Oika Programs

The word Oika is an adaptation of the ancient Greek work Oikos (the root of the modern word "eco" as in, eco-logy and eco-nomy). Oikos referred to a unification of "person, place and property." But because Ancient Greece was a deeply patriarchal society, the "person" meant the man of the house; the "place" meant the physical house; and the "property" was all the man owned within his house (including his wife, children, slaves and animals).

Thus, the new word Oika aims to bring a more balance and feminine aspect to the concept. Replacing the "o" with an "a" results is a founding principle that is more inclusive, expansive, and relational as follows:
  • Person - The identity that resides behind the eyes. The intimate, personal, narrative self.
  • Place - The natural, local setting (valley, island, watershed, town, forest, bay etc.) that shapes and guides the "person" above. 
  • Practice - The daily activities and practices through which person becomes integral to place.
  • Prosper - An acknowledgement that even an ecological self needs to make a living.

 All of Oika's evolving programs integrate these four principles (plus a potential fifth, Purpose).The Oika programs described below attempt to realign humans with the intelligence of the Earth’s planetary systems. Oika teaches people how to cultivate new, mutually beneficial relationships with nature and create responses across a spectrum of human domains.
A screenshot of our on-going online course called OIKA PRACTICE (see below)

The primary mission of Oika Academy is to empower people in designing innovative new career paths that integrate individual and planetary prosperity.

Oika Adult Courses:
  • Oika Practice is our entry-level online/outdoors course for adults. This 1 month introductory course runs continuously with open-enrollment through.
  • Oika Pathfinder is a self-designed college-level course for young-adults to design and implement a long-term career plan aligning personal and planetary prosperity. These courses are delivered using Trello on the periphery of formal educational institutions (enrollment in a college or university is not required).
  • Oika Pro is our advanced, field-based, professional development course for graduates of Oika Practice and Pathfinder courses.  Oika Pro is primarily a teaching, cultural communication and ecological restoration career based on the principles and practices of Oika.
Note: We are currently seeking motivated individuals to serve as Oika facilitators for upcoming Practice and Pathfinder courses. Facilitators take the course for free in exchange for helping to organize and deliver the program. Contact Rich using the Gmail address  oikarich66 for more information.

Oika Kid Programs: 
  • Oika Kids: A middle school-level program designed to validate a child’s wondrous experience of the world. By cultivating a sense of PERSON in PLACE, Oika Kids fortifies positive experiences in order to build the foundations for a lifelong love of nature.
  • Oika Quest: A high school-level program designed to foster confidence, foundational literacies and ecological leadership through place-based nature practice with peers.
Note: We are currently working to bring the kid programs to USA. You can learn more about them through our collaborators, OikaSpain, who are now running them in Europe at http://oikaspain.gpsmuseum.eu



The First Encounter Traveling Program:

 The SV Oika is now sailing around the US delivering a series of public presentations, virtual reality demos, Oika “Meadings” and impromptu dockside talks at science centers, living rooms, aquariums, conservation groups and other place-based, educational organizations.

At various ports-of-call across Dr. Rich Blundell anchors the SV Oika to tell the scientific story of the universe This First Encounter program is highly adaptable to different audiences and can be delivered formally, or informally as:
  • Free Public Lectures*: Typically about the scientific story of the cosmos and what it can mean for ecological intelligence. Suitable for small or large groups of adults and/or kids.
  • Virtual Reality Demos:   We travel with a curated selection of VR experiences, and a portable VR viewing kit, based on our own Cosmosis framework (can be combined with any talk or presentation).
  • Dockside Talks:  Impromptu, multimedia presentations and conversations about ecological intelligence where time and place permit.
  • Oika On The Natch is our traveling festival experience delivered at music, cultural and arts festivals.
  • Oika “Meadings”:  Salon-style gatherings where “small groups of thoughtful, committed citizens” conspire to change the world (pic below).



 Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,committed citizens can change the world;indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.                                 -- Margaret Mead

* The Oika First Encounter Tour is a fiscally-sponsored educational project of the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Good Work Institute. All public talks are offered to free of charge, however, hosting venues with suitable charitable missions are permitted to sell tickets to support their nonprofit, educational purposes.

 Oika Media & Digital Tools:

 We are developing a growing list of original and curated titles that we use within our educational programs. These include films, VR experiences, apps and other digital resources such as:
    Episode 1: The Living Cosmos reveals how the epic story of the universe is also an intimate story of the self.
    Episode 3: In the Light of the Forest tells the story of how the natural cosmos has come to see itself through your own eyes.
  • New VR titles always in development include Ticket to the Moon & A Whales Tale
  • EarthBlogging Platform
  • Cosmosis1: Cosmic Background Explorer App (for iPhone only)
  • The DeepTime Walk App (IpHone & Android)
  • Trello for Oika 
  • Merlin BirdID
  • AllTrails hiking App
Memories from our first two years


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