A Collaborative Response

to Climate (and Everything!) Change

In imaginations shared, we create collaboration.
And in collaboration, we create community.
And in community, anything is possible.
– Terry Tempest Williams

What is HomePlace?

HomePlace is a collaborative community of individuals and organizations who are consciously responding to climate (and everything!) change through a relationship of respect and reciprocity with Earth and all beings. Inspired by the systemic workings of ecosystems and the emergent qualities of transformation, HomePlace offers an opportunity to engage with local people in a relationship that taps into the potentiality of connection in times of crisis and change. 

“When we work as community, we sustain the resilience and the stamina to give birth to the new in the midst of the breakdown of the old.” – Deborah Frieze

Who is Involved?

We are an inter-disciplinary and intergenerational group of Monterey County educators, artists, healers, environmentalists, activists, community leaders, business owners and individuals. We share deep dedication to be of service to this planet that we call Home through our work in education, regeneration, mitigation, reparation, conservation, art, organic farming, public policy, and more.

“To address our climate emergency, we must rapidly, radically re-shape society. We need every solution and every solver. As the saying goes, to change everything, we need everyone. What this moment calls for is a mosaic of voices – the full spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can turn things around.” – Ayana E. Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson


What are We About?

The intention of HomePlace is to inspire collaboration and community-building as we, individually and collectively, provide opportunities for Monterey County residents to:

  • Learn about this place we call Home – Monterey County and Earth;

  • Deepen a sense of embeddedness in this world and kinship with all beings;

  • Creatively express what is emerging in individuals and in cultures;

  • Do inner work and healing related to climate distress;

  • Create and sustain networks of support and assistance as we meet change and transformation;

  • Engage in environmental justice and eco-service action;

  • Integrate cognitive, emotional, sensory and spiritual ways of knowing;

  • Develop reverence and respect for Life as a fundamental and Universal force. 

“We must do all that we can to help each other through this.” – Jem Bendell

How Do We Do It?

  • We Connect: Sharing event information and resources through HomePlace Treehouse (a private online platform);

  • We Gather: Coming together outdoors for Mycelial Meanders (conversational walks);

  • We Collaborate: Creating, imagining, and being together on Enlivening and Envisioning Retreats (at Hastings Natural History Reservation and UCSC Ft. Ord Natural Reserve);

  • We Support Each Other: Building community with folks on the front line of facing climate change (through What’s-Your-Weather-Cafes).

What Does a Meditation Studio Have to Do with Climate Change?

The guiding principal of Monterey Bay Meditation Studio is to cultivate space and opportunities for  “Being Aware and Being Kind.” It is our intention to foster conscious and mutually beneficial relationship between all beings – human and more-than-human. Guided by dedication to inspiring and cultivating life-enhancing action and way-of-being in the world, we focus on developing community through conscious relationship with ourselves, each other, and all beings. 

Monterey Bay Meditation Studio offers a variety of courses, retreats and gatherings to develop a relationship of reverence and reciprocity with Earth and all her beings.

  • Courses (online)

  • Experiential Book Study Groups (online)

  • Retreats (in-person)

  • Extended Online Programs

  • Online Special Events 

  • Eco-Service Projects (in-person)

  • Climate Cafes (online)

To stay informed about current offerings, sign-up for our Monthly Newsletter.

How Did HomePlace Happen?

In 2019, Marianne Rowe initiated a community program focused on deepening  people’s sense of connection with Earth and all her beings. In 2020, with the onset of COVID, this program transmuted into a very successful, 9-month online course, “Being Outdoors: Sensing the Sacred.” 

In 2021, a group of local educators, artists, healers, scientists, and activists began discussions about cultivating conscious community response to climate change. In 2022, HomePlace: A Collaborative Response to Climate (and Everything!) Change emerged. 

In early February 2022, a group of Monterey County individuals gathered to explore specific ways to develop opportunities for community education, support, and involvement as a collaborative response to the global transformation that is occurring. These seeds were distributed and planted … and are now sprouting in various forms. 

 
 

What’s the Next Step?

In service of diversity, inclusion, and activating life-enhancing relationship and potential, we welcome new Collaborators.

You are welcome to join the HomePlace Treehouse, our online community group. To do so, please carefully read our Community Guidelines, then click this Invitation to join the Treehouse group on the MBMS community platform. Here, HomePlace Collaborators share information, experiences, resources, and announcements as we co-create a supportive, eco-systemic community of Monterey Co. folks who are actively working in service of Earth and all her beings. Clicking and accepting the Invitation to join the Treehouse group indicates that you agree to honor the Community Guidelines.

If you or your organization is interested in learning more or participating in this endeavor, please contact: Marianne Rowe, marianne@montereybaymeditation.com, (831) 373-1017.

Collaborative Catalyst:

Marianne B. Rowe, MS, is a Founding Teacher of Monterey Bay Meditation Studio, ANFT-Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, Eco-therapist, Certified CA Naturalist, Certified UC Climate Steward, Facilitator of Mindful Relating Practice, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She recently completed the Eco-psychology Certification training through Pacifica Graduate Institute. Through her guiding, teaching, facilitating, and private psychotherapy practice, Marianne cultivates healing, transformation and evolution through awareness and connection. Her professional and personal life focuses on integrating the physiological, cognitive, emotional, relational and spiritual aspects of being. www.mariannerowe.net