Guiding Principles
PVSN’s members share a vision of a future for the Pioneer Valley that will be
worth the struggle in the difficult years that we all know lie ahead. In this future,
diversity is cherished and protected within the human community and beyond.
The inhabitants of the Valley’s cities, towns and countryside enjoy access to the
clean air, the water, the food and the human support fundamental to good physical
and mental health. They possess the information and the skills needed to meet the
challenges of their day, and their communities are able to control many of the
important decisions that affect their daily lives. The health, diversity and population
levels of plants, animals and other life forms, both domesticated and wild, are treated
as a sacred trust.
PVSN members work to support this broadly shared vision in many different ways. Some seek to create environmentally sustainable transportation, some to ensure that education from basics through to needed specializations is available, some to support regional food production and distribution and other basic economic activity, some work for clean air and water, some to create and distribute needed information, some to ensure that relevant basic science is carried out, some work for land and wildlife preservation, and some to ensure the development of effective structures for self-governance and regional collaboration.
PVSN’s members believe that to move toward this just, sustainable, healthy and biologically diverse community of all living things, we must be guided by the following principles:
- Human diversity is a treasure to be preserved;
- Human communities must learn to support the physical and mental health, education and information resources and degree of self-governance needed to meet the challenges we will face;
- Biological diversity and robust populations of existing species of animals, plants and other life forms must be preserved;
- Active collaboration and information-sharing among PVSN members as well as between
PVSN members and the broader community can and must play an important role in moving the Valley toward this desired future.