The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Social Work
Course Number:
Course Title:
Faculty:
SoWo 880-238
Sustainability and Social Enterprise
Gary M. Nelson, DSW
Tele: 919.962.4370 (Gary)
Email: gmnelson@email.unc.edu
Fall 2013: Tues 2-4:50 pm, Tate Turner Kuralt Bldg.
Room 137 Tate Turner Kuralt
Course Description
This course will examine issues and perspectives on sustainability, social enterprise and
solutions to social and economic found in the emerging fourth sector of our economy.
The class will examine sustainable community development through a framework that
combines local, national and global perspectives on sustainability’s triple bottom line: 1.
economic prosperity; 2. social equity; and 3. environmental stewardship and the role of
social enterprise in successfully addressing community challenges and opportunities.
Course Objectives
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to do the following:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the effect of their personal social and cultural
background and experiences (including personal and professional values) on their
own thinking, views and practice of sustainability. This understanding will be
reflected in a plan for the student’s growth and work;
2. Articulate working definitions of sustainability, sustainable development, social
enterprise and the Fourth Sector that incorporate information from the past, as
well as current thinking about the terms, and provides practical, ethically based
direction for the student’s work on sustainability, sustainable development and
social enterprise design and creation;
3. Demonstrate a working knowledge of sustainable development and social
enterprise challenges in their community, the United States and the world;
4. Demonstrate a working knowledge of the interface between sustainable
development, culture and gender; and
5. Understand local and regional community challenges and opportunities.
6. Demonstrate an ability to apply a learning framework to a sustainable
development and/or social enterprise initiative in a community of interest that
appreciates the strengths of current approaches, identifies continuing challenges to
sustainability and social enterprises, and sets forth a series of recommendations to
overcome those challenges.
7. Demonstrate the ability to design and prepare for launch, a local social enterprise
designed successfully address a pressing social and/or community challenge,
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Required Texts
1. Louv, Richard (2011). The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of
Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Press.
2. Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kaufer (2013). Leading from the Emerging Future:
From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler
Press.
3. Senge, Peter et. al. (2010). The Necessary Revolution: Working Together to
Create a Sustainable World. New York: Broadway Books.
Recommending Readings
1. Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo (2003). Linked. New York: A Plume Book.
2. Christensen, Clayton M. (1997). The Innovators Dilemma: When New
Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston: Harvard Business Review
Press.
3. Ellerman, David (2006). Helping People Help Themselves. Ann Arbor, MI: The
University of Michigan Press.
4. Esty, Daniel C. and Andrew S. Winston (2006). Green to Gold. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
5. Friedman, Thomas L. (2005). The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st
Century. New York, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
6. Fredrickson, Barbara L. (2009). Positivity. New York: Three Rivers Press.
7. Frick, Don M. and Larry C. Spears. (1996). Robert Greenleaf: On Becoming a
Servant Leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publisher.
8. Goleman, Daniel (2009). Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden
Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. New York: Broadway Books.
9. Hart, Maureen (1999). Guidelines to Sustainable Community Indicators. Second
Edition, North Andover, MA: Hart Environmental Dta.
10. Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins (1999). Natural Capitalism:
Creating the Next Industrial Revolution.
11. Henderson, Hazel (1996). Buildingg a Win-Win World: Life Beyond Global
Economic Warfare. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
12. Martin, Roger (2007). The Opposable Mind. Boston: Harvard Business Review
Press.
13. McDonough, William and Michael Braungart (2002). Cradle to Cradle:
Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press.
14. McKibben, Bill (2010). Eaarth: Making A Life on a Tough New Planet. New
York: Times Books.
15. Nelson, Gary M. (2010). Social Work and Sustainability: Late to the Revolution
but with Much to Offer. Portland, Oregon: Paper prepared for the Annual
Conference on Social Work Education (CSWE).
16. Nelson, Gary M. (2012).
17. Nichols, Alex Ed. (2008). Social Entrepreneurship: New Models of Sustainable
Social Change. London: Oxford University Press.
18. Roseland, Mark (2005). Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for
Citizens and Their Governments. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
19. Sabeti, Heerad (November 2011). The For Benefit Enterprise. Harvard Business
Review, Vol. 89, No. 11, pp 98-104.
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20. Savitz, Andrew W. (2006). The Triple Bottom-Line. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers.
21. Thompson, John and Doherty, Bob (2006). The Diversity of World Social
Enterprise. International Journal of Social Economics. Vol. 33, No. 5/6 pp 361375.
22. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (2004). Human Development
Report 2004. New York: Oxford University Press.
23. Varela, Francisco J., Evan T. Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch (1993). The
Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Boston:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
24. Wheatley, Margaret J. (1992). Leadership and the New Science: Learning About
Organization from an Orderly Universe. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler
Publishers.
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Course Calendar: Modules, Readings and Assignments
Module I: Getting Started—Understanding Our Historical Context
Session 1: August 20th: Introduction—Context, History, and Science
Session Goals:
1. Class Overview
2. Getting to Know Each Other
3. Expectations
4. Connection with Social Work
5. Assignments for Next Time
Personal Interest Assessment
Video Clips: The Story of Stuff and an alternate perspective
Biomimicry Institute- Lessons from Nature’s Engineers
Thrive Documentary—Libertarian?
The Unreasonable Institute—Entrepreneurs
Discussion
Community Event:
Lyle Estill introduces his book at the Quail Ridge
Bookstore in Raleigh on Thursday August 29th at 7:30 p.m;
Small Stories, Big Change on the Frontlines of
Sustainability.
Session 2: August 27th: Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Overview
Session Goals:
1. Guest Speaker—Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation
2. Social Work’s Role in Sustainability
3. Discussion of Readings
Guest Speaker: Mathilde Verdier, Coordinator of the CUBE
UNC’s Innovation Incubator
Assigned Reading:
Nelson, Gary M. (2010). Social Work and Sustainability: Late to the
Revolution but with Much to Offer. Paper prepared for the Annual
Conference of Social Work Education in Portland, Oregon (CSWE APM,
2010).
Senge, Peter et. al. (2008). “Chapters 1-3: A Future Awaiting Our
Choices, How We Got in This Predicament, and Life Beyond the Bubble.”
In The Necessary Revolution: New York: Doubleday, pgs. 3-41.
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Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kaufer (2013). “Introduction—Breathing Life
Into a Dying System.” In Leading from the Emerging Future. Pgs. 1-26.
Session 3: September 3rd: Sustainability and the Fourth Sector
Session Goals:
1. Defining Sustainability—Triple Bottom Line
2. Becoming Engaged
3. The Real Reason People Won’t Change
4. Discussion of Readings
5. Understanding the Green Plus Assessment
Guest Speaker:
Aaron Nelson, Co-Founder and Senior Fellow,
Institute for Sustainable Development
Executive Director, Partnership for a Sustainable Community
President and CEO, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
Assigned Reading:
Colander, David. (2012). “Solving Society’s Problems from the Bottom Up.”
Challenge. Vol. 55, No. 1, pg. 1-17.
Sabeti, Heerad (2011). The For Benefit Enterprise. Harvard Business Review,
Vol. 89, No. 11, pg. 98-10
Recommended Readings:
Gertner, Jon. (2009). “Why Isn’t the Brain Green?” In New York Times Magazine.
New York: New York Times, pgs. 36-43.
Kegan, Robert and Lisa Laskow Lahey. (2001). “The Real Reason People Won’t
Change.” Harvard Business Review. November, pg. 85-92.
Senge, Peter et. al. (2008). “Chapter 4: New Thinking New Choices.” In The
Necessary Revolution: New York: Double Day, pgs. 42-56.
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Module II: Thinking Differently: Social Entrepreneurship and
Nature—Nature As a Therapeutic
Session 4: September 10th—Social Entrepreneurship as Thinking Differently
Session Goals: 1. Social Entrepreneurship: Thinking Differently
2. Case Illustration— Behavioral Health
3. Broadening the Definition of Environmental Sustainability
3. Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship
4. Discussion of Readings
5. Begin Research on Nature as a Therapeutic
Guest Speaker: Dan Zorn, Founder of Families Together
Successful Entrepreneur in Behavioral Health Care
Assigned Reading:
Louv, Richard (2011). “Introduction—Nature Deficit Disorder for Adults.” In The
Nature Principle. Pgs. 1-6.
Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kaufer (2013). “Chapter 1: On the Surface: Symptoms of
Death and Rebirth.” In Leading from the Emerging Future. Pgs. 27-43.
Senge, Peter et. al. (2008). “Chapter 5-7: Never Doubt What One Person and A
Small Group of Co-Conspirators Can Do; Aligning an Industry; and
Unconventional Allies Coke and WWF Partner.” In The Necessary Revolution:.
New York: Doubleday, pgs. 57-95.
Session 5: September 17th—Engaging with Nature
Session Goals:
1. Social Entrepreneurship: Thinking Differently
2. Case Illustration—XDS—Developmentally Disabled
3. Leadership and Entrepreneurship
4. Discussion of Readings
5. Continue Research on Nature as a Therapeutic
Guest Speaker:
Thava Mahadevan, UNC Center for Excellence in
Community Mental Health –Founder of XDS
Assigned Readings:
Louv, Richard (2011). “Chapter 1—Singing for Bears and Chapter 2—The
Hybrid Mind” pgs. 9-40.
Snowden, David (2002). “Complex Acts of Knowing—Paradox and
Descriptive Self-Awareness.” IBM Global Services.
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Session 6: September 24th: Active Living by Design
Session Goals:
1. Explore the Concept of Built Design
2. Case Illustration—Active Living by Design
3. Community, Nature and the Impact of Context
4. Discussion of Readings
5. Continue Research on Nature as a Therapeutic
Guest Speaker:
Tim Schwantes Project Leader
Active Living by Design
UNC School of Public Health
Assigned Reading:
Louv, Richard (2011). “Chapters 3—The Garden; Chapter 4—Fountains of Life;
Chapter 5—Re-Naturing the Psche; Chapter 6—The Deep Green High; and
Chapter 7—The Nature Prescription.” Pgs. 43-88.
Senge, Peter et. al. (2008). “Chapters 8- 10: Risks and Opportunities: The Business
Rationale for Sustainability and Positioning for the Future and Present.”
The Necessary Revolution: New York: Doubleday, pgs. 101-150.
Session 7: October 1st –Mid-Term Class Presentations—Nature as a Therapeutic
Student Presentations:
Case Studies-Nature as a Therapeutic
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Module III: Designing Solutions—Creating A Business Plan
Session 8: October 8th Starting a Sustainable Enterprise—Business Planning 101
Session Goals:
1. Understanding the Social Enterprise Design Project
2. Outline for creating a business plan
3. Challenges, questions and answers
4. Selection of launch enterprises
5. Discussion of readings
Guest Speaker:
Carl Baumann, Durham Technical Community College and
Counselor with Chapel Hill Score.
Student Selections:
Work on Sustainability Enterprises
Assigned Readings:
Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kauffer (2013). “Chapter 2-Structure: Systemic
Disconnects.” Pgs. 44-66.
Senge, Peter M. et. al. (2008). Chapter 11-14, Part VI: From Problem Solving to
Creating. In The Necessary Revolution: New York, Doubleday, pgs. 283344.
Session 9: October 15 Business Planning 201
Session Goals:
1. Community interface with sustainability
2. State of the community
3. Continued discussion of business planning
4. Discussion of readings
Guest Speaker:
Dan Zorn, Founder of Families Together
Business Essentials in Behavioral Health
Student Projects:
Time to Work on Business Plans
Assigned Readings:
Business Planning—Dan Zorn Powerpoints and Web Resources for Lean Canvas
Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kauffer (2013). “Chapter—Transforming Thought:
The Matrix of Economic Evolution.” Pgs. 67-140.
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Session 10: October 22nd—The Role of Intention and Awareness in Design
Session Goals:
1. Design strategies for addressing public policy
2. Challenges, questions and answers
3. Behavioral system reform as a case study
4. Discussion of readings
5. Work on group/individual projects
Student Projects:
Assigned Reading
Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kaufer (2013). “Chapter 4—Source Connecting to
Intention and Awareness and Chapter 5—Leading the Personal Inversion: From
Me to We.” Pgs. 141-173.
Session 11: October 29th Engagement and Sustainability—Building a Movement
Session Goals:
1. Successful models of sustainability-entrepreneurship
2. Participatory models of sustainability-entrepreneurship
3. Weaving networks for change
3. Discussion of readings
Guest Speaker:
Chris Howell on Engagement, Jordan Institute for Families
A Participatory Model of Social Engagement
Open Time—Presentation of Initial Research Outlines
Work on Project:
Assigned Reading:
Krebs, Valdis and June Holley(2006). Building Smart Communities through
Network Weaving. The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks.
Nelson, Gary M. (2000). Self-Governance in Communities and Families. San
Francisco: Berrett Koehler Press, pgs. 15-83.
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Session on 12: November 5th – The Leadership Dimension for Creating Successful
Enterprises
Session Goals:
1. The leadership dimension of successful start-ups
2. Further exploration of challenges and lessons learned.
2. Honing of knowledge and skills.
3. Challenges, questions and answers
Presentation:
Gary Nelson—Integrative Leadership
Assigned Readings:
Nelson, Gary M. “Integrative Leadership.” Jordan Institute
for Families, School of Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kaufer (2013). “Chapter 6—Leading the Relational
Inversion from Ego to Eco.” Pgs. 174-190.
Work on Project:
Open Time
Assigned Reading: Readings will be assigned on the role of leadership in
successful start ups
Session 13: November 12th— Institutions and Community Capitalism
Session Goals:
1. Rethinking community capital
2. Social impact bonds
3. Fourth sector enterprises
4. Discussion of Readings
Guest Speaker:
Community Capitalism
Assigned Readings:
Scharmer, Otto and Katrin Kaufer (2013). “Chapter 7—Leading the Institutional
Inversion: Toward Eco-System Economies.” Pgs. 191-238.
Zingales, Luigi (2012). “Introduction; Chapter 1-The American Exception;
Chapter 2 Who Killed Horatio Alger; and Chapter 3—
Crony Capitalism American Style.” In A Capitalism for the
People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American
Prosperity. New York: Basic Books, Pgs. Xv—47.
Work on Projects:
Open Time
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Session 14: November 19th --Resilient Cultures and Institutions
Session Goals:
1. Discuss the concept of resilient institutions
2. Case study findings—Cardinal Innovations
3. Discussion of readings
4. Integration of concepts into business designs
Guest Speakers:
Sarah Marsh and Mary Anne Salmon
Accountabale Behavioral Care Program
Jordan Institute for Families
Work on Projects:
Open Time
Assigned Readings
Lazer, David and Allen Friedman (2007). “The Network Structure of Exploration
and Exploitation.” Administrative Science Quarterly, pgs. 667-694.
Session 15: November 26th –Innovative Systems of Care
Session Goals:
1. Illustrate concepts of resilience and innovation
2. Case Study—Cardinal Innovations
3. Past, present and future
4. Discussion
Guest Speakers:
Pam Shipman, Executive Director Cardinal Innovations
Dan Coughlin, Founder Cardinal Innovations
Session 16: December 3rd—Presentation of Business Plans
Student Presentations
Panel Review and Response
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Class Assignments
There are four assignments due in this course:
1. Thought Piece and Course Intention: Letter identifying how you presently
define sustainability and learn from this what you hope to course: August 27th
2. Mid Term: Case Studies Papers and Presentations
3. Research on 4th Sector Enterprises Due October 29th
4. Fourth Sector Start Up Presentation: December 3rd
The following weights will be applied to the various assignments associated with this
course.
1. Thought Piece
05%
2. Mid-Term
20%
3. Research Outlines
15%
4. Sustainability Start-Up
50%
5. Active Class Participation
10%
100%
Course Evaluation
The course will be evaluated using evaluation form developed by the School of Social
Work.
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