Principal Investigator Peter Senge
Co-investigator Wanda Orlikowski
Project Website http://mitsloan.mit.edu/actionlearning/labs/l-lab.php
Leading Sustainable Systems (L-Lab) tackles critical issues of organizational change in global business sustainability. The course combines a systemic approach to change, an on-site field project experience with leading-edge sustainability initiatives, and detailed tools and practices that develop personal and collective leadership skills.
L-Lab uses experiential workshops, class sessions, and guest speakers to build students' leadership capabilities that are essential to generating the social, ecological and economic value of sustainable systems. These capabilities are put into practice when student teams partner with organizations at the forefront of innovation in sustainable systems, in locations that may be local, national, or international. In January, the student teams—typically composed of four to five graduate students—spend three weeks on site, working closely with organizational leaders to address critical issues of sustainability and develop capacities for systemic change.
Throughout their project work with the host organizations, the teams also work with MIT faculty mentors who help students integrate classroom learning and provide coaching to support their work with organizational leaders.