People Over Plastic, a fiscally sponsored project of OAEC, is a BIPOC storytelling collective working towards an anti-racist, plastic-free future. POP’s wildly successful Season 1 podcast brought us stories of … Read more
After a year and a half of pandemic closure, we are happy to announce that the OAEC site will be reopening to welcome Permaculture Design students again this fall! Last … Read more
WATER Institute Co-Directors Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman are excited to announce the initiation of the California Process-based Restoration (Cal PBR) Network and invite you to participate and spread the … Read more
OAEC’s WATER Institute was featured this month in SF Estuary Magazine (including Brock Dolman’s cover shot!) for beaver restoration work on Yellow Creek in the TĂĄsmam KoyĂłm Maidu Cultural Park, Plumas … Read more
Español abajo. Navigating the threat of wildfire is an ongoing reality of life in Sonoma County. From 2017 to 2020, fires burned more than 300,000 acres across the county, resulting … Read more
Climate change is making California hotter, drier, and harder for people and wildlife. Beaver can help. Watch the video recording of the California Beaver Summit! click here to watch During … Read more
photo by Brock Dolman In late January, with the help of Fire Forward, the OAEC and Sowing Circle community conducted a prescribed burn in a 4-acre woodland unit of our … Read more
The following video is a recording of the informational webinar Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist (Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute Directors) gave on March 4, 2021 to those … Read more
The Foundation for Intentional Communities has launched a new podcast called “Inside Community” and invited OAEC Executive Director and Sowing Circle Co-Founder Dave Henson to be the guest on one … Read more
Pictured above: Doug Gosling, Mother Garden Biodiversity Program Director, in the OAEC seed vault with the new Kent Whealy dedication plaque. It is our great pleasure to announce the dedication … Read more
After a long Covid hiatus, on-site tours of the gardens led by real live humans will resume this April! Join us 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month at 1pm, starting at the … Read more
In September, OAEC, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and The Rewilding Institute, convened a virtual Rewilding California meeting that, for the first time ever, brought together many of … Read more
Wildfire preparedness at the county and state level often focus on defensible space and home hardening⊠and for good reason! Both are critical strategies when it comes to saving lives, … Read more
Fall Nursery Sale November 7-8 & 14-15 Everything 20% Off! Wow, what a season! Â From Covid to wildfires, the Mother Garden Nursery has hit more than a few bumps along … Read more
Beaver in California: Creating a Culture of Stewardship Online Presentation The following video is a recording of a presentation WATER Institute Co-Director Kate Lundquist gave on October 15, 2020. Learn how … Read more
OAEC’s fiscally sponsored project Peak Plastic creates integrated storytelling campaigns to fight plastic production and pollution and to empower global collaborative action. Last month, Peak Plastic founders Stiv Wilson and Megan Ponder and their team won an … Read more
In these times, OAEC continues to embody David Orrâs assertion that âhope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up,â advancing practical solutions at the personal and community scale that … Read more
OAEC has brought on the Peak Plastic Foundation (PPF) as a new fiscally-sponsored project, continuing OAECâs involvement in the movement to end the plastic crisis. We are excited to support … Read more
OAEC is excited to announce a new partnership with Celebrating Women’s Leadership in Food led by local farmer, author and activist Caitlin Hatchmyer. We are thrilled to support this project as … Read more
‘Slash Ain’t Trash, It’s Beneficial Biomass!’ Â – Brock Dolman For the past few months, OAEC’s Wildlands team has been working hard applying for permits to restore a number of eroding … Read more
Winter Gardening Starts Now! This week, the Mother Garden Nursery will begin offering your favorite winter vegetable varieties including chicories, lettuces, brassicas, and herbs, in addition to our fabulous perennials. … Read more
October 2021 Though the air has been clean at OAEC the past few weeks, we havenât forgotten that California is still on the heels of a devastating wildfire season (amidst … Read more
We are thrilled to announce that OAEC partner Lottie Cunningham Wren, Miskito women and human rights lawyer for indigenous Nicaraguans, has won the 2020 Right Livelihood Award, often referred to … Read more
Last year, after seventeen consecutive years of producing the Chautauqua Revue, OAEC decided that we would take a year off in 2020 to freshen things up and take a long … Read more
OAEC’s Response to Covid-19 updated August 2020 We at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center are working to make a safe, proactive, and appropriately-scaled response and are committed to following state … Read more
Now that the Occidental Farmers Market is up and running for the season, we invite you to come check out the newly updated watershed literacy display case near the picnic … Read more
OAEC aligns with the following demands and principles that come directly from the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) around the upcoming Juneteenth weekend. We urge you to read and get … Read more
The Mother Garden Nursery will re-open for physically distanced shopping June 13 & 14 returning to our normal weekend business hours for the season Sat & Sun 10am – 5pm … Read more
Pre-Covid-19, we had planned to hold a screening of this new film at OAEC, but we hope you’ll join us instead for a free on-line screening and Q&A discussion. Watch The Story … Read more
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Site photography by Jim Coleman, Tali Aiona, Doug Gosling, Brock Dolman and Sashwa Burrous.
