Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center is a non-profit organization and intentional community located near the town of Occidental in the western part of Sonoma County, California, the traditional homeland of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok. It is situated on an 80-acre ecological reserve in the Dutch Bill Creek, near the Russian River. OAEC is a research, demonstration, education, advocacy, and community-organizing center that develops strategies for regional-scale community resilience.
Founded in 1994, OAEC’s projects and partnerships address current urgent crises through permaculture and ecological design,,,, strategic organizing methods, and democratic self-governance.
OAEC hosts organizational retreats for networks, public agencies, foundations, and other groups working towards social and environmental change.
OAEC’s mission is to support systems of governance and economy that are ecologically restorative, socially just, and culturally rejuvenating. OAEC trains and supports “whole communities” — schools, public agencies, tribes, urban social justice organizations, groups, and others — to design and cultivate resilience to mounting ecological, social, and economic challenges.
History
The land OAEC resides on was developed in 1974 as The Farallones Institute Rural Center, an independent association of scientists, architects, and horticulturists who founded a center for teaching and research in appropriate technology, organic gardening, and sustainable design. The Farallones Institute established the original garden, known as the Mother Garden. In 1982 the Mother Garden became certified organic by CCOF and is currently the 7th oldest garden in California to receive this organic certification. The Mother Garden was also granted the first ever organic agricultural easement in the United States by the in 1994, requiring that the Mother Garden remain in organic agricultural production into perpetuity.In 1994 OAEC was founded by a group of friends as a non-profit and intentional community, the Sowing Circle. Over the years, landmark moments include the beginning of the in 1995, which continues seasonally from April to October. OAEC has offered courses since 1996, making it one of the oldest permaculture institutions in the country. In 2004, the was established to organize communities around for the stewardship, advocacy, and protection of . In 2009 the campaign was officially launched to advocate for and educate about the importance of native beavers as a keystone species for healthy watersheds in California. In 2024, OAEC was awarded Non-Profit of the Year for California Senate District 2.
Programs
Mother Garden Biodiversity
OAEC’s curates, propagates, and shares thousands of varieties of edible, medicinal, and ornamental plants, with a focus on perennials. The plant collection and seed bank emphasize food crops of special genetic, cultural, and historic importance that are appropriate to the Bay Area bioregion. Each year, the Mother Garden Biodiversity Program hosts three of the largest free seed exchanges in California - Bioneers, the, and the . The onsite gardens provide a classroom for onsite courses and food for residents and retreat guest throughout the year.The Mother Garden Nursery is 100% . Plant sales run every weekend from April - October.
Resilient Community Design
is a methodology that has emerged from OAEC, based on 30 years of researching, modeling, and teaching ecological design to whole communities. It is a modified version of permaculture that focuses on groups, rather than individuals. It features community-based and participatory land assessment and planning that is rooted in the idea that all people have the right, the knowledge, and the ability to best determine an ecologically regenerative, economically viable, and socially just future for themselves in their place.WATER Institute
In 2004, OAEC established the to promote the importance of healthy watersheds to healthy communities. The WATER Institute promotes community-based watershed literacy and action by:- Reframing the policy debate around water quality and supply at the city, county, and California state levels.
- Educating and empowering all sectors of regional economies to implement restoration, conservation, and policy changes for water security for communities, agriculture,. and ecosystems.
- Implementing climate change responsive land-use and water management practices at the watershed scale.
Bring Back the Beaver Campaign
In 2009, as a response to the drastic decline of coho salmon in the Russian River watershed, the WATER Institute launched a to educate citizens about the importance of beaver for watershed and ecosystem resiliency. North American Beavers are what biologists call a “keystone species” as the habitat they create benefits many other species. Their dams improve water quantity and quality, increase late-season stream flow, and reduce the impacts of flooding. Beaver bank burrows and food caches provide critical habitat for many native and endangered California species. To improve water supply quality and quantity and increase resilience to drought, wildfire, and climate change, the WATER Institute works to integrate beaver management into California policy and regulation.In 2023, after over a decade of work by the Bring Back the Beaver Campaign, OAEC worked with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to change state beaver policies to recognize that beaver are a California native species and that they provide ecological benefits in diverse landscapes across the state. At CDFW’s request, OAEC is creating a statewide Beaver Coexistence Program to help farmers and other landowners live with and benefit from the presence of beaver in the landscape. Major milestones in this campaign were OAEC’s support for moving the State into collaborations with both the and the in carrying out the first in California in nearly 75 years.