Sustainable Community Development

At Prescott College, we believe that a classroom is more than just four walls. Our classrooms are places, like mountains, forests, cities, and farms. With a mission to create a healthy, just, and sustainable world, we solve problems by getting into the field and taking action. Our students are educators, activists, counselors, researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. We are inspired by all those we meet, while making a difference in our local and global communities. We don't only learn within the classroom. At Prescott College, we take it outside.

Given the urgency of developing more just, sustainable, and resilient communities, the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainable Community Development (SCD) is designed to expose you to the world’s communities and help catalyze your own personal vision of how to design, enhance, or restore vibrant, healthful communities. The program defines community as the convergence of humans and all other resident living beings that, together, comprise the local ecosystem. Among other topics, you can study the physical, natural, and cultural environments of the community(ies) that interest you, their values, practices, and needs, and the influences of, and access points to, relevant government and private enterprises whose activities affect their well-being. SCD is truly a transdisciplinary degree. Projects done throughout the program can easily expand into your Senior Project and be a launch point for a timely and meaningful job, career, or further graduate study (including accelerated pathways into our diverse graduate programs such as Resilient and Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Food Systems, and Interdisciplinary Studies, among others).

Areas of Emphasis:

• Sustainable Food Systems
• Regenerative Ecological Design
• Place-based, Community-oriented Sustainability Initiatives
• Sustainable, Community-based Initiatives Abroad

Learning Outcomes:

• Develop strong problem-solving capacities and an understanding of ecological and human systems at a level appropriate for entry into professions or graduate school.
• Demonstrate a humble yet insightful understanding of human ecology and the ability to analyze essential functions of communities at various levels of development and scales.
• Evaluate the environmental, social, and economic challenges that communities face at multiple scales, and research, develop, and/or assess approaches for addressing these challenges.
• Increase the ability to help create sustainable, resilient, and socially just communities by developing skills in effective communication, community engagement, and inclusive group facilitation.