OAEC supports diverse communities to design their own regenerative systems at the regional and local scale.
Our cookbook is a collection of inventive recipes inspired by seasonal eating from our biodiverse Mother Garden, orchards and Wildlands Preserve.
Experience the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center through beautiful slideshows of our Guest Houses, Meeting Hall, Kitchen, Garden, Wildlands and more.
OAEC serves as a retreat center for networks, public agencies, foundations and other groups working towards social and environmental change.
Our 100% Certified Organic plant nursery specializes in open-pollinated perennials including edible landscaping plants, rare and endangered food crops, drought tolerant ornamentals and habitat plants - all tested in our onsite gardens and appropriate for our bioregion.
OAEC offers the longest consistently running two-week Permaculture Design Certification course in the West. Immerse yourself in information, ideas and inspiration on how to design sustainable, regenerative systems in balance with your home ecosystem.
The WATER Institute is a founding member of The California Roundtable on Water and Food Supply (CRWFS), a consensus-based forum for thought leaders to uncover obstacles, identify solutions, and take action to enhance water security for agriculture, the public and the environment.
Participants share a dedication to a healthy and balanced future for California and each bring deep experiences on issues at the intersection of water supply and agriculture to the table.
Ag Innovations Network is the convener/facilitator of CRWFS, and its mission is to promote the long-term health of the food system in particular: of agricultural production, by facilitating critical dialogues with the food system, and between food system stakeholders and the wider public.
CRWFS is a forum for select leaders at the intersection of agriculture and water management to uncover obstacles, identify strategic and widely accepted solutions, and generate recommendations to assure a reliable, long-term supply of water to California’s specialty crop producers while optimizing other beneficial uses of water.
The Roundtable is a space where these thoughtful and committed leaders can engage in a facilitated, off-the-record dialogue where creativity and wisdom can flourish, and new thinking and paths forward for sound water management can emerge.
The Roundtable will address several key areas of opportunity over the course of the group’s work together. The first module is focused on agricultural water stewardship.
In addition to the Rountable, the WATER Institute has contributed to a related project, The California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative (CAWSI). This initiative aims to raise awareness about approaches to agricultural water management that support the viability of agriculture, conserve water, and protect ecological integrity in California. CAWSI’s website is a resource center for growers, ranchers, and others interested in sound farm water management.
Brock Dolman contributed to this report by the California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative. It is intended to launch a conversation to inspire strategic action and implementation of policies, programs, and farming practices founded in a water stewardship framework (2008).
The WATER Institute sits on this Roundtable and contributed to the following report released by The California Roundtable on Water and Food Supply (2011).
The WATER Institute sits on this Roundtable and contributed to the following report released by The California Roundtable on Water and Food Supply (2012).
The WATER Institute sits on this Roundtable and contributed to the following report released by The California Roundtable on Water and Food Supply (2014).