Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain

Leadership - Encourage environmental leadership in young adults: residential opportunities for gap year, college aged, and young professionals who are looking to clarify their vision and develop tangible skills for guiding the way to a more sustainable future.Rising Earth Immersion (REI): EIPM hosted 2 seasons of the Rising Earth Immersion in 2022 (spring and fall), a residential environmental leadership program for young adults between 18-28. We served a total of 25 participants in 2022, who came from all over the U.S. Permaculture Foundations Course: EIPM hosted a week long workshop exploring the foundational principles of permaculture during the Fall REI. Co-taught by Meg Toben and Dan Wapepah, who brought an Indigenous perspective. We served a total of 29 participants in 2022 who came from all over the US.

Community Resilience - Build community resilience through community gatherings and seasonal celebrations to foster connections and relationships among people interested in a better ecological future.Comfrey Salve-Making Workshop: An intro to herbalism, this 2-hour workshop was for processing a useful plant from the Community Learning Garden called comfrey into a topical salve for the skin. 19 participants in December came away with natural medicine for their home, or holiday gifts.Spiral of Light: A winter solstice festival, and an annual Eco-Institute tradition, Spiral of Light is a beautiful ritual involving a meditative lantern walk, a sacred community fire, candles, warm beverages, and ceremony. 40 participants and volunteers helped make this event possible which was heldin honor of Thomas Berrys life and work.

Education & Conservation - Offer educational programs to reconnect people with nature and promote conservation and protection of natural resources. The organization maintains a working farm for this purpose. Activities include field trips for school groups, workshops to teach earth skills, such as beekeeping, organic gardening, wild food-foraging, and herbal wellness. For example, Garden Cooperative is a collaborative gardening opportunity in which participants share in the labor and in the harvest of our abundant Learning Gardens, developing organic gardening skills and going home with produce. We hosted 3 seasons of the Garden Cooperative in 2022 (spring, summer, and fall), serving 96 total participants.