Net Positive
As we strive to become a Net Positive organization, Hawthorne Valley aims to: contribute more to the natural world and its inhabitants than it extracts; to harmonize social, economic, and environmental needs; and to formalize and embed these commitments in every aspect of the organization.
To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.
In January 2023, the Board passed a formal resolution emphasizing the necessity of an integrated, dynamic, and aspirational approach to organizational action and introduced the concept of “Net Positive.”
What does Net Positive mean?
Net Positive takes us a step further than just aiming for “net zero” (a goal aimed at entirely offsetting human-generated greenhouse gas emissions by lowering these emissions and adopting strategies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere). It pushes us to aim for a future where we focus on improving society, the environment, and the economy for everyone. When we apply Net Positive to our campus, it involves a commitment to openly track, measure, and share our progress. This way, we connect our actions to wider efforts that reach from our local community to the global community. However, it’s important to find a balance between our long-term goals and what we need right now, by thinking on both a large and small scale at the same time.
In order to honor Hawthorne Valley’s mission and undertake this work authentically, we must stay humble, agile, attuned to the specificity of our place, and ever receptive to those less quantifiable elements of flourishing: emergence, intuition, and beauty.
The skills, aptitudes, and attitudes necessary to industrialize the Earth are not necessarily the same as those that will be needed to heal the earth or to build durable economies and good communities.
David Orr
THE RESOLUTION LANGUAGE STATES:
The Board understands “Net Positive” to mean Hawthorne Valley: a) contributes more to the natural world and its inhabitants than it extracts, b) harmonizes social, economic, and environmental needs, and c) formalizes and embeds these commitments in every aspect of the organization.
Our efforts will address carbon reduction, ecosystem stewardship, and climate risk mitigation at an organizational level—they will also help cultivate the profound internal resilience required for us to navigate a dizzying confluence of social and climatic challenges with optimism and strength.
We have an extraordinarily rich community of families, students, faculty, staff, and organizational allies who all bring their creativity and passion to the work of Net Positive.
In the year since this resolution passed, Hawthorne Valley has taken up the challenge delivered by HVA’s Board and started to weave together a Net Positive plan of action. Leaders across the organization, alongside allied external collaborators, have:
- performed extensive energy audits and analyses
- scoped building and equipment de-carbonization projects
- supported student-led initiatives
- cultivated new institutional partnerships
- identified and accessed new grants and incentives, and
- established a Net Positive Fund
Join us in this transformation
Hawthorne Valley is uniquely positioned to co-create this transformative work and to act as a resource to our broader community as we enter uncharted territory together. As we dig into this work, let us embrace our uncertain journey with humility, grace, and…positivity.
If you would like to make a donation in support of our Net Positive work, please visit hawthornevalley.org/giving.
Net Positive News
Stay up to date on what’s happening on the Net Positive front around campus
“…at a fundamental level, sustainability hinges on evolving human capacities and the willingness to engage in a never-ending process of human involvement that itself will evolve in as-yet unknown ways in the future. As an attitude of mind, sustainability would entail wholeheartedly embracing an uncertain journey.
