EPEC
The Environmental and Peace Education Center (EPEC) is a Southwest Florida 501(c)3 nonprofit advocacy organization facilitating community involvement toward the advancement of global egalitarianism. EPEC advocates direct action toward a global network of communities formed by voluntary association, mutual aid, and the freedom and respect of others. We understand that peace cannot exist alongs
ide hierarchy, inequality, and exploitation, thus EPEC opposes all forms of oppression including sexism, racism, ableism, transphobia, discrimination on the basis of sexuality or other forms of marginalization. Our mission considers sustainability of primary importance, understanding that to build a new world in the shell of the old, we must work diligently to preserve natural habitats for all Earth’s creatures. History
Founded in 1982, EPEC raises community awareness on issues concerning the preservation of Southwest Florida’s unique ecological paradise, and works to promote the resolution of local, national and world conflicts through direct and collaborative means. The guiding principles of cooperation and collaboration are the means by which EPEC moves toward these goals, and we welcome your involvement. As of 2013, EPEC has been gifted to a new Board of Directors – Chris Faulkner, Frank Gubasta, Marlene Robinson, Mitchell Jacobs, and Jeremy Walker. Said board members share a mutual agreement on the importance of horizontal decision-making, and the need for radical systemic change for the survival of future generations and the ecological balance of the environment. The new EPEC board is currently developing projects to push back against the hierarchical mainstream and welcomes any and all to join us. Current Goals
One-Year Plan: The Commons Project
Capitalism encloses space. Privatization has demonstrated insidious enclosures throughout time that have removed inhabitants from their collective land use, from their means of production, and from nature itself. Enclosures of public space is one of the most recognizable forms of oppression seen in the Occupy Movement as countless protesters were removed from parks and arrested for peaceful assembly. We recognize that one the most pivotal and inviting facets of recent uprisings is the occupation of public space, or a reclaiming of “the commons”. As a defense against enclosures, EPEC is embarking on an ambitious project to fund anti-enclosures, or a new commons. We want infoshops, infohubs, and education centers in every city to provide a new collective commons for the public. The Commons Project will acquire and open spaces to be collectively run by people seeking safety, sustenance, information, and community. EPEC’s five-year goal is to acquire land to use for environmental practices such as forest gardens, bee keeping, aquaponic food production and much more. EPEC also aims to file for Schedule F in the IRS 1023 document, allowing for our co-housing arm to provide living spaces for those in need.
