We clarified our purpose and values. We are continuing conversations about strategy and working to establish/build the relationships that will be needed to move forward in a good way.
The Northland Collaborative for Environment, Community, and Justice
Purpose
Our intention is to ensure that the spirit of Northland lives on in a way that is an asset to our community and our region. At this moment, that means guiding the transition from Northland’s past to its future.
The Spirit of Northland
The Northland Spirit promotes exploration of the fundamental interconnections between nature, place, and people. The Northland Spirit empowers the broader community to act with integrity and courage to create a more sustainable and just future by addressing complex environmental and social challenges, which requires inclusion of diverse perspectives, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration.
Our Values
Our values will guide decisions about goals and strategies. We will evaluate emerging options for the extent that they support our values. We value:
- Community and relationship-building
- The western Lake Superior watershed and all the beings that call this place home
- Local control
- Regenerative systems
- Transformative education
- Humility (openness to learn from others, non-hierarchical leadership structure)
Plans
Our plans will evolve as the situation evolves, as we discover the Northland College Board of Trustees’ intentions for college property and assets, as we learn more about the potential for collaboration with the Northland Board, and as we develop potential partnerships through conversation with regional and community collaborators. At this early stage, our plans are two-fold:
Convene Conversations
Continuing the Northland Spirit will require collaboration. We will convene facilitated conversations around a handful of focus areas with a goal of developing a collaborative vision that builds on the strengths of partners.
These conversations may explore the potential for campus buildings, lands, and other assets to be part of the future of the Northland Spirit. The Northland Spirit can, however, continue without a physical campus, and these collaborative partnerships will continue even if the Northland College campus and its facilities are not available to us.
Focused conversations will include food systems, environmental science (research and teaching), culture work, environmental and outdoor education and outreach, arts and crafts, wellness, formal education, relationships with tribal nations, rural communities, housing, office space for mission-aligned organizations, and the Northland College archives. Strategically selected leaders and experts in each focus area will be invited to the conversations. Community-sourced ideas from the True Northland visioning sessions in March 2024 will inform these discussions.
Build the organizational structure that can shepherd the transition from northland’s past to its future
To position our organization to be ready to serve in whatever capacity is needed, we will achieve 501(c)3 status and recruit an advisory board.
Northland Collaborative 