Climate Week with Consciousness in Mind: FDA Hearing, Events & More
Preparing for Climate Week Amid Psychedelic Shifts
A number of us at PSYCA will be headed to the World Ayahuasca Forum, Sept 11-13. From there, we're heading to DC, where on Sept 14 the FDA is holding a public hearing on the future of therapeutic psychedelics (details below). You can still request to join us online or in person, or submit written comments. If you're in the DC area, join us for "The Gateway" - an event to break down the day with MAPS, SSDP, Thank You Life, JLS Fund, Psychedelics Today, The New Health Club, PSYCA, and TBW - speakers TBA.
This is happening days before Climate Week NYC. It's no coincidence - everything is accelerating everywhere all at once! As climate leaders face that acceleration, psychedelic therapies can offer real support: an Environmental Leaders Resilience Retreat this December offers a space away from urgency to reconnect and return with greater clarity, resilience, and purpose.
We'll continue to support your preparation and integration for the week, with a preview of our curated picks for a Climate Week with Consciousness in mind - reply to submit yours, and we'll keep adding to the list. Reflecting on everything below, I'm so grateful and proud to be in community with each of you.
Climate Week Preparation: Start Tomorrow/Thursday with The Empathogen Experience Journey 9/3
Join Thursday, Sept 3, 6:45pm in Brooklyn for a special opening-week viewing and a 90-minute guided meditation on sensory perception, blending nature-based practice with contemplative art and sound, entirely sober. Created by artist Samantha Rose Stein, it explores how cultivating our senses can access states of loving awe — no experience required. A short integration talk follows, a fitting way to prepare for Climate Week. Limited spots — use code PSYCA for $5 off.
Sunday, Sept 20 from 3:30-6:00pm in Bushwick for a BPS Salon Series workshop on integrating eco-grief with Robin Silver. We'll explore our relationship to a changing world - human and more-than-human - and how non-ordinary states can help us hold the emotional weight of climate catastrophe without succumbing to fear. The space holds both the sacred and the educational. Discount code coming soon for official PSYCA members - location sent to ticket holders upon purchase.
Where Climate Week Comes to Imagine - Join Dear Crisis at Caravan of Dreams
An urban refuge for a resilient, regenerative future, Sept 21–27. A few highlights are below (full list here). RSVP links are coming soon for some events, so check back.
Mon, 9/21, 7-11pm: Explore systemic change with the Denizen and DearCrisis
Tues, 9/22, 11am-1pm: Regenerative Capitalism with John Fullerton
Tues, 9/22, 7:30- 9:30pm: What to Do as the World Falls Apart With Nate Hagens
Thurs, 9/24, 4-6pm: The Rights of Nature: How Legal Strategies, Storytelling, and Artivism Protect Our Biodiversity with More Than Human Rights (NYU) and others
Thurs, 9/24, 6:30-7:30: Dreaming a World that Works for All – Ecocivilization Coalition.
Transformative Impact Summit 9/26-27
Join our TIS friends Sept 26-27 in NYC for a gathering connecting change-makers, social entrepreneurs, and impact investors working across ecological, economic, technological, and social transformation. Beyond talks and panels, TIS focuses on making real connections - introducing changemakers to funders and policymakers who can help scale what's working. Get your tickets here - early bird pricing available.
Climate Week Integration: Join 24 The Planet 9/26
Join 24 The Planet on Saturday, Sept 26 for a 24-mile walk around the entire Manhattan waterfront — Battery Park to the Hudson, under the GW Bridge, back down the East River, with breathwork, meditation, and music stops along the way. No training required, just shoes you've already broken in. Every walker fundraises for Justdiggit, which regreens degraded land in Kenya and Tanzania to help cool the planet - just $12 restores 1,335 square feet. Sign up to walk or come cheer from the route.
Integrate & Do Something Good: Join NYC Day of Climate Action 9/27
Close out Climate Week at the NYC Climate Day of Action on Sunday, Sept 27, 4-7pm at The Classroom, Wagner Park Pavilion — a coalition launch bringing NYC's climate orgs together for a day of real, concrete action rather than more talk. Hosted by NYC2030 and powered by our friends at Good Standing, with PSYCA proud to join as a community partner. Come earn badges, take action with orgs across the coalition, and help turn thousands of individual steps into one number the whole city can watch climb.
Washington, DC, Sept. 14: FDA Holds Public Hearing on the Future of Therapeutic Psychedelics
After the World Ayahuasca Forum, I'll head straight to Silver Spring, MD for a hearing that could shape how psychedelics get used therapeutically in the U.S.
On September 14, from 12:30-4:30pm ET, the FDA is holding a hybrid public hearing, "Considerations for Potential Future Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Drugs," at its White Oak campus. It's part of a coordinated federal effort to gather input on what supervised, supportive therapeutic use could look like as more treatments move toward approval. Request to join in person or watch online.
Why now: Earlier this year, the FDA issued national priority vouchers for psilocybin trials for depression and for methylone for PTSD. MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for depression already hold Breakthrough Therapy designation. The hearing also follows Executive Order 14401, which directs federal agencies to expand access to treatments for serious mental illness.
What they're asking about:
Provider training and credentialing
Patient safety, informed consent, and screening
Access, reimbursement, and telehealth delivery
Data tracking and standardized reporting
What's off the table: the safety or efficacy of specific drugs, scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act, legalization, decriminalization, or personal/ceremonial use.
How to weigh in: formal speaking slots have closed, but registration to attend - in person or virtually - is still open, and written comments are accepted until Oct 5.
While "climate action" is in our name, PSYCA hasn't been overtly political — though the values we've stood for are traditionally seen as left. Psychedelic policy is shifting fast, and it may be creating space to build bridges across the aisle. I was recently inspired by Atmos’ podcast with Pattie Gonia, who said, “We all love nature. On the left, people might call it climate, on the right, people might call it conservation."
It's a hopeful reframe. Will we actually be able to come together? I'll be at the hearing, and I'll bring back what I'm learning in the next newsletter.
Also worth a read: Anya Kamenetz asks whether Burning Man should proceed in a fire evacuation zone — a sharp look at climate risk colliding with a cultural institution.
Before I close, I want to acknowledge the devastating flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border last week, which have killed over 1,000 people, with thousands still missing and the toll expected to rise. If you're able, here is a guide to organizations supporting recovery efforts.
Gratefully,
Marissa
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Marissa Feinberg
