Partnerships

Sustainable Sonoma

Imagine if local social service, business, and environmental agencies came together with the shared common goal of becoming the most sustainable community in California!

To accomplish this, Sonoma Ecology Center, along with partners from diverse sectors of the community, have launched “Sustainable Sonoma”–a collaborative effort aimed towards establishing shared goals, setting metrics to measure progress, and coordinating our resources. Learn more here.

Team Sugarloaf

When the State closed Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in late 2011, Sonoma Ecology Center and four partners came together to reopen it. Team Sugarloaf is now celebrated around the state as an innovative partnership combining strengths of several groups to larger public purpose. The park is headwaters to important watersheds and protects over 40 rare plants, offers over 25 miles of trails and one of the best views in the North Bay, contains a large family campground, and has one of the largest amateur observatories in the world open to the public. Visit our Sugarloaf website to learn more.

Transforming Sonoma Developmental Center

Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) cares for the most vulnerable people in our state, is the largest employer in Sonoma Valley, and its wildlands contain habitat for rare species and offer a critical wildlife linkage for Northern California. With budgets tightening, SDC is expected to shift operations over the next few years to something different. What will this be? Sonoma Ecology Center and its partners want our community to create a model center that embraces all these important features, and possible more. Visit the SDC blog site or view the new SDC lands resource assessment.

North Bay Climate Adaptation Initiative (NBCAI)

In 2009, a group of scientists and experts working in resource management and public policy came together to discuss how our region could better prepare for a changing climate. This group, NBCAI, has since conducted research on what is likely to happen here, and is helping Sonoma County and its neighbors create strategies that will minimize the challenges ahead. Sonoma Ecology Center is a founding member of NBCAI, and continues to support this nationally-recognized work. Read our Climate Smart fact sheets or learn more about NBCAI.

Sonoma Environmental Education Collaborative (SEEC)

One of the most important gifts we can give to our children and their future is a connection to the natural world. Sonoma Ecology Center helped found SEEC in 2010, with the goals of bringing environmental educators together to share ideas and resources, and assuring that all children in Sonoma County have the chance to learn about where they live and to be outdoors. Read more about SEEC’s work.