Based in the bayous of Louisiana, the Lowlander Center is a 501-c-3 non-profit organization supporting lowland people and places through education, research and advocacy.
The Lowlander Center supports coastal and bayou lowlands – human and natural, by honoring residents – Indigenous and all diverse historied groups -- by helping them to achieve full engagement for a resilient future. Learning from the past, using rich traditional ecological and historied knowledge, and bridging available technical support and resources, our partners explore and find paths for problem solving. Given the unanticipated speed and recently growing impacts of the climate crisis, Lowlander views human and environmental rights as core values for such a resilient future. Lowlander functions with the collaboration of a diverse group of committed activist volunteers — mostly women — who share values for environmental and social justice.
Our Mission
To facilitate citizen engagement in promoting the resilience of lowland people and places- for both the environment and the people.
To utilize the varieties of rich knowledge within the bayou communities, including Traditional Ecological and Historied Knowledges, to address social and environmental pressures being experienced in the region.
To create a forum for participatory action research and implementation that promotes the resilience of lowland people and places.
To serve as a source of training and theoretical and technical information to those working in the field, students, professionals and volunteers.
To function as a professional and unified voice for lowland resilience in the public marketplace of ideas and the public sphere.
To achieve greater awareness of the social and ethical component of lowland resilience and mitigation decisions.
To develop more effective lowland resilience programs which benefit the community as a whole, including coastal Tribal communities.
To help to create lowland resilience as a social norm.