About Emergence Institute

Emergence Institute is a non-profit organization and is an initiative of the Kalliopeia Foundation, a foundation based in northern California that focuses on ecology, culture, and spirituality, with an emphasis on supporting a cultural transition to a more sustainable way of life that strives to be in harmony with the living Earth. Emergence Institute currently does this work through two main projects: Emergence Magazine, and a companion education and engagement program, where we offer a series of online and in-person courses, events, and programs. The online magazine publishes in-depth articles, essays, interviews, films, and multimedia and publishes an annual themed print edition and nature connection practice books. Additionally, we produce films and a weekly podcast. Our programs include leadership courses, fellowships, and workshops with emerging leaders and cultural creatives looking to deepen their engagement and relationship with the living world.

To avoid any confusion, Emergence Institute is not in any way affiliated with the for-profit Emergence Institute found at emergenceinstitute.net. That’s not us.

Proposed Use

Emergence is proposing an Environmental Education Retreat Center. The majority of our programming and retreats will be for emerging leaders and artists from around the U.S. and the world who are working at the intersection of ecology, culture, and spirituality. We will also offer a small number of public lectures or film screenings that will be open to the broader Whidbey community at no charge. We are also very interested in exploring ways to develop ecological-focused programming in partnership with the local community that benefits and supports the South Whidbey community and land.

It is important to note that this project is not about financial gain, nor do we function like a typical business, as the institute is part of Kalliopeia Foundation’s mission-driven philanthropic work. Many of our program participants will pay no fee, as they will be part of fellowships or residencies. Our focus is on offering a limited number of impactful programs to a small number of guests. We are taking a quality-over-quantity approach to our programs, investing in emerging leaders and artists who do impactful and meaningful work. Because we are not dependent on program fees, we are able to keep our program attendance very low. Most of the food that will be served to guests will ideally come from local farms and artisanal food providers. We look forward to working with the community to support a strengthening of the local food economy.

In our application to Island County, Emergence has voluntarily agreed to limit the property’s use. We are planning to have approximately 12 retreats in a year, and our application proposes a cap of 40 retreats annually. The majority will take place in the summer, June–September. Retreats will be 4–14 days, predominantly with groups of 20–30 people. Emergence is proposing a cap of 40 maximum overnight guests. Winters we hope to host 1 or 2 writing/artist residencies, each residency for 1–2 weeks in duration, serving approximately 10 writers/artists. We will only have 40–75 people onsite a small number of times each year, and it would only be during those times when we’re inviting local neighbors and the community to attend a day or evening event, or join a free lecture or film screening. Approximately 2–3 caretakers will be living on the land year-round.

We are proposing that the number of retreats and attendee numbers described above become a permanent permit condition that runs with the land. Emergence or any subsequent owner of the property would also be subject to these permit conditions. Any expansion of the use would require additional permits, review, and approval from Island County.

Building Plans

The proposal includes the construction of 11 cabins, a small staff cottage, a gathering space, and a kitchen and dining building with associated infrastructure. We are working with a Seattle-based architect and local environmental and wetland consultants to design minimalist, low-impact structures. We have also hired local experts in water quality, hydrogeology, septic design, transportation engineering, and civil engineering to help us create thoughtful, eco-friendly plans. All development is located on the southwestern portion of the property. The majority of the property will be untouched and remain as open space. The site is planned to be powered by renewable energy and during the summer months will hopefully be sending renewable power to the local PSE grid.

A site map that shows new and existing buildings can be found here: 

Topics of Interest

We’ve heard from a number of our neighbors who’ve shared thoughtful feedback, and we wanted to share answers to some of the questions we’ve received.

Environment

Emergence is committed to protecting the local ecosystem, including the wetlands and streams on the property. This is something we take seriously, and we are proposing no development in these areas and no development in associated buffers.

Watershed Protection

Our consultants have confirmed through preliminary studies that our limited water use will not impair our neighbors’ well production. Our water systems have been carefully designed to comply with the County’s protective water quality regulations.

Night Sky

Maintaining dark skies is very important to us. We are working with a light designer to address this issue. There will be minimal outdoor lighting, except for a small amount of path lighting, which will be downlit to protect the night sky. Guests will have small battery-powered lanterns for light in the evenings as they move around the property. Indoor building lighting is also being designed for minimal impact.

Sound

Emergence retreats are inherently quiet as our program activities focus on small group discussion, indoor lectures, nature writing, and silent contemplative practice. The Dining Building’s windows and doors are designed to face into the site. The Gathering Building’s doors open into a sunken courtyard. Additionally, we will observe quiet hours on site from 10pm to 7am. Caretakers who live onsite will always be available should a neighbor need to contact us about the sound level, and we will promptly address it.

Transportation

Transportation impact is mitigated by a limited number of retreats and a limited number of attendees. All retreats will have definitive arrival and departure times, with the number of users capped. We will provide van service, although not all attendees will arrive via van. Parking will be provided on-site.

Will Emergence Take Away Business from Other Retreat Centers?

As noted above, Emergence is part of Kalliopeia Foundation’s mission-driven philanthropic work, and we won’t function like a typical retreat business that requires rental revenue. In fact, we won’t rent out our space to other groups or anyone else at all, as this is not part of our mandate. We have a great appreciation for the existing retreat centers in the community and will not be operating in competition. For example, this year we used the Whidbey Institute for a large retreat where we hosted 85 people and have reserved the space for another similar-sized program next year, and hope to continue to use Whidbey Institute in the coming years for other program needs. If as an organization we were to continue to host larger retreats after the Emergence Institute Whidbey Island space opens, we would hope to continue to be able to use Whidbey Institute, as their values align with ours and their space can accommodate large group sizes.

Future Owners?

Emergence intends to be a long-term operator of the property. However, some have asked whether this property could become an inn or conference center under our proposed permit. The answer is no. Any future owners would be subject to our permit conditions that restrict the property’s use to our proposed limited number of retreats, events, and attendees.

Emergence’s Relationship with Sara Campbell, the Former Owner

Sara Campbell, who was the previous owner, was a longtime friend of Emergence Institute / Magazine and our programs. In fact, she hosted several small gatherings on her land over the years for fellowship programs we ran, where emerging leaders gathered to learn and deepen their relationship with the living world. It was through these gatherings that Sara expressed her hope that in the future (after she passed) work like this would continue on the land, and that facilities on the land could be expanded, cabins built etc, to properly accommodate and host groups. Sara was a dear friend, who had a deep love of Earth and the special piece of land she helped restore with her love and care over the 30 years she lived there. We will be upholding her commitment to the land, and her stewardship of it, and hope to honor her wish to make the land a place that inspires a deep ethic of care and love for the Earth through programs offered there.

Contact Info

Please do reach out if you have questions, whether it’s about our work at Emergence or questions you might have with the building project. You can contact Zachary Whelan, Emergence Institute’s executive director, by email or phone: zach@emergenceinstitute.earth  415-707-6733.