About Us

We work with rural people, from newly arrived immigrants to long-time county residents, along with organizations and government agencies to design and facilitate processes that help us understand and build collaboration for sustainable community development and stewardship of our natural resources. And we work hard to bridge what we learn locally to what is happening in state and national policy-making.

The Sierra Institute is a leader in designing and facilitating:

• Public involvement activities for research and policy processes
• Assessment and monitoring tools and indicators for rural community well-being and ecosystem health
• Applied research relevant for rural communities
• Dialogue and collaboration among scientists, policy-makers, land managers, agencies, and local community members
• Participatory, community-based approaches to development that are socially, culturally, economically, and ecologically sustainable