Saint Louis University
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

The Center for Sustainability's Reality-Based, Efficient, Action Learning (REAL) Partners program pairs Master of Sustainability students with local organizations where they apply acquired knowledge and skills toward solving real-world sustainability-related challenges.

Master of Sustainability candidates typically come into the program with significant work experience and/or existing advanced degrees (e.g., MBA’s, lawyers, Masters of Engineering, etc.). Many of the students have full time jobs. The Center for Sustainability works with our REAL Partners to shape specific project parameters to insure the learning objectives are achieved and the projects are executed effectively.

The REAL Partners Program is tightly integrated with the Master of Sustainability (MOS) curriculum and provides students with a variety of opportunities to collaborate with local organizations. Through various field practicum courses, students work directly with REAL Partners to apply academic concepts and research to hands-on projects in the “REAL world.” The practitioner-oriented curriculum offers a series of one to nine credit hour courses, which provides the flexibility for students and partners to create customized work plans that meet the project requirements, address critical learning objectives, and accommodate demanding schedules.

REAL Partners - Levels of Expertise

1. Has a basic working knowledge of sustainability; may have worked as a team member on sustainability-related projects, but does not necessarily function as a project or team leader

2. Is a trained (and sometimes certified) sustainability professional who may not work exclusively in the realm of sustainability, but has led small- to medium-sized sustainability-related projects and teams; has a more advanced knowledge of sustainability concepts and terminology

3. A sustainability trained professional who has completed an advanced degree (or equivalent work force training program) in a sustainability-related field of study; leads large scale sustainability teams and projects; provides training and mentoring to less experienced individuals and teams; understands the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability and the associated challenges and opportunities

4. Has a deep understanding of the complex nature of sustainability as an applied, collaborative, holistic, and humanistic discipline; has advanced knowledge of and experience with enterprise-level sustainability strategy, full life cycle project implementation, policy planning and execution, training, mentoring, and the dynamics of organizational structures and behavior that impact sustainable change