There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
- Margaret Wheatley
Three Foundational Approaches:
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Community-Centric
We believe that building resilient communities starts with the community itself. We actively involve and engage the community in the planning process, fostering a sense of ownership and pride in their surroundings.
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Advocacy & Education
We believe that through collaborative efforts, we can shape a collective vision for sustainable growth that prioritizes the well-being of both communities and the natural world while we help grow the thought leaders of tomorrow.
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Catalyzing Transformation
In the face of climate challenges, we understand the need for transformative action and collective impact. We catalyze a transformation in our approach to how we steward our natural and working lands, to ensure that they become, resilient places for future generations.
Our Services
Innovative Project Visioning
We bring experience, compelling graphic tools and a rigorous process to inspire creative teams, communities, and stakeholders through the steps of crafting a fully thought-out vision to realize project and community goals. We are believers in the power of a strong and compelling vision that often drives design innovation.
Conservation Planning
We are experienced in preparing comprehensive conservation strategies that include, community and strategic plans, design guidelines, general plans, and master plans to ensure that our working and natural lands are protected and invested in while charting a sustainable future for our communities.
COMMUNITY & URBAN DESIGN
Understanding and respecting the land and environment is key to the success of any project endeavor. We combine the fields of policy expertise, site design, landscape architecture, planning and placemaking and put that together with community building. We think of ourselves as stewards and treat every project as such.
Community Planning
Navigating the process of obtaining permits, approvals and environmental certification can be daunting. We are experienced in managing large project teams and working in a collaborative way to craft an innovative project vision that is tied to strategic policy, design and conservation approaches that come from the communities they serve.
“A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other’s lives. It is the knowledge that people have of each other, their concern for each other, their trust in each other, the freedom with which they come and go among themselves.”
~Wendell Berry
Our Clients
Public
California Coastal Conservancy
California Department of Conservation
California Strategic Growth Council
City of Alameda, California
City of Napa, California
Mariposa County Planning Department
Nevada County Resource Conservation District
County of Santa Clara, California
County of Ventura, California
Santa Clara County, Department of
Planning + Development
Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (OSA)
Solano County Community Development Department, California
Sustainable Agricultural Education (SAGE), CA
Town of Yountville
Ventura County Resource Management Agency
Private
Aventerra, British Columbia, Canada
Embarcadero Capital Partners,
San Francisco Bay Region
Glen Oaks Big Sur, California
Lone Mountain Land, Montana
Snowbasin Resort Company, Utah
Third Cadence, Utah
YCS Investments, San Francisco
Affiliations + Certificates
American Planning Association (APA)
American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR)
US Green Building Council (USGBC),
LEED accredited
State of California Certified Small Business (SB)
Certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
Urban Land Institute – Associate Member