New Year, New Home: Intro to Permaculture + Guild Visioning

EBPG January Potluck + Intro to Permaculture (New Venue!)

Join the East Bay Permaculture Guild for our first gathering of 2026 and our first monthly meeting at McGee Avenue Baptist Church’s social hall. We’ll share food, connect, and root into the question: What is permaculture—and how are we practicing it together this year?​

This month will feature:

1. A “What is Permaculture?” talk with Jessica exploring both land-based and social permaculture, with examples from around the Bay.​
2. A short overview of our updated guild structure for 2026 (meetings, partnerships, and project/initiative pathways), plus how you can plug in.​
3. An interactive activity where you can share your ideas for:
4. Future meeting topics & speakers
5. Partnerships with aligned groups
6. Skillshares, projects, and initiatives you’d be excited to participate in or co-steward.​

We’ll tease a deeper governance / core team conversation and invite those who are interested to connect for a follow‑up session in an “off month” and at a separate organizing meeting.​

Evening flow

5:15–6:15 pm – Setup & arrivals

1. Setup crew and early birds welcome.
2. Food table, chairs in semi-circle, sign‑in, name tags.​

6:00–6:45 pm – Potluck & connection

1. Informal welcome.
2. Potluck dinner; please sit with someone you don’t know, or invite someone sitting alone to join you.​

6:45–7:00 pm – Welcome & framing

1. Land acknowledgement.
2. Guiding principles & quick overview of the evening.
3. Short go‑around: name, pronouns, and a simple icebreaker (e.g. “What brings you here tonight?”).​

7:00–7:30 pm – Intro to Permaculture with Jessica

1. What is permaculture?
2. How permaculture shows up in land-based design and social systems.
3. Examples from around the Bay.​

7:30–8:15 pm – Guild 2026: ideas & input

1. Brief overview of EBPG’s updated structure: meetings, partnerships, and project/initiative “tracks.”​
2. Interactive activity with butcher paper stations to gather your ideas on:
3. Meeting topics and guest speakers
4. Partnerships with local groups
5. Skillshares, work parties, and other projects you’d like to see or help lead.​

8:15–8:30 pm – Closing

1. Appreciations & announcements.
2. “Pass the hat” donations for space costs and guild expenses (sliding scale, no one turned away).​
3. Cleanup & informal connecting.

What to bring

1. A dish to share (if you can) — please label allergens.
2. Your own reusable plate, cup, and utensils if possible. We’ll have some backups but want to reduce waste.​
3. Flyers/resources from aligned projects.
4. Your ideas, questions, and curiosity about permaculture and the future of the guild.

Kitchen note:

We cannot use the church stove at this time, so please bring food ready to serve at room temperature or in containers that don’t require stovetop cooking on site. We should have access to the sink and basic cleanup area.​

Accessibility & inclusion

We warmly welcome folks across all identities—BI/PoC, LGBTQ+, elders, youth, newcomers—and anyone interested in building real community resilience through permaculture and related practices.​

1. The social hall is on the church campus; we’ll include entrance details and any stair/step info in the confirmation email once we’ve finalized the exact room setup.
2. Children are welcome.
3. Please stay home if you’re feeling sick.
4. Reach out if you have specific access needs and we’ll do our best to accommodate.