Social Justice and Sustainability in Poor Neighborhoods Learning and Living in Southwest Detroit

Sustainability is the new lens that many planning educators and practitioners employ in their efforts. We taught an undergraduate service-learning studio focused on neighborhood sustainability in Detroit, Michigan. To evaluate the course, we identified four desirable learning outcomes based on a modified environmental education framework. Students gained a sense of personal investment in the sustainability challenges faced by the community and developed a more nuanced understanding of the power relationships inherent in these issues. This educational framework can help instructors design and evaluate service-learning studios that highlight the embedded social justice issues in impoverished neighborhoods.