The Northland Collaborative for Environment, Community, and Justice is an organization formed on February 19th, 2025 in the wake of the closing of Northland College. It is a group of people who have formed a commitment to ensuring that the spirit of Northland College 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)
Northland Collaborative 