Management Education for Sustainable Development: Integrating Ecology and Community Values in Social Impact Practicums

This study explores a management education model to help integrate sustainable development ideas into university curricula and programs. This pedagogical model emphasizes a community-based approach along with other proven methods for university-community collaborations and course-based social impact analysis. The Laudato Si’ encyclical’s notion of integral ecology, along with the need to create community-benefit academic programs, inspired the establishment of a partnership between the University of San Francisco’s Master of Nonprofit Administration program and the Foundation for Sustainability Development. This partnership experience expanded into development practicum courses and solidified into strategies for integrating experiential learning and organizational development through community-based analysis. The graduate level pedagogical models discussed here are relevant to other academic institutions and programs who would like to educate students with a community-centered approach.