Sustainability

Care for the environment is one of the pillars of our school. Our driving question is: what kind of education enables people and planet to thrive? An essential part of our mission is to develop young people who feel deeply connected to the environment, aware of the systems and science at play, and skilled and confident enough to become leaders in taking care of it.

We are very fortunate to be undertaking this work in the Hakuba Valley, a place of exceptional natural beauty. The nature around us is our first teacher, and a key part of our work as a school is to avoid getting in between students and their own direct, personal experiences in nature.

Sustainability Practices at HIS

We are in the early stages of developing our full sustainability policies, with an aim for students to play the central role, in consultation with faculty and outside experts. Student, faculty, and expert teams will investigate the following areas:

  • The design of our larger, long-term campus in Hakuba

  • Supply Chain & Food Sourcing

  • Transportation

  • Waste Disposal & Recycling

  • Energy Generation & Usage

  • Water

Inquiries around sustainability will be in focus in many of our interdisciplinary academic projects. For example, we plan an in-depth study of the ecology and water systems in the 9 acres of forest owned by the school. Students will study the history of the land, the science of the flora, fauna, and fungi living there, the movement of water through the land, and the systems closely connecting all of these parts. How can we be stewards for this land? How could it be used for human flourishing while maintaining or even enhancing the health of the natural systems at play? These and other questions, grounded in real-life experience, will guide our quest for sustainability.