Weaving in regeneration into the curriculum: A story of collaborative redesign for change

When Instructor Ann-Louise Howard was approached with the proposal to join the Sustainability Co-Design Project for the AHSC 680: Facilitating Individual and Group Learning class, she was already in the process of revamping the curriculum to better align the content with process consulting, a theoretical foundation of the Human Systems Intervention Master’s program. Given that the class, as well as the program, already focused on helping clients navigate change, adding a sustainability lens in the curriculum, “felt like a no-brainer,” explains Ann-Louise Howard. 

Over the years of teaching the course, Howard has observed an increasing demand among students for sustainability topics and approaches. “Our students are learning to create change in organizations, and sustainability is another lens through which they can help create change.”. Personally, she felt that it was her duty to bring this innovative approach not just to the students, but to the world, as those who take the class will go on to generate societal transformations. 

Howard’s enthusiasm for the project was contagious. When she reached out to Tina Shah and Christiane Stilson, graduate students in the Human Systems Intervention program, they felt like it was the right opportunity for them to enact the change they wished to see in the world within the classroom setting. “Something that's really alive for us in our program is that change starts locally, so to get to be a part of a process that's integrating that into this program that I love was a really special opportunity for me, says Stilson.” 

The team decided to take on the challenge of infusing sustainability throughout the entire class. This led them to be intentional in the design of the curriculum and to try to infuse sustainability throughout various dimensions: theoretical, affective, cognitive, inter- and intrapersonal, and behavioural. 

The team discovered that many of the UNESCO’s key competencies for sustainability including systems thinking, collaboration, self-awareness and others, were already part of the existing course and now needed to be framed more explicitly around sustainability. From the readings chosen to the pedagogical approaches applied, they strived to design every aspect of the class to be sustainable and to promote life-affirming change. This form of change aims to foster spaces in which "purpose, people, planet, and profit thrive collectively" (Hutchins & Storm, 2019).

Promoting sustainability from within  

The course instructor and student partners emphasize the importance of cultivating strong relationships among themselves as an integral part of the project’s process. For them, sustainability had to come from within, prompting them to prioritize a non-hierarchical team structure, active listening, and care. This allowed them to co-create through open conversations and foster a collaborative environment in which all members could grapple with the same issues and processes that they wanted students in the class to go through. 

Additionally, they were able to bring sustainability to the interpersonal sphere by regularly checking in with each other, and striving to work with compassion, vulnerability, understanding, and respect. 

The collaboration was set up to yield amazing results. Howard expressed that although she was not an expert on sustainability issues, she felt confident heading into the process because the student partners were well-versed on sustainable practices and environmental issues. Howard felt that bringing together her knowledge of the industry and the course, and the students’ unique understanding of sustainability was key to shaping the course redesign.

Benefits and challenges of working on a comprehensive Co-Design Project 

The benefits of this co-design project were manifold. The process of co-creation allowed everyone to ask questions and reflect along the way. Team members also had the opportunity to do things intentionally with the support of one another. 

For the student partners, this was a wonderful way to apply what they had learned during the program while acquiring a systemic understanding of sustainability. Aware that change is needed at many different levels, Stilson leaves the project eager to take the learnings to other spheres of her life. “It felt like infusing care for what we do. Now we can share light with other people,” she explains.

Students taking the class will equally benefit from this enriching process. The course is designed as an experiential learning opportunity, providing them with a space to explore regenerative change, the impact of love, and the application of a sustainability lens to process consulting. 

Students will also be invited to work as an interdependent team, and to think about their own relationship to sustainability before they start to bring change in organizations. In other words, they will learn how to become and act as regenerative change agents. This ensures that when students graduate and go on to help organizations and communities, the change they facilitate is holistic and life-affirming and goes beyond the reduction of negative impacts. 

Change inside out: Key takeaways  

At the end of the project, all team members were moved and grateful for having been able to be part of a project that they consider will have a significant impact not just on students, but also at a societal level. They recommend that those interested in infusing sustainability into the curriculum, do so not only for the course but also for personal growth and development. As Howard puts it, the process offered a great avenue to dive into the topic of sustainability “not just from the head but from the heart.” 

Interested in learning more about this Sustainability Co-Design Project? Check out this summary. 

Cited works

Hutchins, G., & Storm, L. (2019). Regenerative leadership: the DNA of life-affirming 21st century organizations. Wordzworth Publishing.

Written by Natalia Espinel Quintero