This page summarizes our work with universities. We will be adding new and more extended case studies; join our mailing list to stay informed.

Examples:

-In partnership with Purdue University's College of Engineering, we developed Our Town, a high school curriculum and teacher education program on brownfields redevelopment and sustainable communities. Learn more about the growing Our Town program.

-We collaborated with Michigan State University to develop a curriculum on sustainable food systems. The curriculum is part of the Voices Project - an on-line resource of materials to build greater understanding about farmers, farming and food at the local level. The new curriculum is aimed at adult learners and is designed for use in informalsettings in communities, introductory university courses, and other educational settings. Learn more.

-We're working with Western Michigan University's College of Business to revise courses so that they emphasize a "triple bottomline" approach to economics. The initiative includes faculty development workshops and on-going support to redesign syllabi and assignments using materials from our Curriculum and Resource Center (CRC). Learn more about our economics program.

-We've worked with the University of Michigan Community Scholars Program, an undergraduate program focused on community service, social justice, and academic study. Creative Change assisted in the design and teaching of a freshman seminar on sustainability taught by Dr. Jim Crowfoot, supervised individual students on their community projects, and served on the program's advisory board.

You can read more about the sustainability seminar in the following articles co-authored by Jim Crowfoot and Susan Santone, Creative Change's Executive Director: "Collaborative Learning About Unsustainability: An Interdisciplinary Seminar to Help Achieve Sustainability" "The Role of Community-based Projects in Teaching Sustainability."

Both articles appear in Engaging the Whole of Service-Learning, Diversity, and Learning Communities, Joseph Galura, Penny Pasque, David Schoem, and Jeffery Howard, eds. (OCSL Press at the University ofMichigan Press. 2004) For more information: mjcsl@umich.edu

-Creative Change has collaborated with Eastern Michigan University's Social Foundations of Education Program to offer graduate courses for practicing teachers. Courses are offered as part of the Social Foundations EcoJustice Education Concentration in the Department of Teacher Education. Courses developed:

• Teaching Ecological Economics: The field of ecological economics is grounded in a basic fact: Human systems--including the economy--are embedded within ecological systems. Understanding the limits and laws of natural systems changes the very foundations of conventional economic thought and with it, approaches to production, policies, and the role of consumers. This course introduces the field of ecological economics and presents strategies for teaching it with the goal of fostering an integrated ecological, economic, and civic literacy.

• Developing Curriculum for Teaching Sustainability: Sustainability education is an approach to learning that builds the knowledge, skills, and values needed to create lasting economic prosperity, environmental health, and social justice. In this course, teachers will develop strategies and materials to engage students as scholars and citizens in vital economic, social, and ecological issues. Participants will walk away with interdisciplinary units and lessons that meet standards, promote critical thinking, and connect students to the community.

-We've worked with the Center for Sustainable Community Development (CSCD) at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, to support their K-12 partnership programs on renewable energy. Creative Change's experience with teacher education, curriculum, and K-12 funding streams provides a critical link between the CSCD's technical expertise and schools in its region. Our support included advising the CSCD on current K-12 issues, identifying funding sources for school-based renewable energy programs, and assisting with proposal writing and strategic planning to sustain initiatives.