Holistic Sustainability Semester 2018 This is your home.
Lost Valley Center
A 501c3 Non-Profit Find your people.
For the last 28 years, we have taught sustainability. Our holistic approach engages students in ecological, social, and personal growth. We believe that a whole person, empowered with the right tools, has immense power to change the world. Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.
-Bill Mollison
The Program Internationally Recognized 2 Certificates Awarded
Spheres of
Sustainability Taught 5
Week 12 Program Years of Teaching 28 at Lost Valley This 12-week semester introduces the five spheres of sustainability: Personal, Social, Ecological, Economic, and Worldview.
We integrate dynamic classroom learning with an immersion experience in our 28-year-old intentional community. Our diverse staff are knowledgeable, creative and inspired - and here to help you grow.
Students earn two internationally recognized certificates:
1.) The Ecovillage Design Education Certificate (EDE), a holistic sustainability standard anchored by Gaia Education and recognized by UNESCO (info).
2.) The Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC), the global standard in Permaculture education.
Adventure with us into the heart of sustainable living. It might just change your life forever...
Magical
Lost Valley is Narnia.
At the surface it’s magical. But when you read deeper, you see how much meaning and truth there is.
-Collin, HSS Student WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: 5 SPHERES OF SUSTAINABILITY Personal • Social • Ecological • Economic • Worldview
Evolving personal identity, mindfulness meditation, tai ji/qi gong, artistic expression, body movement & healing, and more WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: 5 SPHERES OF SUSTAINABILITY Personal • Social • Ecological • Economic • Worldview
Our social sustainability teachings include:
Community organizing, self-governance, conflict resolution, non-violent communication and more WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: 5 SPHERES OF SUSTAINABILITY Personal • Social • Ecological • Economic • Worldview
Our focus on ecological sustainability includes:
Permaculture design, natural building, sustainable agriculture/forestry, appropriate technology, water systems and more WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: 5 SPHERES OF SUSTAINABILITY Personal • Social • Ecological • Economic • Worldview
We teach nuances of economic sustainability -- Sharing economy, One Planet development, local currency, right livelihood, bioregionalism, and more WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
5 SPHERES OF SUSTAINABILITY Personal • Social • Ecological • Economic • Worldview
Worldview as part of sustainability teachings includes:
Remembering our place in nature, indigenous wisdom, spiral dynamics, Teal Organizations, spiritual activism, and more
Life-Changing Lost Valley has allowed me to explore deep within myself, and also an environment to explore the natural world. I connect to the nature around me.
I am inspired to live more sustainably in all aspects of my life. I am forever grateful for this experience and for the connections I’ve made to the people here. Lost Valley holds a special place in my heart.
-Mikayla, HSS Student Where will it take you?
● Discover your life’s purpose ● Lay the foundation for a fulfilling, confident adult life ● Awaken as a creative and passionate global citizen ● Grow into authentic leadership capacities ● Gain life-long skills that serve you, others, and the world. ● Learn to nurture true and lasting friendships ● Restore and renew family relationships ● Break free from patterns that no longer serve you ● Find your authentic voice and unique gifts
Class Dates. Class Times. Three 2018 semesters: Spring (February 26 - May 18) Summer (May 28 - Aug. 17) Fall (Aug. 27 - Nov. 16)
Monday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.: Social & Economic
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.: Ecological Permaculture Design Course (PDC)
Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Personal & Worldview Life at Lost Valley is like a dream. I stepped into passion by reconnecting with the natural world. The community envisions itself as a part of nature, not excluded from it. I cultivated art, music, games...really anything I wanted to do.
-Onjae, HSS Student
Outside the Classroom Outside the Classroom ● Discover the wild Northwest - Oregon Coast to the Cascade Crest ● Experience unique Eugene culture - food, music, festivals - 30 minutes away ● Explore Lost Valley's 87 acres of forest, meadows, creeks, & trails ● Join in gardening, community projects, climbing trees, and dipping in the swimming hole ● Room and board fully included - enjoy community meals 5 days/week ● Social events and outings with friends Empowering
This course is excellent for anyone who doesn’t know what they want to be when they grow up. Permaculture helps you learn about yourself and our planet in ways I didn’t think possible. I learned more in 12 weeks about myself than I did in 4 years in college!
-Jamie, PDC Student
Community Living Community Living
● Find your tribe ● Co-create sustainable culture ● Become fully integrated in community life ● Belong to a diverse group of artists, activists, educators, and entrepreneurs ● Empower your voice within sociocratic self-governance. ● Build lifelong relationships ● Learn to care for the whole
A Vision of Sustainability Lost Valley, since 1989 28 YEARS OF STUDYING SUSTAINABLE LIVING
For the last quarter-century, we’ve been educating students about sustainable living. We are a community that gathers around a set of collective understandings and interests, common in our hearts:
● To live lightly on the Earth ● To cultivate a spirit of service ● To explore the essence of family, tribe, and partnership ● To dedicate ourselves to personal growth, healing, and spiritual understanding. We are the seed of a growing Ecovillage movement.
The Ecovillage movement is growing, and Lost Valley is on the forefront in the US. The EDE certificate is offered in many places in Brazil and Europe, but Lost Valley is currently the only one in the entire United States.
The Land THE LAND Our 87-acre nature sanctuary with ancient oak savanna meadow dating to indigenous times creates a hidden world all its own, tucked away on the edge of Oregon's Willamette Valley. One step on the land reveals a place thousands have known as serene, magical, and healing.
Travel from the city and find sounds of traffic replaced with bird song stories; smells of smog swapped with rich forest air; tall buildings transformed into cathedrals of mossy trees; cold concrete re-born into soft organic soils underfoot; grocery stores disappearing into winding trails of wild edibles.
Breathe deeply. You're Home. The wisdom of the ancient past lies underfoot. Camas Lily, once a staple food of the indigenous, illuminates Spring meadows and red jasper tool-stone emerges from the garden soil.
Those who live here connect with and steward the land in both a personal and communal way: digging in the garden, stargazing in the meadow, enjoying the earthen sauna, singing around a campfire, walking the trails, cultivating and wildcrafting herbs, working with the chickens, meditating at sunrise, sunbathing on the trampoline, and more. We plant, nurture, harvest, and eat our own fruits and vegetables. All of the animals are our friends.
Cost COST
$1200/month as an Early Bird (deposit by January 1 for Spring 2018, April 1 for Summer 2018, and July 1 for Fall 2018).
Regular price is $1400/month. This is an all-inclusive package covering housing (renovated dorm room or camping), full meal plan, all other site fees, and all instruction.
If you need it, yes, there is financial aid. Visit our financial aid page for options – the application deadline for spring semester is December 15, for summer March 15, and for fall June 15.
Apply APPLY
If you are ready to apply, click here: APPLICATION FORM.
Questions? please email [email protected] or call 541-937-3351 x 202. After receiving your application we’ll schedule a time to Skype and see how good a fit it is between you and the program. Only after that is registration allowed.
Thank you for taking in the information here, and for your interest in the program. To learn more about our organization, please visit us at lostvalley.org.
Cheers from your friends at Lost Valley, until we see you in person.