Green Valley Network: Tomorrow's Sustainability Technology Today

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The Green Valley Network is a non-profit coalition that fosters collaboration and commercialization of sustainability technology. Join to find, analyze, distribute, develop, and capitalize practical sustainability technology.

We envision a better world as a result of quicker application of sustainable business practices, and we want to help bring the people, ideas, and resources together to facilitate advancement.

Green Valley Network is a non-profit coalition that fosters collaboration and commercialization of sustainability technology.

• Sustainability is a technology platform like semiconductors, the Internet or nanotechnology
• Innovators who apply emerging technology usually cluster together to leverage each other’s resources
• Green Valley has become a business cluster for innovators who are applying tomorrow’s sustainability technology today
• Green Valley Network helps sustainability’s innovators move ideas from ‘mind to market’ faster
• Green Valley Network does not have opinions – it is an inclusive venue for innovators to interact on all issues related to sustainability

Where is Green Valley?

When a revolutionary technology sprouts, the status quo changes; some industries, companies and regions ;grow and some decline. It happened in rural Northern California in the 1960s and 1970s. Then, it happened again in Austin and in the Research Triangle in North Carolina.

The sustainability revolution has begun in a similarly unexpected area- a place with deep roots in the foundations of sustainability technology- agriculture, energy, industry and frugality.

 Green Valley is home to:

• The highest concentration of plant scientists in the world
• Wal-Mart, the largest funnel for global consumer demand and the largest proponent of sustainability on Earth
• The largest pre-existing supplier cluster with 1,300 consumer goods companies
• One of America's largest oil and gas energy centers
• The world's busiest cargo airport
• One of America's largest agri-business centers with biofuel and eco-tourism opportunities

 

Sustainability Curriculum Research 
ORIGINALLY THIS WAS AN RSS FEED

We are discussing sustainability curriculum with an emphasis on business and technology with community colleges and universities. We welcome your feedback on our existing course research, and want to hear your suggestions for any additional relevant courses that you would like to see added to our list. We are looking for sustainability courses that include technical aspects to help generate a trained sustainability technology workforce.

 

Sustainability Curriculum Research

Posted on 14 October 2008 at 16:08:40 by Sum-Sum Chan

Harvard Business School

Environmental Studies E-117 - Sustainability: The Challenge of Changing Our Institutions

This course begins by exploring the wide range of institutionally related environmental impacts and the associated roles of individuals within these settings. Harvard University is used as a primary case study to illustrate institutional practices including procurement, utility supply and consumption, building design and operations, transportation, and waste production and recycling.

ENRE E-119 Sustainable Buildings: Design, Construction and Operations

This course approaches sustainable development for buildings by examining how building components and systems affect human performance and well being. Sustainable development starts with site planning and evaluation, and proceeds through construction, commissioning, and occupancy phases.

ENVR E-117 Organizational Change Management for Sustainability

This course aims to address the real life challenges of environmental sustainability by building change agent capacities of students who operate within myriad institutional and other contexts. The course begins by exploring the wide range of institutionally related environmental impacts and the associated roles of individuals within these settings. Harvard University is used as a primary case study to illustrate institutional practices, including procurement, utility supply and consumption, building design and operations, transportation, and waste production and recycling.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chemistry 5.92 - Energy, Environment, and Society: Learn Globally and Work Locally

Energy, Environment and Society" is an opportunity for first-year students to make direct contributions to energy innovations at MIT and in local communities. The class takes a project-based approach, bringing student teams together to conduct studies that will help MIT, Cambridge and Boston to make tangible improvements in their energy management systems.

Green Building Design

Green Building Design addresses a wide variety of built environment issues, including environmental considerations, economic benefits such as reduced operating costs, enhanced occupant productivity, and increased building marketability.

Stanford University

CEE 242A / CEE 142A: Sustainable Development

In this course we will explore how choices related to both what to build and how to build it have substantial impacts on people and the communities in which they live. Students will leave the course with 1) a clear understanding of what sustainability in the built environment means, and 2) frameworks and tools that they can use to clarify and negotiate the inevitable differences that arise in complex multi-party processes.

University of Pennsylvania

ENVS 494:

Designed in response to University of Pennsylvania President Amy Guttmann signing the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. It examines the environmental footprint of the campus and engages students in developing solutions to the challenges of climate neutrality.

University of Washington

Public Affairs 595A - Civil and Environmental Engineering

Students develop sustainability projects in areas such as green buildings, climate change and energy, dining services, and toxics reduction.

Cornell University

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 477 - Environmental Stewardship in the Cornell Community

Each student undertakes an original project to improve the environment at Cornell while working with a faculty advisor and the Cornell infrastructure (generally campus life and/or facilities).

Brown University

Environmental Studies 0410 - Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Design

Students address the economics and logistics of implementing strategies to conserve resources and reduce the negative impacts of the built environment. Students collaborate in interdisciplinary teams on projects to investigate opportunities to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the Brown campus and community.

Rice University

Environmental Studies 302 - Sustainability: Rice into the Future

Students use the Rice campus and local community as a laboratory in which to do projects to reduce environmental impacts, enhance sustainability, or resolve environmental problems.

Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering 281/ Environmental Studies 281 - Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Communities

Students work in teams to analyze and solve specific problems affecting the campus and city. Emphasis placed on the integration of engineering fundamentals with societal issues, environmental and safety considerations, sustainability and professional communications.

Emory University

Environmental Studies 442 - Ecology of Emory (w/Laboratory)

The focus of the course is divided between the natural and the built environment. Students develop a forest management plan for the University and evaluate how LEED is used in campus construction projects.

University of Notre Dame

CBE 30310: Global Sustainability

This course examines the growing need for addressing “sustainability” as a parameter in the practice of engineering, as well as in related disciplines. The course begins with an introduction of the origin of resources on earth and their fragile connection with life on earth, both on the ecology and, ultimately, on the human population.

University of California – Berkeley

Energy and Resources 299 - UC Berkeley Climate Action Course

This Climate Action Course brings together interested students to study projects being considered for implementation under CalCAP, to identify new projects the campus might undertake, and to move forward through action-oriented research.

Sustainable Business 315 - Building Social Capital

The course requires student teams to make campus assessments, formulate innovative improvements, and be involved in the implementation of the project (if the project is accepted in the campus sustainability initiative process).

Sustainable Business 100 - Industrial Ecology

Sustainable Business 201 - Sustainable Business Management

Westchester University

Honors 314 - Science, Technology, and Environmental System

This course studies ecological footprint and has students analyze resource use on campus. In 2006-07 students developed 12-15 minute presentations that they presented to various constituencies on campus (food service, purchasing, etc.)

University of Maryland

GVPT 273 Introductions to Environmental Politics

A comprehensive overview of environment problems, institutions, policies, and remedies found in present day world society, with special emphasis on environmental matters as objects of American Public Policy, both domestic and foreign

GVPT 306 Global Ecopolitics

Consideration of global problems and general impact of science and technology on the world ecological, socio-economic, and political system, with particular emphasis on such matters as objects of public policy

BGMT 472 Advanced Logistics Operations

Analysis of the operational aspects of logistics management, including purchasing policies, transportation planning and inventory control. Attention is directed toward total logistics cost minimization and the establishment of a sustainable competitive advantage based on logistics activities.

ANTH 464 Cultures and Sustainable Development

Explores economic development, particularly the new sub-field of sustainable development

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More Background On GreenValleyNetwork.org

 

Green Valley Network was founded in 2008 as a pioneering initiative uniting academia, business, and government to accelerate the commercialization of sustainability technology. Based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, it emerged through the collaboration of the Fayetteville Economic Development Council (FEDC), the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation (UATDF), and the University of Arkansas Applied Sustainability Center.

The network envisioned itself as more than a research consortium—it was a business cluster designed to transform sustainable innovation into market reality. With support from local industry leaders and the intellectual resources of the University of Arkansas, the Green Valley Network aimed to replicate the success of earlier regional innovation ecosystems such as Silicon Valley and the Research Triangle by positioning Northwest Arkansas as a national hub for sustainable technology enterprises.

Founding Vision and Leadership

The idea for the Green Valley Network originated with Dan Sanker, CEO of logistics technology company CaseStack and co-founder of the initiative through the University of Arkansas’s Applied Sustainability Center. Sanker and his collaborators recognized that Arkansas—long associated with agriculture, energy, and manufacturing—had the industrial foundation and human capital necessary to lead a new sustainability revolution.

Alongside Sanker, Steve Rust, President of the Fayetteville Economic Development Council, served as co-founder and local advocate for leveraging existing business infrastructure. Rust’s role was instrumental in connecting the region’s corporate and civic leadership, while Karen McSpadden and Dr. Steven Gates helped align educational and workforce development programs with sustainability goals.

The founding principle was simple yet transformative: sustainability itself could serve as a technology platform, much like semiconductors or the internet—capable of driving cross-industry innovation and economic growth.

Mission and Goals

The Green Valley Network positioned itself as a non-profit coalition dedicated to fostering collaboration, research, and commercialization in sustainable technologies. Its stated mission was to bring together people, ideas, and resources to accelerate the application of sustainable business practices.

Key goals included:

• Facilitating collaboration among innovators, researchers, and companies applying sustainability principles.

• Accelerating commercialization—helping innovators move ideas from “mind to market” faster.

• Encouraging inclusivity, serving as a neutral venue for discussion and idea exchange without taking ideological positions.

• Developing workforce skills in sustainability through curriculum research and partnerships with universities.

• Attracting green business investment to Arkansas and establishing the region as a sustainability cluster.

The initiative promoted a pragmatic vision: sustainability should not be treated as a niche or moral imperative alone, but as a competitive advantage and business opportunity capable of generating long-term value.

Arkansas as the “Green Valley”

When people first heard the phrase “Green Valley,” many assumed it was metaphorical. In fact, the network referred to a tangible geographic and industrial ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas, strategically positioned for sustainability-led growth.

The region already boasted several unique assets:

• The world’s highest concentration of plant scientists, many affiliated with the University of Arkansas and agricultural research centers.

• Wal-Mart’s global headquarters, acting as both a massive demand funnel and one of the world’s most powerful corporate advocates for sustainability initiatives.

• A robust supplier cluster of over 1,300 consumer goods companies.

• Proximity to major energy and logistics infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities, one of America’s busiest cargo airports, and extensive agri-business networks.

These attributes gave Arkansas a realistic opportunity to become the next national sustainability cluster, paralleling how the semiconductor revolution created Silicon Valley in California or the software boom spurred Austin’s growth.

Events and Legislative Outreach

One of the earliest high-profile showcases for the initiative was the “Green Sustainability: An Arkansas Opportunity” event, held on December 16, 2008, at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock. This event was jointly hosted by the Arkansas Senate and House Committees on Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development.

The agenda reflected a forward-looking, bipartisan commitment to understanding the economic potential of sustainability technologies. Key sessions included:

• “Energy Security for the Future” featuring Ken Nemath of the Southern States Energy Board and Clifford May of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy.

• “Creating Preeminent Sustainability Technology Clusters”, led by Dan Sanker, which explored Arkansas’s natural and technological resources.

• Panel discussions with major corporate and academic leaders, including representatives from Tyson Foods, the University of Arkansas, FutureFuel Chemical Company, Nabholz Construction, and BioBased Systems.

The conference highlighted how public policy, academia, and private enterprise could collaborate to transform Arkansas into a national leader in sustainable technology commercialization.

Academic Collaboration and Sustainability Curriculum

The Green Valley Network maintained strong ties to academia through a Sustainability Curriculum Research initiative, which compiled and analyzed leading university courses focusing on sustainability technology and management.

This program gathered data from top institutions—including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Penn, Cornell, Rice, Emory, and UC Berkeley—to identify educational models that could be replicated in Arkansas colleges.

For instance:

• Harvard’s Sustainability: The Challenge of Changing Our Institutions explored procurement and waste reduction at the institutional level.

• MIT’s Energy, Environment, and Society offered project-based sustainability problem-solving.

• Stanford’s Sustainable Development course examined environmental impact in construction and urban design.

• UC Berkeley’s Climate Action Course and Sustainable Business programs combined environmental science with applied entrepreneurship.

By gathering and sharing this information, Green Valley Network sought to inspire regional universities and community colleges to integrate sustainability into their curricula, building a skilled workforce ready for the green economy.

Business Cluster and Economic Impact

The network’s central thesis was that innovation clusters accelerate economic transformation. Just as microchips gave rise to Silicon Valley, sustainability innovations could drive the next wave of economic development in regions willing to embrace them.

The Green Valley cluster aimed to connect:

• Private corporations investing in renewable energy, logistics optimization, and sustainable materials.

• Research institutions developing bio-based technologies and energy-efficient systems.

• Public agencies creating supportive policies and infrastructure for sustainable growth.

Companies like Tyson Foods, BlueInGreen, FutureFuel Chemical Company, and BioBased Systems were among the early participants in Green Valley discussions, exploring collaborations around renewable fuels, environmental technologies, and sustainable supply chains.

The Fayetteville Economic Development Council envisioned the cluster as a catalyst for new job creation, venture funding, and eco-entrepreneurship—a sustainable economy that integrated profitability with responsibility.

Media Coverage and Public Reception

Between 2008 and 2010, GreenValleyNetwork.org attracted attention within both academic and environmental circles. The website functioned as an early online hub for sustainability innovation, offering research summaries, event information, and collaboration tools.

Media outlets covering Arkansas’s technology and economic development initiatives frequently cited the network’s efforts to brand the state as a sustainability leader. Its events drew participation from prominent stakeholders—including corporate sustainability officers from Wal-Mart, policy advisors, and environmental scientists.

Although much of the network’s online presence is now archived, its influence persisted in shaping subsequent initiatives such as the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association (AAEA) and university-led programs in green supply chain management and environmental entrepreneurship.

Technological and Cultural Significance

The Green Valley Network reflected a unique convergence of technological ambition and cultural pragmatism. Unlike many sustainability efforts of its era that emphasized activism or regulation, this initiative focused on market mechanisms and business-led solutions.

Its structure—an inclusive, apolitical coalition—allowed diverse participants to engage in open dialogue. The organizers emphasized that the network “does not have opinions,” underscoring its neutrality and goal of fostering genuine collaboration rather than advocacy.

Culturally, the Green Valley Network resonated with Arkansas’s deep-rooted traditions of resourcefulness, agriculture, and stewardship of the land. The region’s identity as both a business hub and a natural resource center made it an ideal testbed for integrating economic development with environmental ethics.

Challenges and Evolution

Despite its innovative model, sustaining momentum beyond the initial years proved difficult. Like many early sustainability initiatives, Green Valley Network faced challenges related to funding, visibility, and maintaining corporate engagement during the post-2008 financial downturn.

Additionally, the rapid proliferation of new sustainability-focused organizations and think tanks in the 2010s diluted its unique positioning. Nevertheless, the framework and partnerships established through Green Valley laid the groundwork for future green-tech collaborations within the University of Arkansas system and across the broader region.

While the original website eventually went offline, its archives continue to serve as a snapshot of an early 21st-century movement to localize global sustainability innovation.

Lasting Influence and Legacy

The legacy of Green Valley Network persists through several dimensions:

1. Educational Influence – The curriculum research helped integrate sustainability modules into Arkansas community colleges and universities, inspiring local versions of the courses it documented.

2. Economic Foundations – The concept of clustering sustainable enterprises influenced regional development strategies and innovation grant programs.

3. Corporate Policy – Wal-Mart’s participation signaled the integration of sustainability into mainstream retail supply chains, a shift that later transformed procurement standards across the industry.

4. Community Awareness – The initiative helped normalize the concept of sustainability as economic opportunity, influencing regional policy discussions and media framing.

In hindsight, Green Valley Network represented a prototype of sustainable innovation ecosystems—precursors to today’s green accelerators and cleantech incubators that link public institutions, startups, and investors in shared pursuit of environmental progress.

GreenValleyNetwork.org may no longer be an active website, but its founding ideals continue to resonate. It captured a pivotal moment when sustainability transitioned from abstract principle to actionable business strategy, and when small regions like Northwest Arkansas began positioning themselves as centers of technological and ecological transformation.

By fostering collaboration between corporations, universities, and government agencies, the Green Valley Network demonstrated that sustainability thrives at the intersection of innovation and cooperation.

Today, as global attention turns once again to sustainable supply chains, renewable energy, and circular economies, the lessons from Green Valley’s experiment in collective action remain highly relevant: that meaningful environmental progress depends not only on invention but on connection—bringing minds to market and ideas to impact.

 

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