Austin Meyer

Friendships made. Swales dug. Compost piled. Gullies stuffed. Sites designed. Foods forested. Music played. Certification earned.

I just wrapped up 9 days of living and learning at the incredible Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, where I completed a permaculture design certification course. What is permaculture? At they define permaculture as “a design methodology to create ecologically regenerative and socially just human systems that are mutually beneficial to people and the planet.” In essence, it’s a way of tending to both ECOsystems and EGOsystems so that humans, animals, and nature can all thrive in a more sustainable world.

Over the past week, ~25 people of all ages and from all over the world came together to learn the ethics, principles, and techniques of permaculture. Everyday, from 8:30 am - 9:00 pm, we alternated between classroom lecture and hands on learning in the rich soil of OAEC’s 70-acre site. From scattering native yampah seeds in a restored meadow, to creating beaver dam analogs to slow water and sediment runoff, to looking at soil through microscopes, each lesson brought us back to important truths:

1.) None of this is new. Indigenous communities have been designing with and for the land for millennia.
2.) And yet, generation after generation, we continue to leave our home more depleted.
3.) Therefore, we need to change. We need to develop a new relationship with nature (new to many of us).

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers at OAEC who made the week possible, and to my fellow PDC classmates for bringing your positive energy, curiosity, and hard work to the program. I can’t wait to see how you all implement what we learned back at home and in your communities!

📸: Rachel Greenberg