01
The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Fight Climate Change
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Climate Scientist
Why talking about climate change, with the people you love, is the action that unlocks every other one.
Watch Talk →Climate Action:
Energized by Hope
Date
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Time
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Venue
CEC's Environmental Hub
Anchored to CEC's Year of Active Hope
Hope as a Practice
Hope isn't a feeling.
It's a practice.
📊
Truth
The data we need to face
💬
Voice
The conversation we owe
🌅
Vision
The future we imagine
🌱
Action
The work we sustain
Hope is what you do, not what you wait for. It's the choice to keep showing up when despair would be easier and denial would be cheaper.
This Salon, co-curated by Sigrid Wright (CEC) and Victoria Riskin in partnership with Bluedot, screens three landmark TED Talks from today's most clear-eyed climate thinkers: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Dr. Hannah Ritchie, and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Each screening is paired with live conversation that grounds the practice of hope in science, story, and a vision worth working toward.
"The most important thing an individual can do about climate change is talk about it."
— Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
The Talks
Three TED Talks on Active Hope
A curated screening of three TED Talks from leading climate communicators, paired with live conversation designed to turn ideas into action.
02
Are We the Last Generation — or the First Sustainable One?
Dr. Hannah Ritchie, Data Scientist at Our World in Data
A data-driven case that despair gets the story wrong, and what the numbers actually say about where we're headed.
Watch Talk →
03
How to Find Joy in Climate Action
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Marine Biologist and Policy Expert
A Venn diagram for figuring out your role in the climate fight, and why joy belongs at the center of it.
Watch Talk →The Flow
Where Ideas Become Practice
After each screening, we'll pause for live Q&A — our co-curators Sigrid Wright and Victoria Riskin will be in the room to answer questions, surface context, and connect the ideas to action you can take this week.
- 6:30
Arrival & Welcome
10 minRefreshments and conversation
- 6:40
Sigrid Wright, Opening
7 minWhy CEC built a Year of Active Hope — and why now
- 6:47
Victoria Riskin, Opening
7 minThe story we tell ourselves about the future
- 6:55
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, TED Talk Screening
17 minThe most important thing you can do to fight climate change
Followed by live Q&A with our co-curators - 7:12
Dr. Hannah Ritchie, TED Talk Screening
16 minAre we the last generation — or the first sustainable one?
Followed by live Q&A with our co-curators - 7:30
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, TED Talk Screening
15 minHow to find joy in climate action
Followed by live Q&A with our co-curators - 7:45
Closing Conversation
15 min“What will you practice this week?” Audience discussion led by Sigrid & Victoria
Co-Curated By
Your Guides for the Evening
Sigrid Wright
CEO, Community Environmental Council
Three decades leading climate and sustainability work in the Santa Barbara region. Architect of CEC's Year of Active Hope.
Victoria Riskin
President and Founder, Bluedot, Inc.
Award-winning screenwriter and former president of the Writers Guild of America West. Long-time advocate for human rights and climate action.
Hosted By
Mark Sylvester
Host, TEDxSantaBarbara Salons
35-year member of the TED community. Producer of TEDxSantaBarbara since 2010 and TEDx Salons since 2020.
The Venue
CEC's Environmental Hub
The Community Environmental Council's home base. A space designed for the kind of conversations climate work requires.
1219 State StreetSanta Barbara, CA
☕Refreshments
🌿TEDx Screenings
💬Open Discussion
🎟Limited Seating
Be Part of the Practice
This isn't a talk you watch. It's a conversation you join.
Reserve your seat for an intimate evening.