In 2010, The Movement Generation in conjunction with The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center brought together activists and artists from social justice organizations around the nation to participate in multi-day Justice & Ecology Retreats at the OAEC. Participants then had the opportunity to implement regenerative designs in their communities by embarking on a 2-week long “Permaculture for the People” design course, followed by a one- to two-year follow-up support process.

This September, I was invited by my friends at the OAEC and The Movement Generation to assist in teaching at the second installment of the Permaculture for the People Program. This was held in Oakland and Occidental, California, over the course of a couple weeks. I was asked to teach soil science, botany, agroforestry, and natural building. Over the course of two weeks, the students are taken through back-to-back classes, ranging from hands-on courses in soil science, botany, earthworks, water harvesting, greywater, alternative energy, compost, natural building, design and architecture, etc. to community group processes, design charettes, social structures, and tours of various schools, farms, and centers. At the end of the program, they present a project design from one of four sites in the East Bay area: Urban Tilth, PODER, Full Harvest Farm, and Acta Non-Verba, that they have also been working on throughout the course. Many thanks to all the groups that came together, the 28 students that participated, and to Brock Dolman, Kendall Dunnigan, Carla Perez, and Quinton Sankofa for the friendship, inspiration, and for inviting me to be a part of this offering. 

As a solution to rebuilding communities in need, with topics and education revolving around land reclamation, food sovereignty, and social justice, with a deep rekindling of traditional methods of living in balance with the environment, to design for community resilience, the training program developed by the OAEC and the Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project (MG) took form.

The course was offered to targeted participants, groups of organizing staff and member-leaders from community-based social justice organizations such as PODER and Urban Tilth.

The design projects were centered on sites occupied by the participating organizations, with an understanding that participants would incorporate the principles of Permaculture into their social justice work after the course was over. Timo was asked to joined the list of teachers to help co-lead the design process, as well as offer courses in design & mapping, soil science, natural building, and indigenous skills. With on-site mapping, drafting, and design-charettes, the participants were able to further develop skills in group dynamics and system-based strategies. The course was unique in that it was divided between a rural and an urban setting. After a week at the OAEC, the group made its way back to the city, where participants spent time doing planning and sector mapping at their specific design sites.