Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability

Mission: To enhance the economic, environmental, and social well-being of our community by fostering inclusive collaboration, raising awareness, and promoting sustainable practices that empower us to lead healthy and fulfilling lives while preserving resources for future generations.

The Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability (IRPS) is a grassroots organization and 501(c)3 non-profit corporation located in northeast Minnesota’s Iron Range.

IRPS is dedicated to maintaining and improving the economic, environmental and social characteristics of our area so that our residents can continue to lead healthy, productive and enjoyable lives.

Through events, initiatives and projects IRPS encourages our residents, businesses, organizations, schools, towns and cities to explore and find answers to the question – how can we meet the needs of present generations without compromising the abilities of future generations to meet their needs?

Using an inclusive approach, we invite all the residents of the Iron Range and Northeastern Minnesota to join us in conversation about sustainability.

• Promote Sustainability – Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. IRPS focuses its work on the interrelationship of three primary elements of sustainability: community, economy, and environment.
• Bring People and Communities Together – Communities thrive when people come together around the common good. IRPS encourages inclusive collaboration, listening, dialogue and positive action.
• Raise Awareness – Awareness of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability is a catalyst for change. IRPS raises community awareness through communication, education, and resource networking.
• Focus Locally – The evolving cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity of the Iron Range is a source of sustainability. IRPS welcomes diversity, celebrates traditions, and encourages local innovation for equitable, thriving communities.
• Engage Multiple Generations – Every generation has a stake in sustainability, with knowledge, experience, and skills to share. IRPS encourages learning and partnering across multiple generations.
• Foster Personal and Planetary Health – Communities thrive when they recognize the relationships between personal and planetary health. IRPS collaborates in local initiatives that foster health holistically and support environmental justice.