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Community Ecology Institute
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OUr Core Programs

At CEI, we create innovative, meaningful experiential education programs for people across the lifespan.
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CFIN: Community of FAMILIES IN NATURe

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Families with one child or more
A Community of Families in Nature (CFIN) provides fun, friendly opportunities for families to spend time together in nature. We offer a variety of programming aimed at fostering greater connection with nature and among participants, increasing environmental awareness and action, supporting the well-being of participants, and strengthening family relationships.​
Learn More

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Agroecology
​in action

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All Ages
Agroecology in Action provides participants the opportunity to collaborate from start to finish in the growing of food for our local food system. We employ and teach regenerative growing practices in a variety of demonstration gardens to model the role they can play in a community as a food producer, economic driver, and a tool to tackle climate action. The food grown is distributed to local food assistance programs and at our farm stand.
Learn More
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Roots & Wings

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Ages 5 - 17
The Roots & Wings Learning Community provides children with opportunities to develop both their roots and their wings through holistic, experiential learning programs.
Roots & Wings aims to provide an educational experience for home-schooled children where their knowledge, creativity, and voices are nurtured through nature-infused lessons and activities. 
LEARN MORE

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Nourishing Gardens

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All Ages
​Nourishing Gardens transforms lawns across Howard County into ecologically beneficial growing spaces. We teach community members how to take lawns at homes, businesses, community organizations, and schools and transform them into gardens that nourish people, our community, and nature.
LEARN MORE
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Green seeds Internship

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Ages 14 - 24
Our high school and college internship program gives students experiential education opportunities in a variety of areas related to our mission - from growing food and exploring issues of food sovereignty, to learning about and supporting ecosystem health, to thinking through what it means to create a resilient community, to how time in nature supports physical and mental health. ​
LEARN MORE

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Sustainable skills workshops

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Age depends
Sustainable Skills Workshops provide classes on how to grow food, environmental stewardship, creativity and conservation, and community and wellness (i.e. special topics include foraging and medicinal plants). We welcome guest educators!
Upcoming Workshops

Eco-Stewards volunteers

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Ages 14+
The Eco-Stewards form the backbone of CEI’s volunteer program by helping participate in the organization’s garden care and Maker Space work. The Eco-Steward program is open to individuals 14 and older to join at anytime during the year, and our farm and garden volunteers do not need to have previous garden care experience. CEI also hosts volunteer groups for day trips to help work in our garden space at both Freetown Farm and the Green Farmacy Garden.
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learn more

Participant Privacy policy


special projects

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Freetown Walkable watershed

Dive Deeper
A Walkable Watershed integrates the flow of water and people into a cohesive strategy to improve the overall health of a community and its surrounding watershed. The Freetown Walkable Watershed is an ongoing initiative uniting the community around our vital waterways. 
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Climate Action Education: A Toolkit For All Ages

View the Full Toolkit
In 2024 we ventured on a cross-organizational examination on how we can center climate action into each of our programs. With funding from the Howard County PREP grant we adapted our approaches to make climate action an explicit part of each of our programs. This toolkit is the culmination of our strategies, challenges, and lessons learned after a year of getting our hands dirty - both metaphorically and literally! We created this toolkit with other experiential educators in mind and hope that it can act as a resource for anyone interested in engaging people of any age in climate action.

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  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Our Work
    • Meet The Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Our Partners
    • Awards and Press
    • FAQs
  • Our Programs
    • Families in Nature
    • Roots and Wings >
      • Roots and Wings Team
    • Green SEEDS Internship
    • Agroecology In Action
    • Nourishing Gardens >
      • Climate Victory Gardens
    • Sustainable Skills Workshops
    • Eco-Stewards Volunteers
  • Locations
    • Freetown Farm >
      • Farm Stand
      • Rentals
      • Make + Repair
      • Community Gear Closet
      • Stormwater Solutions >
        • Follow the Raindrop
      • Historical Walking Tour
    • Green Farmacy Garden
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer >
      • Scout Projects
    • Upcoming Events
    • Opportunities for Businesses
  • Donate
    • Essential Operating Support
    • Harvest Gala!
  • Contact Us
  • Blog