Regeneration and ecosystem restoration focused activities
We develop and support programs, research, and education aligned with our mission and goals, and strive to create a community of regeneration agents locally and regionally who are focused on soil reinvigoration, watershed preservation, biodiversity improvement, and healthy food production.
Our activities fall into three categories.
Programs and training
Mud Valley Institute develops and presents structured courses and events that convey knowledge and skills related to ecosystem regeneration, such as food and water security, agroforestry, and permaculture. Our mission is also supported through efforts in related areas, such as developing educational content.
Saturdays at the Farm
This event series takes place monthly at local organic farms. Participants meet and engage with experts in a variety of regeneration-related areas while spending time outdoors. Each session features an ecosystem regeneration and land use-focused guided tour, followed by a themed lecture or hands on workshop, with topics varying each time. Participation is free to attendees.
Regeneration and Ecosystem Restoration Education
We are creating a rich variety of educational content and media to share regenerative knowledge so that we can build an empowered community that advocates for and works to create more sustainable ecological and social ecosystems. That content will be presented through a variety of channels, including this website, so that a large number of people can be reached, creating a collective impact in the area of ecosystem restoration, contributing to spreading solutions, and helping people and communities become more resilient and happy.
Scientific projects
We directly support the creation, implementation, and reporting of research-oriented work, usually at our site at Quinta Vale da Lama or in other physical settings, such as local farms or watersheds. These research efforts can be performed by professional scientists or academics, or can be in the citizen science realm.
The Soil Lab at Mud Valley Institute
Our Soil Lab is an onsite, field-based laboratory that supports research focused on testing and measuring soil improvement and agricultural production gains through working with soil biology. The goal is to identify methods that regenerate degraded soil and increase crop yields, leading to better ecological and economic results for local farmers, foresters, vintners, and workers in the field of agroecology.
For example, a recent experiment validated that the addition of good soil microbes through worm casting extracts dramatically improved the height, weight, crown diameter, and root depth of lettuce.
Grants for organizations
We offer grants to selected nonprofit organizations and educational institutions to support their ecosystem restoration and regeneration education efforts, with a specific focus on helping people become agents of change in their community. In exchange for this financial support, we require that organizations provide us with detailed reporting about the direct impact that our funding enabled.
Novas Descobertas Association
Novas Descobertas Association is a nonprofit association near Lagos, Portugal, that offers transformational learning experiences for groups that connect people of all ages and backgrounds with each other and with nature. Their programs and activities are designed with a focus on learning about team building, soils, vegetable gardens, water, and ecosystems and regeneration concepts in general. Mud Valley Institute has given grants to Novas Descobertas since 2010 to support a variety of their programs and operations, including summer camps and teacher training.
Ecosystem Regeneration Camp
This advanced, hands-on course teaches, develops, and puts into practice seasonal agroforestry and ecological regeneration knowledge, and is for those who will use the knowledge and skills gained to act on ecosystem restoration and increase their impact in regenerating nature and society. It was developed jointly and is presented by Novas Descobertas Association and Vale da Lama, and Mud Valley Institute makes grants to help support each session of the program.
Integrated Water Management Framework
Mud Valley Institute gave a grant to support the creation of an integrated water management plan for a local organic farm and ecotourism hotel, to help insure a conscientious, regeneration-focused approach to managing their use of this precious resource in our drought-impacted region. Work was organized into four phases: context assessment, mapping water consumption in a pilot model zone, developing a strategy for reduction in consumption, and localization of the water cycle. The work was placed into an open-source framework that will be shared.
Environmental Impact Assessment Support
We gave financial support to defray the costs of an Environmental Impact Assessment being conducted for a local eco-resort that is in the planning and development stages. The eco-resort, which aspires to bridge ecological restoration and conscious living, will be located next to one of our local reservoirs and, therefore, wants to assure they are built, exist, and interact in harmony with their surroundings. Given the alignment between their values and ours, Mud Valley Institute was happy to support the critical work of the impact assessment.
Why Ecosystem Restoration and Regeneration?
Without healthy soils and adequate water quality and quantity, our ecosystems will continue to collapse, resulting in grave consequences for both humanity and the planet. We must take action now, both within our local ecosystem and across the planet.
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