Changing the world also means getting out and enjoying the world. Recharge your batteries, refresh your understanding, renew your curiosity ... whichever re- you need the most, we've got an amazing array of choices in New York City and environs, from getting outside to enjoy nature (or "nature" as the case may be) to settling into a cozy dark theatre to see a great film. Hey, it's one of the reasons we live here and not in Peoria, right?

A few happenings on my radar include:

Ecotopia: The Second ICP Triennial of Photography and Video: Works by nearly 40 artists working in photographic media explore the natural world at this moment, when natural disasters seem rampant and global enviornmental changes are on the move. If you follow artists who explore nature and landscape themes, there are some familiar names on this International Center for Photography exhibit's roster: Robert Adams, Diana Thater, Thomas Ruff, Mitch Epstein. It being the international center, there's an array of equally accomplished artists from other countries. In a September editorial, the New York Times said of this exhibit, "It sounds too selfish to say that the struggle to preserve the natural world is also a struggle to preserve the wholeness of our being, but it is a fact nonetheless. There are few better examples of this than the works now on display at the International Center of Photography, in a new exhibition called ''Ecotopia.'' That word implies something paradisal, but what the exhibition really suggests is the fragile ecology of the place we live -- the glory of what it is and the sorrow of what we have done to it." (Now behind the NYT paywall, unfortunately.) Runs until January 7, 2007.

Resistance and Rebirth: Hungarian Cinema, 50 Years after ‘56: 50 years ago this past October, a popular uprising for political reform began in Hungary (then firmly behind the Iron Curtain) -- one that begain with enormous hope and ended with a brutal crackdown. This series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center presents the films of that era and beyond, as movements sprung up to counter Old Left norms and express desires for change, progress, and truth, all the way to the best of Hungarian film today. As with many Film Society programs, it's an only-in-New-York opportunity: a great way to experience the best movies of another nation and broaden your views of world culture. Through November 15.

Freecycle Your Way to a Better World: Today, the Freecycle Autumn Clutter Harvest Freemeet at NYU's Kimmel Center invites New Yorkers to "harvest the clutter from your living space or office and sow the seeds of a more sustainable NYC. Bring your unwanted, reusable goods, and turn someone else's trash into your treasure. You don't need to bring anything to take anything. For larger items such as furniture, visit www.freecycle.org." Seen on Science & The City.

Skating and the City: The Pond has returned to Bryant Park, for a season of free admission ice skating right next to the gorgeous Beaux Arts masterpiece that is the New York Public Library main branch. Why is this worldchanging? Well, there's something about a fake outdoor ice skating pond in the center of a megacity midtown that evokes 21st century urban/nature contradictions ... certainly worth the nine buck skate rental to plug into that zeitgeist for an hour. But mostly, it sounds like fun.

Global Climate Protests: Get your activist on today, dubbed an International Day of Climate Action by an international coalition of groups. Gatherings in our region apparently include NYC, Albany NY, and Essex County, NJ. Locate a U.S. demo here.