Need

We do not inherit the Earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children.
—David Brower

PERMANENCE. We are a short-view society, and many of our problems, environmental and social, arise from that myopia. Environmental and social change advocates must take the long view. We need to build institutions for the long term, and the work ahead requires permanent homes. Toward the end of the last millennium, political conservatives recognized the need for permanent institutions and long-term strategizing. They diligently laid the foundations for their think tanks, and now, as we start the new millennium, that foresight is paying off. The environmental and social justice movements need to build similar institutions.

Recent reports of the death of the environmental movement are exaggerated, but the movement could certainly use a second wind. Many of the big organizations have grown too big and bureaucratized. The "bigs" or "nationals" do much good work. They make the roots and trunk of the movement. But hope and the future do not lie down there in the woody mass of the tree; they lie up in the meristems—in the growing points, the shoots and new leaves. David Brower's specialty was as a prime mover of passionate, creative, fresh-thinking outfits quick on their feet and dedicated to action. The David Brower Center will be a gathering place for organizations with this sort of energy.

PLACE. The virtual communities of the progressive movement have become lively places, in their remote and fleshless way, but we also need real places—physical institutions where people can come together face-to-face. At the Brower Center, participating organizations will have the opportunity to pool resources and interact with one another and the public in ways that would not be possible otherwise. With more than 50,000 square feet of space, the Center will include conference facilities, three floors of office space, a 175-seat auditorium, meeting rooms, an art gallery, and a restaurant/ café. The Center will support tenants' needs for collaborative workspace and serve as a welcoming environment for the general public.

RENT. Historically, many nonprofit organizations have struggled to keep office space in population centers like the Bay Area, with its wildly fluctuating rental rates and high cost of living. Survival for these organizations often requires a scramble to find affordable, healthy office spaces close to public transit.

In dozens of interviews conducted by the Brower Center team, Bay Area progressive organizations and community members expressed their frustration with the lack of affordable, attractive meeting spaces, conference facilities, classrooms, exhibition spaces, and fundraising venues. To answer this need, the David Brower Center will provide 24,000 square feet of office space to Bay Area environmental and progressive organizations using the latest in green design and technology. The space will be offered at long-term rental leases at or below market rates.

ASSET. The Brower Center building will offer the latest in green design and technology. It will be self-sustaining and will eventually generate a profit, providing financial security for the Brower Center and guaranteeing its permanence as a resource for the environmental community. The environmental movement is rich in ideas and action but otherwise impoverished. The Brower Center will provide location, location, location and a piece of real estate.

LEADERSHIP. "We do not inherit the Earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children," David Brower once said. A first step in paying down the principal of that debt to our children is to provide environmental leaders for the future. Training those leaders is a priority for the Brower Center and its tenants. The Center will be centrally located in one of the densest populations of students in the Bay Area. Across Oxford Street, 33,000 students attend the University of California, Berkeley. Three blocks away, 4,500 students attend Vista Community College. Two blocks down Allston Way, 3,000 students attend Berkeley High School. The David Brower Center will partner with these and other neighboring institutions—adult learning centers, as well as elementary, middle and high schools throughout the Bay Area—to coordinate educational programming and connections with environmental organizations. The Center will support educational opportunities for tenants, community groups, after-school programs, day camps, religious groups, and the general public.