What do local candidates for office think about climate change? How will it affect your vote in November? To aid citizens in their democratic deliberations, Gonzaga’s Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment is proud to host the Spokane Candidates Climate Change Forum on the first Wednesday each October.
The Climate Forum has been hosted annually since 2019 and is a non-partisan space where candidates for local office can share with local voters and citizens what they would or would not do or support if elected to office.
2026 Spokane Candidates Climate Change Forum
Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Time: 6:00pm (Pacific Time)
Location: The Globe Room, Gonzaga University & Live streaming (link sent day of).
Forum moderator: Dr. Brian G. Henning, Director, Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment
Candidates
After the primary, candidates will be invited to attend. Information on the races we will include is forthcoming.
Audience Rules of Engagement
At Gonzaga we take seriously the importance of modeling the civil discourse that we expect of our leaders. To create a welcoming space for dialogue, please observe the following rules:
- No booing
- No clapping
- No cheering
Audience members will be given a green and red sheet of paper. If a candidate says something you like, hold up the green sheet of paper. If a candidate says something you don’t like, hold up the red sheet of paper.
Event Sponsors
The Climate Institute thanks the following co-sponsors for this year's Forum:
- 350 Spokane
- Community Building Foundation
- Futurewise Spokane
- Inland NorthWest Land Conservancy
- League of Women Voters
- Spokane Riverkeeper
- The Lands Council
Past candidate climate change fora were recorded and are available on our YouTube channel on a separate playlist.