hudson River. Hosted at the beautiful Pier 57 Living Room in Manhattan, the evening will feature sneak peaks at NATURE’s upcoming programming, live performance, and offer up a warm and uplifting closing moment for networking, celebration, and collective reflection.
THANK YOU
PARTNERS & ALLIES