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About Naropa › Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values › Sustainability › Grounds and Landscaping

Grounds & Landscaping

For more than twenty years, Naropa University landscapers have used environmentally sound practices, creating a campus that is a model of sustainability and regenerative land management.

 Always innovative and seeking to improve, Naropa University currently uses the following approaches to eco-landscaping:

  • Composting all plant material.
  • Creating habitat for bees and pollinators.
  • Never using any “cides” – no pesticides, herbicides, etc.
  • Planting many edible and medicinal plants.
  • Using products that are biodegradable and/or organic.
  • Always incorporating principles of permaculture.
  • Actively working to improve water conservation by upgrading and modifying existing irrigation systems.
  • Incorporating new technology at the Paramita Campus, such as subsurface irrigation linked to an on-site weather station that supplies water to the lawn and gardens only in the proper quantities and only at the proper times. By delivering water directly to the root zone, evaporation is all but eliminated. In what is known as “fertigation,” organic liquid fertilizers also flow through the irrigation system, delivering minute and constant levels of fertilizer throughout the growing season, which improves plant health and reduces maintenance.
  • Phasing out the use of fossil fuel equipment by purchasing electric mowers and trimmers, as well as through the use of biodiesel for the maintenance truck and bobcat.
 

Edible Landscaping

At Naropa we incorporate edible and medicinal plants into the landscape to engage the community and contribute to a regenerative, sustainable ecosystem. With edibles, the landscape becomes more personal, interactive, and bountiful. Many of the plants serve as food and habitat for bees and pollinators and several Naropa classes utilize the edible landscape for teaching and coursework.

Below are maps of most of the edible and medicinal plants on our campuses.

Decoration

Naropa Food Forest

Food Forest Plans (click to enlarge)

Naropa Food Forest Design Plan

William D. Jones Community Greenhouse

An Expression of Naropa's Commitment

The greenhouse enhances learning opportunities built around horticulture methods, permaculture, ecological system sciences and environmental philosophies such as deep ecology. In addition, it provides plants for campus landscaping, vegetables for the Naropa Café, and seedlings for the Boulder community. As a tangible manifestation of Naropa University’s environmental commitment, the greenhouse inspires the community to both learn more and do more to foster a healthy relationship with nature.

Permaculture Lab

Design

The permaculture instructor and students manage the greenhouse to be a sound example of permaculture principles in action. Management practices strive to make as many connections between different features as possible.

One example of this is that the greenhouse has a wintertime deficiency of warmth and carbon dioxide. There is also a surplus of slugs and sow bugs, which are detrimental to plants. Adding domestic quail to the greenhouse accomplishes management of these needs and surpluses, as the quail provide body heat and carbon dioxide to the greenhouse, and will also eat the slugs and sow bugs. In this way, the problems become solutions, as they suggest an available niche in the ecology, and by adding quail, additional yields of eggs and meat are obtained.

Plants

A sample of plants grown in the greenhouse are fig, lemon, pineapple guava, pomegranate, tea, kumquat, passion fruit, spineless nopal, lemongrass, rosemary, water chestnut, and yacon. As indicated by the type of plants, a subtropical environment is attempting to be maintained with no winter heating or lighting required. The greenhouse has yet to be challenged by near-record cold, but so far the strategies employed have proven successful.

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About Naropa

Located in Boulder, Colorado, Naropa University is a Buddhist-inspired, nonsectarian liberal arts university that is recognized as the birthplace of the mindfulness movement. Naropa offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs that emphasize professional and personal growth, intellectual development, and cultivating compassion. 

Academics

Contemplative education brings together the best of Western scholarship and Eastern world wisdom traditions. Therefore, your pursuit of wisdom at Naropa means learning both about academic subjects and about your own place in the world. This innovative approach places Naropa on the cutting edge of the newest and most effective methods of teaching and learning.  

Admissions & Aid

If you’re seeking an education that resonates with both personal fulfillment and global impact, Naropa could be your top choice. At Naropa, you will experience a comprehensive curriculum that integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational approaches. Explore how Naropa can fuel your journey of intellectual and spiritual development.

Life at Naropa

Through its incredibly vibrant and welcoming community,  “Naropa offers a home for those who aren’t willing to conform to convention—the mystic, the healer, the prophet, the rebel, the artist, the revolutionary, the oddball—those who are incredible contributors to the evolution of society and of our planet.”—Core Associate Professor Zvi Ish-Shalom

The Naropa Difference

How is Naropa different from other universities? At Naropa, a liberal arts education balances rigorous academics with powerful interpersonal skills and self-awareness to educate the whole person. Naropa’s contemplative approach is inspired by Buddhist philosophy and the conviction that we can build a diverse, contemplative, enlightened society when we have transformed education to affirm the basic goodness of every person. 

Support Naropa

At a time when the value of higher education is being questioned, Naropa University stands firmly rooted in its mission to create a more just and regenerative world by nurturing insight, awareness, courage, and compassion in its students. By making a gift to Naropa, you play a pivotal role in helping to create the authentic, effective & mindful leaders that the world desperately needs.

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Naropa University campuses are closed on 12/17/2025. 

Due to adverse weather conditions of high winds and planned power outages, all Naropa campuses will be closed today. 

 

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