We are building an intentional living and learning community where participants are empowered to build strong, just, and sustainable communities and to live lives of meaning and purpose. Understanding this place requires multiple intersecting lenses, weaving Indigenous scholarship and perspectives throughout the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Actively participating in the community requires practical skills, interpersonal skills, self-awareness, and critical thinking. Our participants gain hands-on experience engaging, working and leading, building confidence in their ability to be agents of change who can recognize complexity without being paralyzed by it. This is an intentionally “analog” counterweight to digital and artificial experiences and learning.

We are creating three educational components that, together, create opportunities for intergenerational learning:

  • Community Courses: Non-credit-bearing courses open to all. Launched Spring 2026 (Currently running)
  • Summer Seminar: Three-week residential programs for high school students. Launch date: Summer 2027
  • Microcollege: Students live, study, and work together and earn academic credits. Launch date: Fall 2029

Support

We are being mentored by the Springboard Foundation for Whole Person Learning, which supports small-scale living-learning models of higher education. Springboard is connecting us with a network of support for microcolleges and innovative educational communities. Their white paper, Distinctive Pedagogies that Address the “Meaning Crisis” in Higher Education: Case Studies from Microcolleges and Living-Learning Institutes, describes the type of learning community we are striving to build.

We have a partnership with Prescott College that opens pathways for collaboration that will include program support and accreditation, enabling Northland Collaborative students to transfer to and continue their studies at Prescott College, while Prescott undergraduate and graduate students gain access to internships and research practicum opportunities through Northland Collaborative.